Nov. 15, 2007
Penn State will look to continue its late season surge on Saturday when it concludes the regular season at Michigan State in the battle for the Land Grant Trophy.
The Nittany Lions (8-3, 4-3) have won five of their last six games and most likely will need a win in East Lansing in order to appear in a New Year's bowl game for the third consecutive year. The Spartans (6-5, 2-5) are bowl eligible, but with a Big Ten record 10 teams having six wins, teams with seven wins will be in better position when bowl selections begin.
The battle with the Spartans will kick at 3:30 p.m. ET and air on ABC on a regional basis, with other markets across the nation receiving the game on ESPN. The contest also will air on the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics.
Penn State is coming off a 31-0 win at Temple. The Spartans are coming off a 48-31 win at Purdue, scoring 24 points in the second quarter and 17 in the fourth.
The Nittany Lions and Spartans first met in 1914 and Penn State leads the series, 12-11-1. With Penn State's entry into the Big Ten in 1993, the teams have played in the regular season finale the past 14 seasons, with the winner claiming the Land Grant Trophy.
The Nittany Lions faced four of the nation's top rushers in their initial seven Big Ten games, and are allowing the opposition less than 100 yards per game on the ground, but will face another stiff test this week. Penn State is tied for first in the Big Ten and No. 4 in the nation in rushing defense at 82.7 ypg. The Nittany Lions are tied with Ohio State. Penn State has held eight opponents to 90 rushing yards or less this season; seven to 70 yards or less.
Michigan State has one of the nation's top rushing attacks, averaging 205.4 ypg, good for second in the Big Ten. Junior Javon Ringer has gained 1,298 yards on 211 attempts for a superb 6.2 average and six touchdowns. He is No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 15 nationally in rushing. Senior Jehuu Caulcrick has rushed for 714 yards on 185 attempts (3.9) and has a Big Ten-best 20 touchdowns. He is tied for No. 4 nationally in scoring.
Although Penn State has won 11 of the 14 games vs. Michigan State since starting Big Ten play, six of the games have been decided by seven points or less and all 14 have been high scoring. During the 14 games, PSU and MSU have combined to score 871 points, an average of 62.2 points per game. The Lions have scored 486 points, an average of 34.7 ppg, while the Spartans have tallied 385 (27.5 ppg).
The Penn State defense again is emerging as one of the nation's best, ranking in the top 10 nationally in four of the primary categories.
The Nittany Lions recorded four sacks vs. Temple and lead the nation with 44. Penn State is tied for No. 4 in rushing defense (82.7 ypg), No. 5 in scoring defense (16.0 ppg), No. 7 in total defense (295.8 ypg) and No. 8 in TFL (90). Penn State is No. 26 in pass efficiency defense (113.0 rating).
The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in sacks, are tied for No. 1 in rushing defense and are No. 2 in total and scoring defense.
Senior All-America linebacker Dan Connor, a finalist for the Butkus Award, needs just three tackles to become the first Nittany Lion to record 400 career hits.
Senior quarterback Anthony Morelli was 22 of 33 for 260 yards, with three touchdowns, in the win at Temple. Morelli's 203 completions and 336 attempts this year rank second behind his single-season records of 208 and 386, respectively, from last season.
Morelli has moved into sixth place in season passing yardage with 2,320 yards. He is 104 yards shy of the 2,424 yards he posted last season, the third-best total ever, and within 360 yards of breaking the single-season mark of 2,679 yards set by Kerry Collins in 1994.