EAST LANSING, Mich. — Penn State brings its regular season to a close Friday night with a visit to East Lansing to take on Michigan State.
The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on NBC.
It's the final game of the regular season for both teams, but unlike Michigan State, Penn State will be heading to a bowl game. The Spartans are 4-7 overall.
Here's a preview of Friday's game.
No. 11 Penn State (9-2) at Michigan State (4-7)
THE SERIES: This will be the 38th meeting between the two Big Ten squads. The overall series is tied at 18-18-1, but Penn State is 17-10 against Michigan State as a member of the Big Ten and has won three of the last four contests.
Last season in Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions claimed the Land Grant Trophy with a 35-16 win.
ABOUT PENN STATE: The Lions defeated Rutgers 27-6 last week, limiting the Scarlett Knights to a pair of field goals and 229 total yards. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar left the game with an apparent shoulder injury in the third quarter with the Lions leading 10-6, and Central York grad Beau Pribula took over to spark the Lions with a 39-yard run on his first snap.
Pribula, who led the team with 71 rushing yards in the game, eventually found the end zone on Penn State's last drive, scoring on a 1-yard TD run. Kaytron Allen had a pair of touchdown runs for the Lions, who racked up 234 yards on the ground. Allen and Nicholas Singleton had 69 and 61 rushing yards, respectively.
Penn State's defense produced three turnovers, three sacks and seven tackles for loss. Rutgers was unable to surpass 100 rushing yards and 150 passing yards in the game.
Allar will reportedly be able to play for the Lions on Saturday after sitting out most of the second half last week.
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans picked up their second Big Ten win of the season with a 24-21 victory over Indiana last Saturday. MSU tallied 355 total yards. Katin Houser threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns. Maliq Carr caught seven passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns, while Montorie Foster Jr. had seven grabs for 94 yards and a score.
Angelo Grose and Malik Spencer led the defense with 10 tackles each.
MSU is 4-7 overall and 2-6 in Big Ten play under interim coach Harlon Barnett, who took over the program on Sept. 10 after former coach Mel Tucker was dismissed on grounds that he violated the ethical conduct portion of his contract after his alleged actions toward sexual violence advocate Brenda Tracy.
Barnett, MSU's defensive coordinator, spent 11 seasons as the Spartans' secondary coach, associate head coach, and co-defensive coordinator before leaving in 2018 to take the defensive coordinator job at Florida State. He returned to East Lansing in 2020.
Michigan State ranks 14th in the Big Ten in scoring offense (17.4 ppg), 10th in total offense (309.9 ypg), seventh in passing offense (210.0) and 14th in rushing offense (99.4).
Houser has thrown for 1,043 yards and six touchdowns, while completing 58.7 percent of his passes.
Carter holds fifth in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (68.5) and sixth in total rushing yards (753).
The Spartans sit 11th in the Big Ten in scoring defense (27.1 ppg), 11th in total defense (371.8 ypg), ninth in rushing defense (140.4) and 12th in passing defense (231.5).
