Nov. 20, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - Penn State (9-2, 5-2), ranked 14th in the BCS standings, will travel to East Lansing, Mich. to face Michigan State (6-5, 4-3) on Saturday in the critical regular season finale for both teams. The winner will claim the Land Grant Trophy.
The game, which is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Spartan Stadium, will be televised by ABC to more than 80 percent of the nation and will also air on the Penn State Sports Network and www.GoPSUsports.com. ESPN will broadcast the game outside of the ABC coverage area to the rest of the nation.
Penn State will be looking to earn its 21st season with at least 10 wins under Coach Joe Paterno. The Nittany Lions have reached the 10-win mark twice in the past four seasons. Last year, Penn State was 11-1 in the regular season, winning the Big Ten Championship and playing USC in the 2009 Rose Bowl.
The Nittany Lions have won at least nine games in a season for the 29th time under Paterno, including each of the past five years.
Penn State also will be looking to continue its success on the road. With their 34-13 win at Northwestern on Oct. 31, the Nittany Lions have a 7-1 record on the road the past two seasons, with a 3-0 mark this year. Penn State has won at least three Big Ten road games for the ninth time in its 17th season of conference play, including three times since 2005.
The only time Penn State has gone 4-0 on the road in Big Ten play was during its 12-0 campaign in 1994.
The Nittany Lion defense again has been superb all season. Penn State leads the Big Ten in three of the six primary defensive statistical categories and is second in the other two.
The Nittany Lions lead the conference in: scoring defense (11.6 ppg), tackles for losses (91, 8.3 avg.) and sacks (34, 3.1 avg.). Penn State is second in rushing yards per game (93.9 avg.) and total defense (272.0 ypg) and third in passing yards per game (178.1 avg).
The Penn State defense is ranked in the Top 20 nationally in all the major statistical categories: scoring (4th), rushing (8th), passing (17th) and total defense (9th), as well as TFL (7th) and sacks (9th).
Penn State, Alabama and Oklahoma are the nation's only teams ranked in the Top 20 in all six of the primary defensive categories.
Penn State leads the nation with 91 tackles for loss, but six other teams that have not played 11 contests have a higher per game average. The Nittany Lions also lead the nation in red zone defense (64 percent, 16 of 25).
Under the direction of first team All-Big Ten quarterback Daryll Clark, the Nittany Lions are the only Big Ten team ranked in the conference's top five in the four primary team statistical categories: rushing, passing, total and scoring offense. Penn State is third in the Big Ten in total offense (403.5 ypg), second in pass efficiency (137.5 rating), fifth in scoring (28.5 ppg), fifth in passing offense (231.2 ypg) and fifth in rushing (172.3 ypg).
Junior tailback Evan Royster accumulated 134 all-purpose yards in last week's 31-20 win over Indiana and moved within 10 yards of becoming the seventh Nittany Lion all-time with multiple 1,000-yard seasons. His 5.7 per carry average leads all Big Ten running backs with at least 90 carries.
Michigan State became bowl eligible last week by gaining its sixth win of the season with a 40-37 come-from-behind victory at Purdue. Down 11 points early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans erased the deficit by outscoring the Boilermakers 17-3 in the game's final 11:34.>
Sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins leads the Michigan State attack, which is ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten in passing (274.1) and total offense (413.8). The conference's leader in passing efficiency (149.7), he has thrown for 2,305 yards, completing 61.9 percent of his passes (169-273), with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. Wide receiver Blair White, who is fourth in the Big Ten with 61 receptions, is Cousins' primary target. His 854 receiving yards and eight touchdowns lead the team. Freshman running back Larry Caper is MSU's leading ground gainer, totaling 411 yards on 101 carries (4.1 avg.) and six touchdowns.
Wide receiver Keshawn Martin leads MSU with 1,067 all-purpose yards. He has 12 catches for 251 yards (20.9) and three touchdowns, has run for 217 yards on only 14 carries (15.5) with one score and is No. 3 in the Big Ten in kickoff returns with a 31.7 average and one touchdown on 14 returns.
Linebacker Greg Jones headlines a Michigan State defense that is allowing 23.5 points per game. He tops the Big Ten in tackles with 126 and leads the team in tackles for loss (11.0) and sacks (7.5).
In a series that dates back to 1914, Penn State holds a 13-12-1 advantage over Michigan State. With the Nittany Lions' entry into the Big Ten in 1993, the teams have played in the regular season finale the past 16 years, with the victor taking possession of the Land Grant Trophy, a prize that honors Penn State's and Michigan State's unique place in history as the two pioneer land-grant institutions in the United States. The Nittany Lions won, 49-18, last year in Beaver Stadium in a battle for the Big Ten Championship.
The teams have combined to score 1,004 points in their 16 conference clashes (62.7 ppg).