Michigan State University Athletics
Post-Game Notes: Penn State
12/12/2020 6:24:00 PM | Football
SERIES
Saturday's game marked the 35th meeting between Michigan State and Penn State, and the all-time series is now tied, 17-17-1 . . . the Spartans have still won five of the last eight meetings against the Nittany Lions, including two Top-10 victories over PSU (No. 7 in 2017, No. 8 in 2018) . . . PSU now holds an 11-7-1 advantage in games played in University Park, but the Spartans have still won three of the last five over the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium, as MSU topped No. 8 Penn State, 21-17, in the last matchup at Beaver Stadium on Oct. 13, 2018.
OFFENSE
MSU's 21 points in the second quarter was its most in a quarter this season, bettering the 12 points in the fourth quarter vs. Northwestern, and the 21-point first half was the Spartans' most points in a half this season, topping 17 in the first half vs. Northwestern and 14 in the second half vs. Rutgers.
The Spartans' 3-play, 60-yard TD scoring drive in the second quarter was their third TD drive of over 50 yards in less than four plays, joining a 2-play, 81-yard drive vs. Northwestern and a 2-play, 75-yard drive vs. Ohio State . . . the 59 seconds of that same drive was MSU's fourth in under 1:00, along with 8 seconds vs. Rutgers, 41 seconds vs. Northwestern and 44 seconds vs. Ohio State.
MSU amassed a season-high 325 passing yards, added 64 rushing yards to end with 389 yards of total offense, its second-highest of the season.
Redshirt-freshman quarterback Payton Thorne made his first career start and was 22-of-39 passing for 325 yards and three TDs, all career highs . . . the 325 yards was not only an MSU record for most passing yards by a Spartan QB in his first start, surpassing Ed Smith with 324 in 1976, but also a freshman single-game record . . . Thorne's 325 passing yards are the fourth-most by an MSU quarterback vs. Penn State, and most since Brian Lewerke threw for 400 vs. the Nittany Lions in 2017 . . . Thorne threw his first career TD pass with the 45-yard scoring strike to Jalen Nailor in the second quarter, adding a 26-yard strike to Tre'Von Morgan and a 7-yarder to Nailor late in the second quarter.
Thorne topped his previous game career-high in the first half alone, as his 202 passing yards in the first half bettered his previous high of 147 last time out vs. Ohio State in two-and-a-half quarters, coming off the bench partway through the second stanza . . . Thorne's 45 and 26-yard TD passes give MSU seven TD pass plays of over 20 yards this season.
Redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Jalen Nailor had six catches for 100 yards, his second career 100-yard receiving outing, both coming this season, along with a career-high 119 yards vs. Iowa (11/7/20), with two touchdowns for his first career game with multiple TDs . . . Nailor snared his third TD catch of 30 or more yards with the 45-yard score in the second quarter, with a 30-yard catch in season-opener vs. Rutgers (Oct. 24) and a 75-yard scoring pass play vs. Northwestern (Nov. 28) . . . Nailor's 7-yard TD catch later in the second stanza was his first TD catch of the season under 30 yards . . . the two TDs was Nailor's first multi-TD outing of his Spartan career, as he only had four career TDs entering Saturday, with two TD catches for his 2018 and 2020 season totals.
Nailor adds to his team-lead of pass plays of 20+ yards, now with seven of MSU's 18 pass plays over 20 yards . . . Nailor also now has 22-of-26 catches going for either a first down or touchdown, including all four of his catches in the first half, finishing with 5-of-6 for the day . . . Nailor now has a streak of at least one reception in his last 12 games played as part of 17 games of 19 total career games played . . . Nailor's 12-game streak is the longest of any active Spartan.
Redshirt-freshman Tre'Von Morgan's 26-year TD catch in the second quarter was his first catch of the season in snaring his first TD of his Spartan career . . . Morgan, who wears jersey number 18, continued the Spartan magic of an MSU receiver in that jersey number, joining Spartan great Felton Davis III, who had an amazing game-winning catch at Penn Sate in 2018 . . . Morgan ended with two catches for 46 yards, adding a 20-yard catch in the fourth quarter.
Freshman running back Jordon Simmons returned to action after missing the previous two games (Northwestern and Ohio State), last playing vs. Indiana (11/14) and rushed for a season-high 72 yards, matching a career-high of 14 carries Saturday, including 39 yards on eight carries in the first half, as the 39 yards topped his previous two game outings of 34 vs. Iowa and 15 vs. Indiana.
DEFENSE
Redshirt-senior linebacker Antjuan Simmons registered his fourth-straight game in double-figure tackles with 10 stops Saturday, as part of sixth in the seven games this season in double-figure stops (11 vs. Rutgers, 11 vs. Michigan, 13 vs. Northwestern, 12 vs. Ohio State) . . . Simmons logged at least 0.5 tackle for loss in six of the seven games this season . . . the 10 tackles gives Simmons a team-leading 75 stops for the season, while the 0.5 TFL gives him 9.0 (16 yards).
Simmons' 10 tackles give him 231 for his career, cracking into MSU's career tackle list top 50, vaulting up to No. 44 . . . now with 26.0 career tackles for loss, Simmons is tied for No. 26 on MSU's career TFL list.
Redshirt-junior linebacker Noah Harvey added nine tackles and posted his first pass break-up of the season and fifth of his career with one in the first quarter . . . Harvey has recorded eight or more stops in five of the seven games this season, now with 54 on the year.
With seven tackles Saturday, redshirt-senior defensive end Drew Beesley posted a new career-high, topping previous high of six from season-opener vs. Rutgers . . . Beesley added a career-high tying pass break-up, his second overall of the season as part of four for his career.
After making his first start of the season, redshirt-junior defensive end Jack Camper collected his second-straight game with at least 0.5 tackle for loss, with 1.0 TFL Saturday, part of his career-high five total tackles Saturday.
Redshirt-sophomore defensive tackle Dashaun Mallory notched a career-high six tackles . . . with 0.5 tackle for loss, Mallory also registered his fourth game this season with at least 0.5 TFL, now with 3.0 on the season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Redshirt-senior Matt Coghlin split the uprights on a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter, and along with three PATs, became the fifth Spartan player with 300 career points and the first since former teammate Michael Geiger in 2016, now with 305 points . . . Coghlin now has at least one field goal made in five of the seven games this season, as part of 64 for his career, remaining at No. 2 on MSU's career field goals made list.
Redshirt-junior punter Bryce Baringer had a 55-yarder in the first quarter and a 52-yarder in the fourth quarter, now giving him 12 punts of 50+ yards this season, including one in each of six of the seven games played.
Saturday's game marked the 35th meeting between Michigan State and Penn State, and the all-time series is now tied, 17-17-1 . . . the Spartans have still won five of the last eight meetings against the Nittany Lions, including two Top-10 victories over PSU (No. 7 in 2017, No. 8 in 2018) . . . PSU now holds an 11-7-1 advantage in games played in University Park, but the Spartans have still won three of the last five over the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium, as MSU topped No. 8 Penn State, 21-17, in the last matchup at Beaver Stadium on Oct. 13, 2018.
OFFENSE
MSU's 21 points in the second quarter was its most in a quarter this season, bettering the 12 points in the fourth quarter vs. Northwestern, and the 21-point first half was the Spartans' most points in a half this season, topping 17 in the first half vs. Northwestern and 14 in the second half vs. Rutgers.
The Spartans' 3-play, 60-yard TD scoring drive in the second quarter was their third TD drive of over 50 yards in less than four plays, joining a 2-play, 81-yard drive vs. Northwestern and a 2-play, 75-yard drive vs. Ohio State . . . the 59 seconds of that same drive was MSU's fourth in under 1:00, along with 8 seconds vs. Rutgers, 41 seconds vs. Northwestern and 44 seconds vs. Ohio State.
MSU amassed a season-high 325 passing yards, added 64 rushing yards to end with 389 yards of total offense, its second-highest of the season.
Redshirt-freshman quarterback Payton Thorne made his first career start and was 22-of-39 passing for 325 yards and three TDs, all career highs . . . the 325 yards was not only an MSU record for most passing yards by a Spartan QB in his first start, surpassing Ed Smith with 324 in 1976, but also a freshman single-game record . . . Thorne's 325 passing yards are the fourth-most by an MSU quarterback vs. Penn State, and most since Brian Lewerke threw for 400 vs. the Nittany Lions in 2017 . . . Thorne threw his first career TD pass with the 45-yard scoring strike to Jalen Nailor in the second quarter, adding a 26-yard strike to Tre'Von Morgan and a 7-yarder to Nailor late in the second quarter.
Thorne topped his previous game career-high in the first half alone, as his 202 passing yards in the first half bettered his previous high of 147 last time out vs. Ohio State in two-and-a-half quarters, coming off the bench partway through the second stanza . . . Thorne's 45 and 26-yard TD passes give MSU seven TD pass plays of over 20 yards this season.
Redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Jalen Nailor had six catches for 100 yards, his second career 100-yard receiving outing, both coming this season, along with a career-high 119 yards vs. Iowa (11/7/20), with two touchdowns for his first career game with multiple TDs . . . Nailor snared his third TD catch of 30 or more yards with the 45-yard score in the second quarter, with a 30-yard catch in season-opener vs. Rutgers (Oct. 24) and a 75-yard scoring pass play vs. Northwestern (Nov. 28) . . . Nailor's 7-yard TD catch later in the second stanza was his first TD catch of the season under 30 yards . . . the two TDs was Nailor's first multi-TD outing of his Spartan career, as he only had four career TDs entering Saturday, with two TD catches for his 2018 and 2020 season totals.
Nailor adds to his team-lead of pass plays of 20+ yards, now with seven of MSU's 18 pass plays over 20 yards . . . Nailor also now has 22-of-26 catches going for either a first down or touchdown, including all four of his catches in the first half, finishing with 5-of-6 for the day . . . Nailor now has a streak of at least one reception in his last 12 games played as part of 17 games of 19 total career games played . . . Nailor's 12-game streak is the longest of any active Spartan.
Redshirt-freshman Tre'Von Morgan's 26-year TD catch in the second quarter was his first catch of the season in snaring his first TD of his Spartan career . . . Morgan, who wears jersey number 18, continued the Spartan magic of an MSU receiver in that jersey number, joining Spartan great Felton Davis III, who had an amazing game-winning catch at Penn Sate in 2018 . . . Morgan ended with two catches for 46 yards, adding a 20-yard catch in the fourth quarter.
Freshman running back Jordon Simmons returned to action after missing the previous two games (Northwestern and Ohio State), last playing vs. Indiana (11/14) and rushed for a season-high 72 yards, matching a career-high of 14 carries Saturday, including 39 yards on eight carries in the first half, as the 39 yards topped his previous two game outings of 34 vs. Iowa and 15 vs. Indiana.
DEFENSE
Redshirt-senior linebacker Antjuan Simmons registered his fourth-straight game in double-figure tackles with 10 stops Saturday, as part of sixth in the seven games this season in double-figure stops (11 vs. Rutgers, 11 vs. Michigan, 13 vs. Northwestern, 12 vs. Ohio State) . . . Simmons logged at least 0.5 tackle for loss in six of the seven games this season . . . the 10 tackles gives Simmons a team-leading 75 stops for the season, while the 0.5 TFL gives him 9.0 (16 yards).
Simmons' 10 tackles give him 231 for his career, cracking into MSU's career tackle list top 50, vaulting up to No. 44 . . . now with 26.0 career tackles for loss, Simmons is tied for No. 26 on MSU's career TFL list.
Redshirt-junior linebacker Noah Harvey added nine tackles and posted his first pass break-up of the season and fifth of his career with one in the first quarter . . . Harvey has recorded eight or more stops in five of the seven games this season, now with 54 on the year.
With seven tackles Saturday, redshirt-senior defensive end Drew Beesley posted a new career-high, topping previous high of six from season-opener vs. Rutgers . . . Beesley added a career-high tying pass break-up, his second overall of the season as part of four for his career.
After making his first start of the season, redshirt-junior defensive end Jack Camper collected his second-straight game with at least 0.5 tackle for loss, with 1.0 TFL Saturday, part of his career-high five total tackles Saturday.
Redshirt-sophomore defensive tackle Dashaun Mallory notched a career-high six tackles . . . with 0.5 tackle for loss, Mallory also registered his fourth game this season with at least 0.5 TFL, now with 3.0 on the season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Redshirt-senior Matt Coghlin split the uprights on a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter, and along with three PATs, became the fifth Spartan player with 300 career points and the first since former teammate Michael Geiger in 2016, now with 305 points . . . Coghlin now has at least one field goal made in five of the seven games this season, as part of 64 for his career, remaining at No. 2 on MSU's career field goals made list.
Redshirt-junior punter Bryce Baringer had a 55-yarder in the first quarter and a 52-yarder in the fourth quarter, now giving him 12 punts of 50+ yards this season, including one in each of six of the seven games played.
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