Recap: Penn State retains the Land Grant Trophy following 28-10 win over Michigan State

Penn State gets its first conference win of the season with a 28-10 win over Michigan State.

Three straight runs by Kaytron Allen puts it away for Penn State. The Nittany Lions are up 18 points with two minutes to play.

Penn St: 28
Mich St: 10

Two roughing the passer penalties gave the Spartans great field position, but a sack by Daryus Dixson led to a fumble, recovered by Penn State. Nittany Lions take over at their own 30-yard line with 3:15 left in the game.

Penn St: 21
Mich St: 10

Grunkemeyer leads a 13-play, 76-yard drive that results in a 4-yard touchdown reception for Devonte Ross. The Nittany Lions drained just over nine minutes off the clock to take an 11-point lead with 4:32 to play.

Penn St: 21
Mich St: 10

Dennis-Sutton records his second sack of the day to force a 3rd and 30 and eventually a punt. There’s 13:37 left in the game.

Penn St: 14
Mich St: 10

Penn State converted two first downs but was eventually forced to punt. Nwosu’s 41-yard punt pins the Spartans deep at their own 4-yard line.

Penn State holds Michigan State to just three yards, forcing a three and out with 8:27 left in the 3rd quarter. The Nittany Lions take over at their own 17-yard line.

The Nittany Lions converted one first down, but that’s all. Nwosu punted the ball 68 yards for just a four-yard return, giving Michigan State the ball at its own 22-yard line with 9:15 to play.

Michigan State converts one first down, but is then forced to punt following a three-yard tackle for loss by Zakee Wheatley on running back Makhi Frazier on third down. The Nittany Lions take over at their own 9-yard line following a punt.

Penn St: 14
Mich St: 10

Penn State runs out the clock to take a 14-10 lead into halftime.

After a 16-yard run by Milivojevic, Penn State holds Michigan State to just four more yards and a punt. Penn State takes over at its own 11-yard line with 54 seconds left in the half.

Instead of kicking the field goal, Penn State went for it on 4th and 2 from the MSU 22-yard line. However, Grunk’s scramble results in a 6-yard loss and a turnover on downs.

Dani Dennis-Sutton blocks punter Ryan Eckley’s kick. The Nittany Lions take over at the Michigan State 41-yard line with 6:09 left in the first half.

Grunkemeyer hits wide receiver Devonte Ross for a 75-yard touchdown to take a 14-10 lead. Grunk is now 5 for 8 on the day with 119 yards passing and one touchdown.

Penn St: 14
Mich St: 10

The Spartans go eight plays for 52 yards, but they’re unable to convert on 3rd and 4. Kicker Martin Connington converts the 24-yard field goal to give Michigan State the lead with 8:40 left in the half.

Mich St: 10
Penn St: 7

Penn State had a 4th and 1, but running back Nick Singleton was held to no gain. Michigan State takes over at its own 42-yard line. 13:27 left to play in the second quarter.

Dani Dennis-Sutton pressured Milivojevic to force an incompletion on 4th and 3 from the PSU 38-yard line. Penn State takes over.

Penn State gained three yards on a Nick Singleton carry to open the drive before back-to-back incompletions to go three and out. Gabe Nwosu’s punt goes 39 yards. An eight-yard return has the Spartans already in PSU territory at the 45-yard line. 3:19 left in the first quarter.

The Spartans went three and out. Pena then returned a 48-yard punt for nine yards to PSU’s 11-yard line with 4:25 left in the first quarter.

The Nittany Lions go 12 plays for 75 yards. Kaytron Allen rushed it in for eight yards out with 5:50 left to play in the first quarter. Grunkemeyer went 4 for 4 on that drive for 44 yards, including a 25-yard reception to Trebor Pena to set up the score.

Mich St: 7
Penn St: 7

Ethan Grunkemeyer is sacked on third and four for a nine-yard loss to go three and out. Following the punt, Michigan State running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver goes 57 yards on his first carry for a score.

Mich St: 7
Penn St: 0

Penn State calls tails. The coin falls heads. Michigan State wins the toss and defers. The Lions will get the ball first at Spartan Stadium.

Penn State is now a 7-point favorite at BetMGM. The Nittany Lions opened the week as a 7.5-point favorite.

Blue White Illustrated subscribers can join Greg Pickel in the Lions Den for updates from Spartan Stadium.

ICYMI: Former head coach James Franklin appears to be inching closer to taking the job at Virginia Tech. Also, one of Penn State’s top candidates, Mike Elko, is close to locking in a long-term contract with Texas A&M.

This is a bigger injury report than expected. AJ Belgrave-Shorter is a new addition to the list. So is cornerback AJ Harris in the questionable category. Backup quarterbacks Bekkem Kritza and Jaxon Smolik are both out, leaving wide receiver Liam Clifford as Ethan Grunkemeyer’s backup.

For Michigan State, quarterback Aidan Chiles is also listed as out, assuring that freshman Alessio Milivojevic will start under center. Milivojevic started against Minnesota two weeks ago.

Penn State will be without safety Antoine Belgrave-Shorter and edge rusher Chaz Coleman for today’s game against Michigan State. Cornerback AJ Harris is also listed as questionable coming into the game.

Below is Penn State’s complete injury report.

Listed as OUT vs. Michigan State

#3 Antoine Belgrave-Shorter
#7 Kaden Saunders
#13 Tony Rojas
#14 Jaxon Smolik
#15 Drew Allar
#16 Bekkem Kritza
#18 Max Granville
#19 Josiah Brown
#19 Chaz Coleman
#30 Kari Jackson
#34 Owen Wafle
#38 Jackson Pryts
#42 Mason Robinson
#46 Cortez Harris
#58 Kaleb Artis
#59 Brady O’Hara
#61 Liam Horan
#81 Donte Nastasi
#82 Ethan Black
#84 Peter Gonzalez
#88 Sam Siafa
#93 Bobby Mears
#95 Jordan Mayer

Listed as QUESTIONABLE vs. Michigan State

#4 A.J. Harris
#52 Dominic Rulli