EAST LANSING- MSU football hosted Penn State on senior day in the battle for the Land Grant Trophy. The narrative surrounding both programs heading into this game was very similar; each team looked to snap its six-game losing streak and earn its first conference victory of the season. 

Despite MSU’s defensive efforts, its offensive shortcomings would inevitably be its downfall, and the Spartans would lose this one, 28-10. 

Redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic started in his second consecutive game for the Spartans after junior quarterback Aidan Chiles was ruled out with a foot injury. 

Milivojevic finished the night 17-27 for 128 passing yards, while getting sacked a combined 12 times in his last two games.  

“We do want to work to protect him,” head coach Jonathan Smith said. “We’ve got to protect with the five guys in front of him, the schemes, schematics help out once in a while, but you got to pick and choose once in a while and be able to try and push it down the field, and you run that risk.” 

The Spartan offense exited the field empty handed on numerous occasions, and Milivojevic had trouble finding guys like sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh, who finished the night with only two receptions for five yards.  

“A couple opportunities, situationally to take a shot, and we just did not capitalize,” Smith said. “I think the first half even, we got a possession on their 45-yard line, we go four and out, you’re not going to get many opportunities like that in short field, we didn’t take advantage of that.” 

MSU’s offense relied heavily on senior running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver, who was coming off a 127-yard rushing performance against Minnesota. 

Tau-Tolliver brought the momentum to this Michigan State offense from the get-go, with a 57-yard breakaway rushing touchdown to put the Spartans up 7-0.  

The senior also had a 32-yard reception in the second quarter off what appeared to be a dead play, followed by an 11-yard rush to put the Spartans in scoring position.  

“(Tau-Tolliver) He’s playing his best football at the end of the year because of his approach week in and week out,” Smith said.  

Despite Tau-Tolliver’s efforts, Michigan State could not capitalize in the end zone and would settle for three with a 24-yard field goal by freshman kicker Martin Connington. 

Those would be the last points the Spartans would see for the night, as the offense could not get anything going in the second half. 

“We had some struggles, but I think it’s just execution,” Milivojevic said. “I think we just need to execute at a better level, and they were giving us some tough looks, but it goes down to us, all about us, and our execution.” 

MSU’s defense continued to show signs of life, redshirt senior defensive back Malcolm Bell finished with eight total tackles and five solo, and redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Matthews III finished with eight total tackles, three solo, and a crucial stop on fourth and one, which led to a turnover on downs in the second quarter.  

“Proud of some defensive efforts, fourth down stops, I thought they kept us in it throughout the night,” Smith said. “I thought they really battled to keep us within striking distance throughout the night, and then it got away from us at the end there.” 

The defense would eventually give way to a 75-yard touchdown reception by senior wide receiver Devonte Ross to put Penn State up 14-10.  

The Nittany Lions running back duo of seniors Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton finished the night with a combined 237 rushing yards, Allen with 181 yards and two touchdowns.  

The duo grinded away between the 20’s, feeding a nine-minute and five-second drive in the fourth quarter, which resulted in a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ross, to put the Spartans down by two scores. 

Opportunity presented itself once again for the MSU offense in the fourth quarter. Two 15-yard roughing the passer penalties were issued against Penn State, but Milivojevic was sacked for a loss of 10 and a fumble at the Penn State 30, to hand the ball right back. 

It would not take much for Penn State to walk down the field and put this one away with a 26-yard rushing touchdown by Allen to go up 27-10. 

MSU has been in positions for success but has ultimately crumbled at every chance. With this loss ruling the Spartans out of bowl eligibility, they look to finish the season with two games left.  

Michigan State will face No. 21 Iowa in Iowa City next Saturday with game time TBD. Tune into the live broadcast featuring Jacob Maurer and Kyle Keegan locally on 88.9 FM or at https://impact89fm.org/