On the heels of a convincing win over Rutgers on Senior Day, Penn State (9-2 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) will look to close out the regular season slate with a win against Michigan State (4-7 overall, 2-6 Big Ten) in East Lansing.
Happy Valley Insider takes a first look at the Spartans ahead of Friday night's clash.
Game/broadcast details:
Where: Detroit, Michigan
Stadium: Ford Field (Official capacity of 65,000)
Time: Friday, November 24th at 7:30 p.m. ET
Television: NBC/Peacock - Noah Eagle (PxP), Todd Blackledge (analyst), Kathryn Tappen (sidelines)
Odds via Yahoo Sportsbook: PSU is a 20 point favorite and the over/under is 42.5.
A season to forget in East Lansing...
The 2023 season was already set to be a particularly rough one in East Lansing with all of the departures from last year and the expectations dipping lower from the 11-win 2021 campaign.
After a 2-0 start with wins over Central Michigan and Richmond, that's when things began to unravel for the Spartans. The Mel Tucker bombshell dropped on September 10th, before he was officially fired just two weeks later, leaving Michigan State without its head coach.
In week three, Michigan State was thrashed by Washington at home, which started a lengthy losing streak that spanned nearly two months. The Spartans went on to lose six straight games to the Huskies, Maryland, Iowa, Rutgers, Michigan, and Minnesota up until the start of November.
Since the start of the month, Michigan State has found its footing a bit. The Spartans beat a previously streaking Nebraska team, which was followed by a lopsided defeat to Ohio State. Heading into the regular season finale, they are coming off of their second win in the last three games, beating Indiana in Bloomington for their first road victory of the year.
It has been a nightmare 2023 in East Lansing that may face a sour ending with the Nittany Lions coming to town.
The coaching search continues...
Since Mel Tucker was formally dismissed at the end of September, Michigan State has been on the hunt for a new head coach and the program may he closing in on a new leader in the coming weeks.
The folks over at Spartans Illustrated have kept up with all of the latest in Michigan State's coaching search, leading to four prime candidates that could end up in East Lansing before the end of the year. That list includes Oregon State's Jonathan Smith, Arizona's Jedd Fisch, Toledo's Jason Candle, and Duke's Mike Elko.
That is not the definitive final list of candidates, but have all reportedly interviewed for the position, per Spartans Illustrated and Rivals national recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove. The Spartans will likely have their guy in the next few weeks.
For now, interim head coach Harlon Barnett will try to lead Michigan State to a strong finish to the season against James Franklin and Penn State this weekend.
Keeping the Land Grant Trophy in Happy Valley...
When Penn State takes the field on Friday night in East Lansing, it will be doing so to keep the Land Grant Trophy in Happy Valley for a second consecutive season, which is something it's done just once since 2009. The trophy, introduced in 1993 by George Perles, as an ode to the two original Land Grant universities, has bounced between East Lansing and Happy Valley over the years.
Michigan State leads the all-time series 18-17-1 since the first meeting back in 1914. Recent history has favored the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten rivalry, as they have won three of the last four meetings. That stretch preceded the Spartans taking five of six in the series between 2010 and 2018.
James Franklin is 4-5 against Michigan State during his tenure at Penn State and will look to even up the all-time series on Friday night.
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