Penn State vs. Michigan State Preview: What to expect in the Battle for the Land-Grant Trophy

It has been a tumultuous week for the Michigan State football program. Wednesday afternoon brought about NCAA sanctions regarding recruiting violations under the Mel Tucker era. This resulted in vacated wins, recruiting restrictions, fines and more. With the Spartans also coming off of a bye week, and MSU currently riding a six-game losing streak, it may be easy for some fans to forget that this 2025 season is very much still pressing on. 

Coming into Saturday, not many fans pur pundits probably would have predicted that Michigan State and Penn State would be battling for the Land-Grant Trophy at a combined 0-12 in Big Ten play with one combined win versus a Power Four team (Michigan State over Boston College). The Nittany Lions are currently in the middle of a six-game losing streak as well. PSU fired head coach James Franklin earlier this season and is currently being led by interim head coach Terry M. Smith.

Regardless of how these two teams are coming into this game, one program will come out with a victory on Saturday, which will also be senior day for MSU, as it is the last contest at Spartan Stadium this season. Let's dive into the matchup.

Game Info

Time: Saturday, Nov. 15, Kickoff at 3:40 p.m. ET

TV Channel: CBS

Radio: Spartan Media Network

Location: Spartan Stadium (East Lansing, MI)

Weather: Temperatures look to be around 60 degrees at kickoff with sunny conditions. No rain is on the forecast and wind is expected to be minimal.

Penn State Notables

The Nittany Lions’ season has been arguably the most disappointing in the entire country. After starting the season No. 2 in the country and projected to be one of favorites to win the national championship, this Penn State ca,paign has been nothing short of a disaster. 

Penn State followed up an overtime loss to No. 6 Oregon with back to back losses to UCLA and Northwestern. Not only did this drop Penn State out of national relevancy, it resulted in the firing of Franklin and the season-ending injury to starting quarterback Drew Allar. It seems nothing has gone right for the Nittany Lions since. 

Despite all this, Penn State still possesses a talented team and will be a challenge for Michigan State. PSU nearly defeated No. 2 Indiana last week, but an incredible touchdown reception by wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. from quarterback Fernando Mendoza with 35 seconds left to play ultimately handed the Nittany Lions their sixth loss in a row.

Since taking over at quarterback for PSU, Ethan Grunkemeyer has thrown for 457 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions. This is not necessarily a passing attack that is going to burn the Spartans, but the Nittany Lions did show signs of life in this regard last week, passing for 219 yards. However, no Penn State receiver has more than 350 receiving yards on the season. The Nittany Lions are led by senior wide receiver Trebor Pena, who has 31 receptions, 331 yards, and one touchdown.

The danger for the Spartan defense lies in the Penn State rushing attack. Senior running back Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton have combined for 1,138 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on the season. While they have not quite had the success they did last year, they are still a dangerous duo. If the Spartans are able to contain Allen and Singleton, this could be a relatively low-scoring game. 

Defensively, Penn State has also significantly regressed. PSU sits at 10th in the Big Ten, allowing 325 yards per game and 12th in scoring defense allowing 22.3 points per game. However, Penn State has also played No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 8 Oregon and No. 21 Iowa. 

With Penn State vastly underperforming, and losing its coach and quarterback, it will be interesting to see how motivated this Penn State team is. A motivated Penn State team likely beats Michigan State handily due to the talent gap, but if it is an unmotivated team lost in its current losing streak, this game could be a toss up. Of course, MSU is dealing with plenty of issues of its own right now.

Overview

Despite some promising signs last time out versus Minnesota, the Spartans have yet to show they can finish a game out. Michigan State lost to the Golden Gophers in overtime, 23-20, on Nov. 1, prior to the bye week. MSU had multiple chances to earn the victory in overtime, but it was not meant to be.

MSU's defense has been improved over the past couple of games, the effort remains high, the players have now quit, and the Spartans might have found a spark in redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic. However, none of this has translated into the win column as the Spartans remain winless in Big Ten play.

Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith has yet to publicly announce who will start at quarterback versus Penn State between Milivojevic and junior Aidan Chiles. Of course, Chiles started the previous 20 games for the Spartans before Milivojevic stepped in at Minnesota. While Smith stated he was still undecided on who would start at quarterback earlier this week, it is hard to think of a world in which the Spartans don’t give Milivojevic another start after he threw for 311 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions versus Minnesota.

Despite being under consistent pressure, Milivojevic stood strong in the pocket, got the ball to his receivers, and consistently had the Spartan offense moving down the field. Michigan State will need to improve on its red zone offense if the Spartans are going to want to pull out a victory on Saturday, though.

The Spartans are also expected to get some players back from injury, including running back Makai Fraizer and wide receiver Chrishon McCray, among others. They’ll need as many of their horses as possible in order to keep their bowl hopes alive, which would mean winning each of their last three games, starting with a victory over Penn State.

While this game might seem meaningless to many of the fans or onlookers, it is far from meaningless for this coaching staff and team. A victory keeps the chance of a bowl game alive and perhaps another chance for this staff to show they deserve another year. A loss, and it might indicate that a change in coaching is needed this offseason.