Post-Game Notes: Penn State
11/15/2025 10:53:00 PM | Football
GAME NOTES
• Junior defensive lineman Jalen Thompson was Saturday's game captain . . . Thompson joined three of MSU's season captains for the coin toss in senior offensive lineman Matt Gulbin, graduate defensive lineman Quindarius Dunnigan and senior linebacker Sam Edwards.
• MSU recognized 26 Spartan seniors in a pregame ceremony.
SERIES NOTES
• Saturday's game marked the 39th all-time meeting between Michigan State and Penn State . . . PSU now leads the all-time series, 20-18-1 . . . Saturday marked the first meeting in East Lansing between the Spartans and Nittany Lions since MSU's 30-27 win in the 2021 regular-season finale that was played in constant snowfall . . . MSU now leads the series in games played in East Lansing, 11-7.
• 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-grant system was patterned . . . Since 1993, Penn State leads the series, 19-10, with the series split, 6-6, in the last 12 meetings.
OFFENSE
• Michigan State had its same starting five offensive lineman as last game at Minnesota: redshirt freshman Rustin Young at left tackle, graduate senior Caleb Carter at left guard, graduate senior Matt Gulbin at center, redshirt freshman Rakeem Johnson at right guard and redshirt junior Conner Moore at right tackle.
• Saturday's game and last game at Minnesota (11/1/15) marked just the second time that MSU had the same starting quintet of offensive linemen in back-to-back games, as the Spartans also had the same starting five offensive linemen in the Nebraska and UCLA games of Moore at left tackle, Carter at left guard, Gulbin at center, redshirt junior Kristian Phillips at right guard and redshirt junior Ashton Lepo at right tackle.
• The Spartans scored on their opening drive for the seventh time this season, including the sixth TD to go with one FG, as MSU scored on senior running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver's 57-yard TD run on the first offensive play . . . MSU had previously scored on its opening drive vs. Western Michigan (TD; 8/29/25), Boston College (TD; 9/6/25), Youngstown State (TD; 9/13/25), USC (TD; 9/20/25), UCLA (TD; 10/11/25) and Indiana (FG; 10/18/25).
• The 57-yard TD on the first offensive play was MSU's first time scoring a TD on the first play from scrimmage since Sept. 11, 2021, when QB Payton Thorne connected with WR Jayden Reed for a 75-yard TD vs. Youngstown State on the way to the Spartans' 42-14 win over the Penguins.
• Tau-Tolliver's 57-yard run was his second-straight game with a 50+ yard rush after an 85-yard run last week at Minnesota that was his collegiate career-long.
• It was also ninth rushing play of 20+ yards but the second rushing TD of over 20-yards, as Tau-Tolliver now has both explosive running plays (20-plus yards) for TDs, with a 22-yard run in the Youngstown State game (9/13/25) . . . Tau-Tolliver added a 32-yard reception later in the game . . . MSU now has 39 total explosive plays (20+ yards), with 25 pass plays, nine rushing plays, three kick returns and two punt returns . . . Tau-Tolliver's TD run was the Spartans' eighth scoring explosive play overall.
• Tau-Tolliver finished with six carries for 79 yards . . . he now has 206 yards on 17 carries in his last two games . . . he doubled his season receiving output with eight catches for 73 yards Saturday after entering the game with just seven catches for 48 yards . . . the eight catches Saturday was more than his season totals of three and seven in 2022 and 2023, respectively, during this time at Sacramento State.
• The eight catches by Tau-Tolliver was not only a season-high, but also the second-most of his collegiate career behind 11 catches in a game vs. Weber State last year during his time at Sacramento State.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic made his second-straight start of his career, but his first at Spartan Stadium . . . Milivojevic was 17-of-27 for 128 yards . . . Milivojevic was 4-of-4 for 44 yards during MSU's scoring drive in the second quarter, part of MSU's eight-play, 52-yard drive, capped by freshman placekicker Martin Connington's 24-yard field goal to give MSU a 10-7 lead at the 8:40 mark of the second quarter . . . Milivojevic completed his next three passes as well for seven-consecutive completions.
• Sophomore running back Makhi Frazier had a team-high eight carries for 27 yards in his return to action after missing the Minnesota game with an injury . . . Frazier had a game-long 11-yard rush, as his game-long rush has been 10+ yards in seven of his nine games played.
• Redshirt junior tight end Michael Masunas tied a career-high with three catches, matching his outing vs. Boston College (9/6/25), and it was his fourth game this season with multiple catches.
• Sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh had two receptions to extend his streak of at least one reception in 21 consecutive games, with one in every game that he's appeared in as a Spartan, including multiple receptions in the last 20 games played after one catch in his Spartan debut.
• Senior wide receiver Omari Kelly had three receptions, as he now has at least one catch in all 10 games this season as a Spartan, including multiple catches in nine of the 10 games.
DEFENSE
• Graduate defensive back Malcolm Bell shared the team lead with a game-high eight tackles, as he now has five or more stops in the last two games as part of three of the last four, with four total outings.
• Along with a season-high mark, Bell's eight stops tied for his second-most of his career, behind nine stops vs. Ball State (10/15/22) during his career at UConn.
• Bell added 1.0 tackle for loss, marking his third-straight game with at least 0.5 tackle for loss, now with 3.0 TFLs on the season.
• Redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Matthews III shared the team lead, matching with eight tackles, along with 1.0 TFL . . . Matthews posted five or more stops for the eighth time in the nine games in which he's played complete game, after leaving the USC game in second quarter with an injury.
• Matthews registered 1.0 TFL, for the fifth game with at least 0.5 TFL, now with 3.5 TFLs on the season.
• Matthews added one pass break-up, for the first of the season and tying his career-high for the fourth time, but the first of his MSU career, and first since 2023 during his time at Old Dominion vs. Western Kentucky (11/25/23).
• Redshirt junior defensive lineman Alex VanSumeren matched Matthews and Bell with eight tackles . . . with the eight stops, VanSumeren set a new career-high to register or tie a career-best for the fourth time this season, after setting a new top career mark of six in the USC (9/20/25), then tying it in the UCLA (10/11/25) and Indiana (10/18/25) games . . . VanSumeren has logged five or more tackles in six of the 10 games.
• Senior defensive lineman Grady Kelly logged a career-high six stops, bettering his previous career-best of five tackles, that he had reached nine times previously, most recently vs. North Carolina (11/2/24) during his time at Florida State.
• Senior defensive lineman Quindarius Dunnigan posted a season-high and MSU career-best tying four tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Redshirt junior punter Ryan Eckley had five punts for a 48.4 ypp average, with a long of 58 yards in the third quarter, one of two punts of 50+ yards, adding a 55-yarder in the fourth quarter . . . Eckley now has 18 punts of 50+ yards on the season and 62 for his career.
• Eckley added three inside the 20, now with 15 on the season and 44 for his career.
• Redshirt freshman placekicker Martin Connington split the uprights on a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter, moving him to 10-of-14 on the season.
• Connington added on PAT to improve to 20-of-21 on the season.
