It's officially rivalry week across football and around the Big Ten conference, and like it has the past two years, Penn State will cap off the regular season against Michigan State for the Land Grant Trophy. The Spartans have won two of their last three on the heels of a six-game losing streak, which is the longest in the Big Ten this season. Penn State aims to end the regular season on a high note and unofficially clinch a New Year's Six bowl game with a victory.
Happy Valley Insider takes a close look at Michigan State by the numbers ahead of the primetime Friday night matchup.
Offense:
To say that the Spartans have struggled offensively would be an understatement. Through 11 games this season, Michigan State is dead last in the Big Ten in scoring (17.4), which places them sixth worst in all of college football and second lowest among Power 5 teams.
That mark has gotten even worse in recent weeks, as Michigan State has mustered just 11.8 points across its last five outings. The offense has reached the 20 point mark twice during that period, both resulting in victories (Nebraska and Indiana).
The Spartans are also in the bottom five of total offense and the only offense averaging in the Big Ten averaging less than 100 yards per game on the ground this season. The aerial attack has been slightly better, ranking seventh in the conference in passing offense and having 14 touchdown passes on the season.
Michigan State has had a pair of signal callers take significant snaps in 2023 in Noah Kim and Katin Houser, but it is the redshirt freshman that has taken the reins down the stretch. Kim started the first five games of the season before being benched in favor of Houser to start October.
Houser, a 2022 four-star recruit, has had varying results under center so far, throwing for 1,045 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions while completing less than 60% of his attempts. All of those marks near the bottom of the Big Ten this season. The redshirt freshman is coming off a career-high 245 yards and three scores, but threw a pair of interceptions in Michigan State's win over Indiana last week.
Playing a part in that has been Michigan State's struggles at the receiver position, where it has just two pass catchers over 300 yards on the season. Leading receiver Montorie Foster has enjoyed somewhat of a breakout campaign, racking up 41 catches for 540 yards and three scores in his senior season.
Tight end Maliq Carr hasn't had the career that many anticipated for the former four-star, but is coming off the best game of his career. Carr had nine catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns against Indiana last week en route to earning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors. On the season, he has 301 yards on 28 receptions and three touchdowns.
Despite the struggles in the running game, the Spartans do have one of the more productive backs in the conference this season in Nathan Carter. The UConn transfer is sixth in the Big Ten in rushing yards with a career-high 753 through 11 games while reaching the end zone four times. He has also proven to be a respectable receiving threat, catching 20 passes for 102 yards.
Carter is the lone Michigan State running back to eclipse 100 yards on the season and hold a lions' share of the snaps (219), with the next closest being Jaren Mangham (38 snaps) since Jalen Berger's injury.
Defense:
For as bad as the Michigan State offense has been, the defense hasn't been much better in East Lansing this season. The Spartans have allowed 27.1 points per game (11th in the Big Ten and 74th in the nation) through 11 games. Michigan State has also allowed the third most drives to reach the red zone in the conference, giving up 36 scores in those scenarios as well.
The Spartans have particularly struggled with defending the pass, ranking third worst in passing yards allowed per game with 231.9 and giving up the second-most passing touchdowns in the conference with 21.
A troubled secondary is letting opposing quarterbacks complete 65.9% of their passes for 2,551 yards, per Pro Football Focus. Defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton has been forced to lean on true freshman Chance Rucker as the group's top cornerback this season, who has a PFF coverage grade of 63.6 and is allowing a 50% completion percentage as the primary defender.
Michigan State does have a standout on the back end in Jaden Mangham, who has 48 tackles from his safety position and leads the Big Ten is tied for third with four interceptions this season. Mangham is the highest-graded defensive back for the Spartans that has played more than 100 or more snaps.
Defending the run has been slightly more favorable for the Spartans, who are ninth in the Big Ten allowing 140 yards per game on the ground. However, they are coming off a game in which Indiana who was at the bottom of the category in the conference, to rush for a season-high 220 yards last week.
In the trenches, Michigan State has a pair of standouts across the defensive line, Derrick Harmon and Simeon Barrow Jr. holding down the fort. The tandem has combined for eight tackles for loss and five sacks while being the two highest graded interior defender on the unit, having grades of 79.1 and 74.4 respectively.
Getting after the quarterback has been a surprisingly successful endeavor for the Spartans, tallying 27 sacks on the year, which is good for fifth-most in the Big Ten. Leading the way in that category are Aaron Brule (four) and Jordan Hall (3.5). Edge rusher Zion Young also leads the group with 24 quarterback pressures and has 4.5 tackles for loss this season.
Special Teams:
Special teams has been somewhat of a bright spot for the Spartans this season, starting with the kicking game. Jonathan Kim is 13-18 on the year (ninth in the conference), but does have the longest field goal of the year by any Big Ten kicker at 58 yards, which came in week five against Iowa.
Punter Ryan Eckley has been one of the best in the Big Ten, holding a 45.3 yard average with the second most punts inside the 20 yard line and 18 boots of 50 or more yards. All of those marks are in the top three in the conference this season.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Tyrell Henry has handled the majority of the work at both kick and punt returner this season, with 143 yards on nine returns on kickoffs and 13 punt returns for 89, but has not gotten into the end zone. Both of those marks are in the bottom half of eligible return specialists in the conference.
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