Takeaways: Penn State football shows reasons for optimism vs. Michigan State

Penn State football capped off another 10-2 season under James Franklin with a 42-0 win over Michigan State Friday night at Ford Field. The Nittany Lions dominated on both sides of the ball and showed some flashes that should help fans be optimistic heading into the bowl game and further ahead into next season. What were some takeaways from another dominant win?

Penn State football truly has a generational defense

It can’t be understated just how good this defense has been. On Friday, we saw perhaps the most impressive performance of the season. Michigan State had 100 yards of offense in the first half and finished the game with just 53 yards.

Penn State only allowed one completion for 3 yards in the second half and held the Spartans to -50 yards rushing in the final two quarters. Michigan State would finish the game with -35 yards rushing. That is the second time this season that Manny Diaz’s crew has finished a game holding the opposing offense to negative rushing yards.

Just how dominant has this defense been? The Nittany Lions have allowed an average of 223.3 yards per game this season. That is over 23 fewer yards per game than the next closest team. It is also the lowest total since Alabama in 2011.

So when people mention how this year’s offense wasted a championship defense, they are correct in that statement. Penn State football also leads the country in sacks with 49, is second in turnovers forced with 25, and third in points per game, only allowing 11.4 through 12 games.

Most believe that this will be the last year that we see Manny Diaz on the sideline at Penn State. He has already been on the shortlist of multiple Power 5 openings. It is also important to note that the buyout from his Miami contract is up, so he no longer will have that in addition to his Penn State salary.

The Nittany Lions always have a solid defense, but what Diaz has done in the past two seasons has raised them to an elite level. If Franklin is able to keep Diaz around for another season, it immediately makes Penn State football a top 10-15 team, even with the departures on defense.

Explosive plays finally arrive for Penn State

Penn State football has been one of the worst teams in college football for creating explosive plays all season. That changed against Michigan State, with the offense able to create 12 in the game — half on the ground and half through the air.

It started early in the game, with Kaytron Allen breaking his longest run of the season for 50 yards in the first quarter. On the very next drive, Nick Singleton caught a screen pass and sprinted 53 yards into Michigan State territory.

The highlight of the game had to be halfway through the third quarter, where Drew Allar threw a beautiful ball to Omari Evans for a 60-yard completion. The team seems to have gone back to basics since the firing of Mike Yurcich, and both the run game and Allar seemed to have benefited.

It will be interesting to see if the explosiveness will continue when the Nittany Lions play a tougher team in a potential NY6 bowl game in a month or so.

Best rushing performance of the season

Penn State football fans have been waiting for the running backs to get going this season. Both Allen and Singleton have been decent this year, but the lack of explosive plays has held down their yards-per-carry averages and total yards.

Against Michigan State, we saw a flash of 2022, with both halfbacks having over 100 yards in the game. Kaytron Allen finished with 15 carries for 137 yards and a touchdown, good for an average of 9.1 YPC. Nick Singleton finished with 18 carries for 118 yards, a 6.6 YPC average. Allen had a 50 and 40-yard run, while Singleton tacked on multiple 20-yard runs.

Both were involved in the passing game, too. Singleton led all receivers with 2 catches for 68 yards, including a big 53-yard screen in the first half. Kaytron Allen finished with 3 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown.

As a team, Penn State finished with 283 rushing yards and averaged 7.3 yards per carry. This is something that hopefully can carry into the bowl game and give both running backs more confidence heading into next season.

Drew Allar proves it isn’t a talent issue

After struggling against both Ohio State and Michigan, some wondered whether Drew Allar was as good as he was hyped up to be.

Against Michigan State, the young quarterback reminded everyone of his potential. Early and throughout the game, Allar went through his progressions and often would make throws to his third option. This shows that he has the talent to make the right reads, but both his receivers weren’t getting open and the offensive line wasn’t always providing the best protection. Maybe the change in play calling helped out the offense as a whole, but Allar finished 17-26 for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns, good for a 79.9 QBR.

The 60-yard completion to Omari Evans demonstrated what can happen when Allar is given time. He has the arm talent and shows he can make the right reads to take this team to the next level. If Penn State football can hire the right offensive coordinator and can find some good wide receivers in the portal, there isn’t a reason that Drew Allar can’t take the next step to being an elite quarterback next season.

Great environment at Ford Field

When it was announced that this game would be at Ford Field on Black Friday, there was some skepticism. Then after Michigan State started 4-7 and fired its coach, the expectation was that this game would be ugly and nobody would go.

As someone who was at the game, I was very impressed by the overall attendance of the game by both Michigan State and Penn State fans. East Lansing is about a 1.5-hour drive to Detroit. From State College, it is around 6.5 hours. The crowd was energized early and got loud a few times before the score got out of hand.

There was plenty of Penn State fan representation in Detroit, and while it maybe wasn’t as big as what we saw at Maryland a few weeks ago, it is comparable to what we have been seeing every other year at Rutgers. On multiple third downs in the first half, you could hear the Penn State fans making noise and causing some disruptions for the Michigan State offense.

Now Penn State football awaits its bowl destination. I have no doubt that whether it is the Peach, Fiesta, or Citrus Bowl, the selection committee will be happy with the Penn State fan representation.

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