UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tight end Theo Johnson set a new career-high with a pair of touchdown catches as Penn State earned its 10th win of the year in a 35-16 victory against Michigan State on Saturday evening at Beaver Stadium.
Johnson’s first touchdown catch, which was his third of the year, was made possible by some blown coverage by the Spartans’ secondary, came on a third-and-8 for Penn State’s offense. Quarterback Sean Clifford had a number of open receivers to choose from and elected to throw to Johnson for an 11-yard score in the first quarter.
Johnson’s second touchdown catch came on a trick play in the second quarter; Clifford threw a backwards pass to wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who played some quarterback in high school.
Lambert-Smith then delivered a 48-yard strike downfield to Johnson, who waltzed into the end zone untouched to double Penn State’s advantage and make it a 14-0 ballgame. Prior to Saturday night, Johnson’s career high for touchdowns in a game was one, which he had done on three other occasions.
Just before halftime, Michigan State got on the board with a 51-yard field goal by kicker Jack Stone, which reduced Penn State’s lead to 14-3 at the break.
Fellow tight end Tyler Warren had a great sequence of events halfway through the third quarter. He recovered a fumble by Spartans wideout Jayden Reed on a punt return and two plays later, Clifford connected with Warren for his second receiving touchdown in as many weeks.
Michigan State tight end Maliq Carr was on the receiving end of quarterback Payton Thorne’s first touchdown pass of the night in the waning seconds of the third quarter, linking up for a nine-yard score.
In the fourth quarter, Thorne capped off an 11-play drive with a two-yard rushing touchdown that trimmed Penn State’s lead to 21-16 since the Spartans failed to convert their two-point conversion attempt.
On the ensuing drive, Clifford led Penn State on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that burned over six minutes of game clock and ended in the Nittany Lions’ fourth touchdown of the game. On fourth-and-2, Clifford connected with running back Nicholas Singleton for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Thorned threw an interception to cornerback Kalen King shortly after Singleton’s touchdown and Clifford immediately went to the air on the next play. He threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game to Lambert-Smith to put the game on ice.
Tale of two halves
In the first half, Penn State had its way running the football against Michigan State’s much-maligned run defense, which was ranked 99th in the country prior to the game and giving up over 180 yards per game. The Nittany Lions started out great in that department in the opening 30 minutes of play, galloping for 127 in the first half alone.
In the third quarter, however, things took a turn for the worse and Penn State’s offense could muster only 47 total yards, including -4 yards on the ground. The Nittany Lions were able to hang on for victory, but the absence of wide receiver Parker Washington, who will miss the bowl game in addition to being out Saturday and last week against Rutgers, limited Penn State’s downfield attack on offense for much of the game.
Without Washington, Michigan State was able to hone in on Penn State’s run game in the second half and force Clifford to beat the Spartans with his arm.
Up next
Penn State’s regular season has concluded, which means the next time the Nittany Lions will be in action will be for their bowl game, wherever it will be. Due to the result in Saturday's Michigan-Ohio State game, which ended in a 45-23 win by the Wolverines, and Clemson’s 31-30 loss to rival South Carolina, Penn State has an outside shot at the Rose Bowl if both participants of “The Game” make the College Football Playoff.
Should the Buckeyes, who were ranked No. 2 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, fall outside of the top four, though, Ohio State would likely secure a berth in the Rose Bowl. In that scenario, Penn State’s remaining options for a bowl game include the Citrus Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl, with the Citrus Bowl being the most likely of the three.
Taking place in Orlando, the Citrus Bowl would pit Penn State against a team from the SEC. Among the squads the Nittany Lions could face in a hypothetical Citrus Bowl are Ole Miss, LSU and Mississippi State.
