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Penn State douses interim coach Terry Smith in Gatorade after beating Michigan State

Chandler Vesselsby: Chandler Vessels6 hours agoChandlerVessels
Smith

Penn State brought out the Gatorade for interim coach Terry Smith after taking down Michigan State on Saturday. The Nittany Lions defeated the Spartans by a score of 28-10 on the road, snapping a six-game losing streak for their first victory since Sept. 13.

In the moments following the win, players snuck up behind Smith and caught him by surprise, dumping the Gatorade from a cooler on him as is a college football tradition after big wins. You can check out the moment below.

Penn State entered this season with championship aspirations and ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Poll. They got off to a 3-0 start before dropping a game against No. 6 Oregon in Week 4.

That alone didn’t spell doom for the Nittany Lions, but what followed surely did. Penn State went on to lose the following week against a winless UCLA team and then dropped a game against Northwestern. That resulted in coach James Franklin being fired midway through his 12th season at the helm.

Smith, who was previously the team’s associate head coach, took over the interim role. The Nittany Lions went on to lose three more games after he took over, including narrowly falling 27-24 against No. 2 Indiana in Week 11.

But facing a Michigan State team that had still yet to win a Big Ten game was the perfect get right spot for Penn State. The Nittany Lions held a 14-10 lead at halftime and managed to keep the Spartans scoreless for the entire second half, using a 14-point fourth quarter to pull away for good.

Penn State did so mostly behind its two-headed rushing attack of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The pair of running backs combined for 237 yards and two touchdowns total, with Allen leading the way with 181 of those yards and both TDs.

With the win, Penn State kept its hopes of at least achieving bowl eligibility alive for this season. The Nittany Lions (4-6, 1-6 Big Ten) have two more games remaining on their schedule and must win both to reach six wins for the season.

That begins next week against a Nebraska team coming off of a bye week after taking care of business againt UCLA the week prior. Kickoff time against the Cornhuskers has still yet to be announced for that game, which will also be Senior Day for Penn State.