Bowl Bid On The Line In Regular-Season Finale
11/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 14, 2000
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GAME 11: QUICK FACTS
DATE: Nov. 18, 2000SITE: Beaver Stadium (93,967), State College, Pa.
KICKOFF: 12:10 p.m. EST
ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE: 96,000-plus (sellout)
LAST WEEK: Michigan State upset No. 9 Purdue, 30-10, in East Lansing, Penn State lost at No. 20 Michigan, 33-11.
BROADCAST COVERAGE: Radio - The Spartan Radio Network, featuring veteran play-by-play announcer George Blaha, color analyst Larry Bielat, sideline reporter Will Tieman and broadcast host Matt Dery, will broadcast the game to 39 affiliates throughout the state. Michigan State football broadcasts can be heard locally on flagship station WJIM (AM 1240, FM 97.5). Television - ESPN Regional will televise the Michigan State-Penn State game live with Wayne Larrivee, Randy Wright and Jim Barbar calling the action.
THE COACHES - Michigan State's Bobby Williams (Purdue 1982) is 6-5 (.545) in his first full season as a college head coach. Williams, who served as the Spartans' running backs coach for 10 years (1990-99), made his head coaching debut on Jan. 1, 2000, as he led Michigan State to a 37-34 victory over No. 10 Florida in the Florida Citrus Bowl. The Spartans finished the 1999 season with a 10-2 overall record and ranked No. 7 in the final polls. During his tenure at Michigan State, Williams coached seven 1,000-yard rushers including Sedrick Irvin, who in 1998 became the first Spartan in school history to reach the rushing milestone in each of his first three sea-sons.
Penn State's Joe Paterno (Brown 1950) is 321-90-3 (.779) in his 35th year as a college head coach, all with the Nittany Lions. The four-time National Coach of the Year is in his 51st season on the Penn State staff. His 321 victories rank sec-ond all-time among major college coaches, trailing only Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant who won 323 games in 38 seasons. Paterno has led the Nittany Lions to five unde-feated seasons, two national championships (1982 and '86) and 20 bowl victories.
MICHIGAN STATE-PENN STATE SERIES BREAKDOWN
SERIES RECORD: MSU leads 10-6-1IN STATE COLLEGE: Tied 4-4-1
FIRST MEETING: MSU 6, Penn State 3 (Nov. 13, 1914)
LAST MEETING: MSU 35, Penn State 28 (Nov. 20, 1999)
LAST PSU WIN: Penn State 51, MSU 28 (Nov. 28, 1998)
BOBBY WILLIAMS vs. PENN STATE: First Meeting
JOE PATERNO vs. MSU: 5-3
CURRENT SERIES STREAK: 1 by MSU (1999)
LONGEST MSU STREAK: 5 (1949-66)
LONGEST PENN STATE STREAK: 4 (1993-96)
MSU/PENN STATE SERIES NOTES - Michigan State leads it 10-6-1, including a 4-4-1 record in games played in State College, Pa. Since joining the Big Ten Conference in 1993, Penn State has won five of the last seven meet-ings. Four of the last seven games have been decided by a touchdown or less. Last year, T.J. Duckett rushed for 159 yards and four TDs to lead No. 15 Michigan State to a 35-28 victory over No. 13 Penn State in Spartan Stadium. The Spartans have lost three-straight games in Beaver Stadium, including a 51-28 setback in the 1998 regular-season finale. Michigan State's last win in State College came on Sept. 25, 1965, 23-0 - the year before Joe Paterno took over as Penn State's head coach. (Note: For a complete list of all-time series scores please refer to page 180 in the 2000 MSU Football Media Guide.)
THE LAST MEETING - A fast start and a strong finish led Michigan State to a 35-28 win over Penn State to close out the regular season with the Spartans' ninth win of the year. T.J. Duckett starred offensively, rushing for four touchdowns including the game-winner with just 2:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. Duckett (season-high 22 carries for 159 yards) got things started with a 20-yard TD run on MSU's opening drive. Gari Scott's first career punt return for a TD gave MSU a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and a Penn State fumble late in the quarter set up Duckett's second TD of the day, a 9- yard run. The Spartans were up 21-0 before Penn State began to come back, first with a 1-yard run by Larry Johnson. Duckett answered with his third TD run of the first half, a 2-yarder, to give MSU a 28-7 halftime lead. Penn State posted the next four scores, however, with a pair of Kevin Thompson-to-Eddie Drummond TD passes and a pair of Travis Forney field goals to tie the score at 28. A Penn State fumble, forced by Amp Campbell and recovered by Richard Newsome, set up the game-winning drive, which included a 5-yard carry from Duckett on fourth-and-1. He finished it off on the next play with an 11-yard run and T.J. Turner helped seal the win with his second interception of the day.
TURN BACK THE CLOCK - Michigan State's last win in State College, Pa., came 35 years ago when . . .
- Joe Paterno was associate coach at Penn State under Rip Engle.
- President Lyndon Johnson occupied the White House.
- Penn State's game program sold for 50 cents in Beaver Stadium.
Sept. 25, 1965 (Michigan State 23, Penn State 0)
Steve Juday completed 10-of-13 passes for 100 yards and ran for a touchdown to lead Michigan State to a 23-0 victory over Penn State in Beaver Stadium. The Spartans jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead on two field goals by Dick Kenney (from 24 and 29 yards) and TD runs of 4 yards by Juday and 35 yards by Bob Apisa. Kenney closed out the scoring with his third field goal in the fourth quarter, a 36-yarder. Clinton Jones (14 for 81) and Apisa (13 for 76) combined for 157 yards rushing on 27 carries to pace MSU's ground attack. The Spartans outgained Penn State in total yards, 290-215.
BATTLE FOR THE LAND-GRANT TROPHY - Since the renewal of the series in 1993, the winner of the Michigan State-Penn State game has been presented the Land-Grant Trophy. The trophy honors the two universities' unique places in history as the two pioneer land-grant schools in the nation. Each institution was founded in 1855, Michigan State on Feb. 12 and Penn State on Feb. 22. The schools were the prototypes after which the land-grand system was patterned. The trophy features pictures of campus landmarks, Michigan State's Beaumont Tower and Penn State's Old Main, plus replicas of the Spartan and Nittany Lion. Since 1993, Penn State leads the series 5-2.
KEYSTONE QUARTERBACK - Michigan State's 2000 football roster features only one player from Pennsylvania, starting quar-terback Jeff Smoker (Manheim). Smoker compiled a 30-4 prep record (.882) as a three-year starter for Coach Mike Williams at Manheim Central.
THE LAST TIME OUT - Jeff Smoker threw for 195 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score to lead Michigan State to a 30-10 upset victory over No. 9 Purdue in Spartan Stadium. The Spartans jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Smoker capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 2-yard run with 6:37 left in the first quarter. Purdue answered with a 10-play, 43-yard drive and cut its deficit to 6-3 on a 36-yard field goal by Travis Dorsch. T.J. Duckett's 30-yard run around left end helped set up David Schaefer's 32-yard field goal as Michigan State extended its lead to 9-3 early in the second quarter. The Spartans moved out to a 15-3 halftime lead as Smoker's 30-yard completion to Marcus Waters preceded his 18-yard TD toss over the middle to Chris Baker with 3:07 remaining in the first half. Purdue got back into the game midway through the third quarter on a 68-yard TD strike from Drew Brees to Vinny Sutherland. Michigan State regained the momentum on the final play of the third quarter as Renaldo Hill's interception ended Purdue's 54-yard drive inside the Spartan 40. Duckett finished off a nine-play, 62-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard run around right end and Smoker's run for a two-point conversion gave Michigan State a 23-10 advantage with 10:34 on the clock. Little John Flowers iced the game with a 48-yard TD run with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter. Michigan State intercepted Brees three times while limiting Purdue to 10 points and 358 total yards - 24 points and 121 total yards below the Boilermakers' season averages. Duckett picked up 174 yards on 32 rushes as the Spartans rolled up 292 yards on the ground.
QUOTING BOBBY WILLIAMS
Purdue Recap: "The entire team played well against Purdue. The offense really executed the game plan. Jeff Smoker played a solid all-around game. We put the ball in Jeff's hands a lot and he produced in the clutch. Having a healthy T.J. Duckett in the lineup also made a big difference. T.J. ran the ball against Purdue like he did early in the year. We scored points on all four trips inside the red area and that was the key because you never know when you have enough points on the scoreboard against Purdue."The defense played a tremendous game. Coach (Bill) Miller came up with an excellent game plan and the players executed it. We did a lot of things to keep Drew Brees off balance and those different looks really kept him from finding a rhythm. We also did a great job on third down, winning nine of 12 times. We found ways to get off the field and that was certainly another key."
Penn State Scouting Report: "Penn State has had a season very similar to ours. Coach (Joe) Paterno has been forced to play a lot of young guys because of injuries. This team has given great effort all year and it has done some good things on both sides of the football, but its problem has been inconsistency.
"Penn State has some big-play ability on offense with Rashard Casey and Eric McCoo. Casey can take over a ball game because of his ability to run and throw the football. He has made some spectacular plays this season and it's going to be very important that our defense stays at home and doesn't allow him to break into the open field. McCoo is a quality running back and we all certainly remember the game he had against us two years ago. Penn State has a big, physical offensive line so we expect a tough ball game.
"Penn State has a lot of good football players on the defensive side of the ball as well. Free safety James Boyd has had an outstanding season and he's capable of making some big plays.
Another guy to keep an eye on is defensive end Justin Kurpeikis because he spends a lot of time in the offensive backfield.
"It's time to go on the road and pick up a Big Ten win. We'll need to be prepared to play in a hostile environment. It will be important for our plays to stay composed and execute the game plan. Offensively, we again need to find ways to put points on the scoreboard. Defensively, we have to stop the run first."
Playing For A Bowl Bid: "I'm really proud of the way the team has responded down the stretch.
A lot of folks wrote this team off after four-straight losses. These guys have worked hard all year and they have been in every game. We finally put things together against Purdue and played a solid all-around game. I'm happy that the players are finally getting some positive results be-cause we've talked about work ethic all season long.
"Our goal is to finish the season with a winning record and go to a bowl game. The regular-season finale at Penn State is an important one because it can help set the stage for this program's future."
INJURY REPORT
OUT: DE Dimitry Bernard (sprained left ankle vs. Notre Dame, DNP vs. Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois), OG Paul Harker (broken left foot vs. Wisconsin, out for the season), OL Sean Poole (ACL right knee in Aug. 12 practice, out for the season), DT Joe Tate (broken left fibula vs. Ohio State, out for the season), LB T.J. Turner (dislocated left shoulder vs. Iowa, out for the season).
QUESTIONABLE: DT Kyle Rasmussen (pulled groin vs. Ohio State, DNP vs. Purdue).
SPARTANS OF THE WEEK - The Michigan State coaching staff selected the following players as Spartans of the Week for their performances Nov. 11 vs. Purdue:
Offense - TB T.J. Duckett (32 rushes for 174 yards, including a 1-yard TD run), QB Jeff Smoker (accounted for 241 total yards and two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing).
Defense - CB Renaldo Hill (eight tackles, including one for a loss, and an interception, 19 production points), LB Josh Thornhill (14 tackles and a pass break-up, 19 production points).
Special Teams - Richard Brown (three solo tackles, nine production points).
