JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
THE GAME: Penn State (4-3 Big Ten, 8-3 overall) @ Michigan State (2-5 Big Ten, 6-5 overall), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan.
WINNER GETS: The Land Grant Trophy. Oooh, yeah. … If you haven’t heard, PSU and MSU are land-grant institutions, and both colleges were founded in 1855 (a history lesson in a PSU preview cap, oh my). Anyway, the winner gets the Land Grant Trophy, which is one of two trophies PSU plays for. The other? Anyone? Bueller? The Governor’s Victory Bell against Minnesota. The Big Ten has 15 trophy games. Hmmm. Interesting.
ON THE TUBE: ABC will carry the game, with Terry Gannon (the former N.C. State basketball player, remember him?) and David Norrie in the booth and Jeannine Edwards on the sideline. Lemme check if Jeannine has her own webpage. Bingo! She does. Turns out Ms. Edwards does a lot of horseracing coverage for the network. Take a look here. … Oh yeah, for the last time this regular season: this is the 163rd time in the last 165 games that PSU has been on TV. Any takers?
ON THE RADIO: Penn State Sports Network with Steve Jones and Jack Ham. Mmmmmmm, Ham. That was my best Homer Simpson impersonation. Thank you. Thank you very much.
THE COACHES: PSU’s Joe Paterno is in his 42nd year and he’s 371-124-3 overall, including an 11-4 mark against MSU. JoePa was also a little testy at his presser on Tuesday. Seems he was getting a little tired of the when-are-you-going-to-retire questions. More on that in a second. Keep reading. … MSU’s Mark Dantonio is in his first year as head coach of the Spartans, who are 6-5 overall.
PATERNO ON HIS HEALTH AND THE FUTURE: “You guys ask me questions I haven’t thought about. My knee is fine. If you asked me how my head was, maybe you’d have a legitimate question. No, I’m fine. Physically I’m fine. What I’m going to do … I’ve got to think about Michigan State. You guys got to think I’m sitting home figuring out, ‘Well, now let’s see, where is my crutch, and give me a little something to lean on’ I’ve got to worry about Michigan State, make sure we get the right people in the right place, doing the right thing, which isn’t as easy sometimes as you guys may think.”
PATERNO, WHEN ASKED AGAIN ABOUT RETIRING: “I really don’t know what I’m going to do. I have no plans to retire right now, next year, two years, I don’t know. But I think a time will come when all of the sudden, I’ll say, ‘Hey, it’s time to get out of it.’ And hopefully I’ll be smart enough to recognize that. But right now, I’m only interested in Michigan State.”
THE SERIES: This is the 25th meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Spartans, and PSU leads 12-11-1. … This is the 15th time since 1993 (when PSU joined the Big Ten) that the Nittany Lions and Spartans have butted heads in the regular-season finale for both teams. … Last year: PSU won 17-13 in Happy Valley. … Next meeting: Nov. 22, 2008 in the Beav.
PENN STATE LAST WEEK: In a glorified home game, the Nittany Lions blanked lowly Temple 31-0 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Hey, Temple has three wins this season; sorry for calling the Owls lowly. Slip of the tongue.
PENN STATE SCHEDULE/RESULTS: 9-1 Florida International (W 59-0), 9-8 Notre Dame (W 31-10), 9-15 Buffalo (W 45-24), 9-22 @ Michigan (L 14-9), 9-29 @ Illinois (L 27-20), 10-6 Iowa (W 27-7), 10-13 Wisconsin (W 38-7), 10-20 @ Indiana (W 36-31), 10-27 Ohio State (L 37-17), 11-3 Purdue (W 26-19), 11-10 @ Temple (W 31-0), 11-17 @ Michigan State (3:30 p.m., ABC-TV).
MICHIGAN STATE LAST WEEK: The Spartans whacked Purdue 48-31 in a score-fest, as QB Brian Hoyer passed for 266 yards and 2 TDs, WR Devin Thomas had 10 catches for 116 yards and (drum roll please, for the sweetest name in college football) Jehuu Caulcrick rushed for 77 yards and 2 TDs for the Spartans.
MICHIGAN STATE SCHEDULE/RESULTS: 9-1 Alabama-Birmingham (W 55-18), 9-8 Bowling Green (W 28-17), 9-15 Pitt (W 17-13, and that’s when Pitt was really bad), 9-22 @ Notre Dame (W 31-14), 9-29 @ Wisconsin (L 37-34), 10-6 Northwestern (L 48-41 in OT), 10-13 Indiana (W 52-27), 10-20 @ Ohio State (L 24-17), 10-27 @ Iowa (L 34-27 in OT), 11-3 Michigan (L 28-24), 11-10 @ Purdue (W 48-31), 11-17 Penn State (3:30 p.m., ABC-TV).
PENN STATE STAT PACK: Rushing – Rodney Kinlaw 194-1,061, 5.5 avg, 8 TD; Passing – Anthony Morelli 203-of-336 for 2,320 yards, 17 TD, 9 picks (who says PSU doesn’t throw enough?); Receiving – Derrick Williams 47-470, 10.0 avg, 3 TD; Scoring – Kevin Kelly 18-of-23 field goals, 37-of-38 PAT, 91 points; Tackles – Dan Connor 63 solos, 60 assists, 123 total, 13 ½ for loss.
MICHIGAN STATE STAT PACK: Rushing – Javon Ringer 211-1,298, 6 TD; Passing – Brian Hoyer 193-of-319 for 2,337 yards, 14 TD, 5 picks; Receiving – Devin Thomas 68-1,087, 5 TD; Scoring – (here he comes) Jehuu Caulcrick 20 TD, 120 points; Tackles – Kendell Davis-Clark 43 solos, 26 assists, 69 total, 5 ½ for loss.
ABOUT PENN STATE: RB Rodney Kinlaw rushed for 168 yards against Temple, and became the 11th PSU back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. … QB Anthony Morelli was solid against Temple, completing 22-of-33 passes for 260 yards and 3 TDs – a pair to Jordan Norwood. Morelli is the first PSU QB ever (yep, ever) to have a pair of 2,000-yard passing seasons. … PSU held Temple to 4 rushing yards on 23 carries. … LB Dan Connor tied his career-best with 18 total tackles against the Owls. He earned Big Ten and Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week kudos for his effort. … Derek Williams caught seven passes for a career-high 104 yards in the win over Temple. … Bowl me over: PSU is bowl-eligible. The latest rumor has the Nittany Lions going to San Antonio to play in the Alamo Bowl against a Big 12 opponent – possibly Texas. I’ve been to the Alamo. It’s very, very tiny. But the Riverwalk is pretty sweet. … RB Evan Royster (ankle) will dress.
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE: Spartans are second in the Big Ten and 21st in the country in rushing offense, pounding out 205.4 yards a game. … Javon Ringer (1,298 yards) is second in the Big Ten and 15th in the nation in rushing, and (here he comes again) Jehuu Caulcrick has added 714 yards and he’s fourth in the nation in scoring with 20 TDs. … Junior QB Brian Hoyer is fourth in the Big Ten in passing efficiency, and his favorite target, Devin Thomas, is over 1,000 receiving yards and he’s 10th in the nation in receiving yards a game, and he leads the Big Ten in punt returns. … If you think Jehuu Caulcrick is a cool name, DE Jonal Saint-Dic has 42 tackles – 14 for losses and 10 sacks. He’s also forced eight fumbles.
PATERNO ON MICHIGAN STATE: “We’re playing a very, very good football team. Michigan State lost to three of the better teams that are in the top 25 … Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin. They lost by a total of, I think 12, 14 points. We’re playing a very, very good football team. It’s a senior day for them at home. I think we have to play well. To say that the season is going to be epitomized by one game bothers me a little bit. We could have won a couple of other games earlier in the year and for one reason or another we didn’t. So I think we have to go out and play well. It’s a young team in the sense of how much eligibility they have. I’ve argued with people talking about they’re young. I don’t mean they’re young in the sense of how much they have played, but there are a lot of kids coming back, and a lot of guys that are really starting to play better at the end of the year, and I think we ought to just go in and play, and hopefully we can win it, but it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a tough football game.”
THE PICK: Ah yes, my final pick of the regular season. I’d love to go back and see how many of these I’ve butchered over the last 12 weeks. I’m completely fascinated by this Jehuu Caulcrick guy. A, because he’s got the greatest name ever. And B, because he’s got 20 rushing TDs, for crying out loud. So PSU must (repeat: must) keep the Spartans out of the Red Zone as much as possible, because if MSU gets inside, say, the 10, they’re going to hand the ball to Jehuu four times until he slams his way into the house. But the pick is Penn State. I know the Nittany Lions have struggled on the road against the Big Ten this season (um, they’re winless, come to think of it), but Morelli is playing well (yeah, those numbers against Temple really did count) and Kinlaw is becoming a major force. Not sure how much Royster is going to play, so Kinlaw might get some more touches against MSU. Not sure if that’s good or bad; if Royster isn’t 100 percent, who will get carries when Kinlaw takes a breather? Could mean more passes, too. Still, PSU has enough firepower to fend off MSU, which has some great stats (if you’ve been reading along). Penn State 27, Michigan State 21. Land Grant Trophy is headed to State College. Next stop: San Antonio. Yee-haw.
