The stat has been repeated all week. Michigan State is 10-3 against the spread and 6-7 outright the last 13 times they've been a touchdown or more underdog. And if there is a setup for that to repeat itself, it's here. The Spartans are coming off a game where they missed opportunity after opportunity to put their foot on Northwestern's throat early, while Penn State may have a massive letdown after letting perhaps the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff birth gag away in the final quarter in Columbus. Lost in the shuffle has been that while Saquon Barkley continues to be a special teams threat, he hasn't really been a huge factor in the offense in over a month. He's always a threat to break the big play, but on a down to down basis, he's been downright bad. He had 56 rushing yards against Indiana; 75 against Northwestern, with all but 23 coming on one play; 108 against Michigan, with all but 39 coming on one play; and 44 against Ohio State with all but 8 coming on one play. Over those four games, he has 158 yards on three long runs; and 125 over his other 69 (1.8 ypc). Teams are loading up against him, and forcing McSorley to beat them. Might not be the best for Barkley's Heisman candidacy, but for Penn State's offense, that's worked just fine. McSorley has had a QBR of 93.2 and 90.1 over Penn State's last two games. Michigan State tried to do the same last week against Northwestern, and while they held Justin Jackson to 41 yards on 2.4 ypc, Clayton Thorson went wild, completing 69% of his passes for 356 yards. Penn State has proven more than happy to take what defenses will give them. At only 70.6 ypg allowed, the Spartans run defense has done just fine, but the disappearance of the pass rush against Northwestern exposed a lot of the holes in the secondary, particularly at the safety position. Thorson didn't attack the corners, Scott and Layne, too much, he simply found mismatches on safeties, particularly Morrisey, and exploited it again and again. Penn State has far more weapons, and McSorley showed against Michigan just what he'll do against that defensive strategy. I'd be hard pressed to think Dantonio will use the same strategy, after seeing it fail so miserably last week, but he doesn't have many options back there. The cornerback position is good, but there are only two trustworthy guys back there, and only three worth playing, and safety is a mess. It's on the front to get back to getting pressure. The secondary didn't play any worse last week, they simply didn't have what had previously been a great pass rush, helping them. Penn State's offensive line hasn't been good in recent weeks, but Northwestern's had arguably been the worst in the conference. I think Penn State might get off to a sluggish start in a noon letdown game, but unless Michigan State suddenly rediscovers how to run block, I don't like their chances of Lewerke in a gunslinging contest with McSorley.
PENN STATE 28, MICHIGAN STATE 17