Penn State performs a sneaky essential recreation Saturday in opposition to an erratic Michigan State group that carry who-know-what form of mojo to Beaver Stadium. In response to James Franklin, the Lions have “good mojo” borne from a three-game win streak. However the Spartans might might include something.
So what to anticipate on Senior Day? Let’s attempt to unravel it.
No. 11 Penn State (9-2) vs. Michigan State (5-6)
When: 4 p.m. ET Saturday
The place: Beaver Stadium
TV: FS1
Streaming: fuboTV (Begin your free trial)
Betting Line: Penn State is an 18.5-point favourite in accordance with SI Sportsbook
Collection Historical past: Michigan State leads 18-17-1
Final Assembly: Michigan State 30-27 in 2021
Streaks: James Franklin is 3-5 in opposition to the Spartans
The Story Line
Aside from Senior Day, and quarterback Sean Clifford’s last residence recreation, the Lions have a considerable quantity using on Saturday’s final result. Penn State can document its fourth 10-win season beneath Franklin and second for Clifford as a starter. Ten wins symbolize a hit charge in faculty soccer that is troublesome to realize and harder to take care of. After two down years, it might mark a restoration of types for Franklin and his program.
The top coach has spent his time period at Penn State explaining how program, college and administrative alignment mix to generate success. Now, apparently, he has it with Athletic Director Patrick Kraft and Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi.
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“That is in all probability the most important factor,” Franklin stated. “I really feel like I can focus extra of my time and vitality on our gamers and our program proper now than in all probability I ever have in 12 years [as a head coach.”
With that newfound freedom, Franklin has the opportunity to turn a 10-win season into a runway to the expanded playoff. Ten wins might convince tweener players considering the NFL Draft to return for another season. They also turn recruits’ heads and, more important, appeal to impact players in the Transfer Portal.
Penn State could use an impact receiver (or two) and perhaps an offensive tackle (or two). Beating Michigan State, closing the regular season with four straight wins and playing in a New Year’s 6 bowl would help with that.
Penn State coach James Franklin can record his fourth 10-win regular season with a victory over Michigan State on Saturday.
Dan Rainvillle/USA Today Sports
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Penn State Players to Watch
Sean Clifford: Clifford’s last home start marks his 23rd at Beaver Stadium. He is the only Penn State quarterback to throw for 10,000 yards. And he knows fans are ready for him to go. So give him the ovation he deserves.
Nicholas Singleton: Penn State likely will run at Michigan State, which fields the nation’s 100th-ranked rushing defense. Last week was Kaytron Allen’s opportunity to shine. On Saturday, Singleton tops 1,000 yards as a freshman.
Abdul Carter: The freshman linebacker led Penn State in defensive snaps at Rutgers and has three tackles for loss the past two weeks. He’s going to be special.
Michigan State Players to Watch
Cal Haladay: The linebacker ranks second in the Big Ten in tackles (9.9 per game) and made 19 vs. Rutgers. Singleton and Allen will keep him busy.
Payton Thorne: The quarterback’s completion rate (63.4 percent) is a point higher than Clifford but he’s also thrown 10 interceptions. Thorne and Clifford are similar, but Clifford has a better run game.
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Bryce Baringer: He’s the country’s best punter in terms of yards (48.4 per attempt) but his per-game average has been dwindling since October, as Big Ten weather kicked in.
The Prediction
Penn State has no idea what state Michigan State is in, and the Spartans might now know either. On Wednesday, seven players were charged, one with felony assault, following the Oct. 29 tunnel incident at Michigan Stadium. Coach Mel Tucker said earlier this week that he doesn’t have enough healthy players to conduct contact drills. And the Spartans blew a 17-point, second-half lead at home last week against Indiana.
Perhaps Michigan State rallies above all that to play its game of the season. To counter, the Lions should employ a first-strike strategy. If the defense comes out hot and Clifford controls his emotions, Penn State should take charge quickly and stifle the Spartans.
Penn State 34, Michigan State 14
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. has been everything fans anticipated when he first committed to the program as a highly touted recruit.
Fears has been the team’s floor general and has been one of the main reasons the offense has flowed as well as it has.
The young point guard addressed the media on Monday, discussing the current state of the team, its upcoming meeting with Washington and more.
You can watch below:
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Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had spoken to the media earlier on Monday. Below is a partial transcript from his opening statement:
Izzo: “As I told you earlier in the year, I was hoping after Christmas, we’d to get a real good feel where everybody is. And I think we started to. We started looking at some teams that were struggling a little bit. Washington was one of them, and Oregon was one that was the other way. And then all of a sudden, Illinois goes out there and beats them by 30, and then Maryland, who was really playing well, goes out there and loses, too. I think it’s going to be hard on fans, hard on media, hard on coaches, hard on everybody to know this is going to be the norm, I think. Washington, after not looking as good, beat a good Maryland team, and then, it was a tie game last night with 30 seconds left and after being down big early. So, I think you’re seeing what I said early, that all these teams are good. Travel, different things, is going to make a difference in teams’ play sometimes. Right now, we return to Big Ten play with a, I think, an impressive win. I mean, there’s a team that beat Kentucky by 20 and has a very good team. We’re on the road, get a lead. Yes, we lose the lead, but we bounced back. … So, in a sick sort of way, does it make it better that we win in the way we did? Last 8 minutes of the game, we didn’t have a turnover after we turned the ball over a lot early. We executed well, we went on an 8-0 run ourselves, and I thought that spoke volumes about our team.”
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Michigan State football has two new assistant coaches, adding a defensive coach and quarterbacks coach under head coach Jonathan Smith.
The Spartans on Monday announced the hiring of James Adams from Wake Forest to work with their safeties. He will take over that position from secondary coach Blue Adams (no relation), who will assume former assistant Demetrice Martin’s role overseeing cornerbacks.
The school also confirmed Jon Boyer will is leaving Oregon State to coach MSU’s quarterbacks. Spartans offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren was responsible for the quarterbacks last season.
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James Adams is a 16-year coaching veteran and Wake Forest alum who has been at his alma mater since 2022 under since-retired coach Dave Clawson. Adams began his career as a graduate assistant in 2009 with the Demon Deacons after winning two letters as a linebacker in 2005-06. He served as associate head coach and safeties coach with Wake Forest last season, and also has made stops at Purdue (2021), Navy (2020), Western Michigan (2019), Charlotte (2011-18) and Wofford (2010).
“James stood out during the interview process as someone who would be a great fit for our staff,” Smith said in a statement. “He has extensive experience coaching defensive backs and has been held in high regard on previous staffs with additional responsibilities as assistant and associate head coach.”
Martin, a former MSU star player and Los Angeles native, left his post as cornerbacks coach to take a similar role at UCLA, where he will be pass game coordinator and oversee the secondary. Martin worked under Blue Adams in his lone season returning to the Spartans after spending 14 seasons coaching on the West Coast.
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Boyer moved to tight ends coach last season with the Beavers after Smith and the bulk of his staff left for MSU. Boyer spent the previous six seasons as the Beavers’ quality control coach and senior advisor on offense after serving as offensive coordinator at his alma mater Northern Colorado of the Football Championship Subdivision from 2012-17. Boyer was the Bears’ starting quarterback in 2000-01, then stayed there from 2002-05 and coached quarterbacks in 2004-05 before becoming offensive coordinator at Colorado Mesa from 2007-10.
“In having worked with Jon for several years at Oregon State, he has a thorough knowledge of our offensive scheme and what we’re trying to accomplish on that side of the ball,” Smith said in a statement. “He has strong relationships with our staff, and has done a great job throughout his career of developing and working with quarterbacks.”
As an understudy to Lindgren at Oregon State, Boyer worked with former Beavers quarterback DJ Uiagalelei as well as Aidan Chiles in 2023. Chiles returns in 2025 for his second season as the MSU starter.
That brings Smith’s coaching staff to 11 assistants, one more than the previous limit. The NCAA lifted those limitations in June, permitting any staff member to provide on-field coaching, but only 10 assistants and the head coach are permitted to actively recruit off campus.
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Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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Michigan Wolverines (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) at UCLA Bruins (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten)
Los Angeles; Tuesday, 10 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Michigan visits No. 15 UCLA after Danny Wolf scored 21 points in Michigan’s 85-74 victory against the USC Trojans.
The Bruins have gone 8-0 in home games. UCLA is 10-2 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 11.1 turnovers per game.
The Wolverines are 3-0 against Big Ten opponents. Michigan has a 2-3 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
UCLA’s average of 7.4 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.5 more made shots on average than the 6.9 per game Michigan gives up. Michigan averages 24.9 more points per game (84.1) than UCLA gives up (59.2).
The Bruins and Wolverines face off Tuesday for the first time in conference play this season.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler Bilodeau is scoring 14.5 points per game with 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists for the Bruins.
Vladislav Goldin is averaging 13.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Wolverines.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 8-2, averaging 75.9 points, 29.4 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 8.9 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.2 points per game.
Wolverines: 8-2, averaging 83.6 points, 36.3 rebounds, 17.0 assists, 6.2 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 49.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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