Game Preview: Penn State vs. Michigan State
Host Jeremy Ganes talks Penn State's upcoming road test against Michigan State, alongside analysts Logan Dolby, Matt McClure and Dale Ostrander. Is this the trap game of 2019?
Penn State will look to preserve its perfect season on Saturday afternoon as they square up against a well-rested Michigan State team. On the other side, coach Mark Dantonio and his team will attempt to take advantage of last weekend’s bye and bounce back from consecutive losses to No. 13 Wisconsin and No. 3 Ohio State.
The test in East Lansing will be difficult for the Nittany Lions as they’ve lost the last two matchups against Michigan State and haven’t appeared victorious in Spartan Stadium since 2009.
It will be a pivotal game for Dantonio and his team as his future in East Lansing is questionable and three of his players just entered the transfer portal.
The Spartans, who are facing their third straight top-10 team, will have a tough task against the Nittany Lion defense. Brian Lewerke will face the Nittany Lions for the third time as the starting quarterback and will rely heavily on Big Ten leading receiver Darrell Stewert Jr.
Stewert caught 46 receptions for 683 yards this season and averages 12 yards a catch in his tenure for the Spartans.
The problem for Michigan State has been the rest of the offense. The running game ranks 110th in the nation averaging 117.1 yards per game. The lack of success running the ball has forced the defense to play most of the game as Ohio State and Wisconsin combined to win the possession game 39:10 to 20:50.
Michigan State must fix major offensive problems as Brent Pry’s defense ranks No. 3 in scoring defense in the country as they hold opponents to under 10 points a game.
The Nittany Lions offense must find more options than Sean Clifford throwing to K.J. Hamler, who has seven receiving touchdowns this season while also averaging 17.6 yards per catch.
Penn State has had 31 of its 33 touchdowns from either freshman or sophomores. However, the Nittany Lions need to diversify the offense by looking at Justin Shorter, Jahan Dotson and giving the tight ends more opportunities.
The Spartans defense is tough and they will effectively take away Penn State’s best option. The team starts seven seniors, including Joe Bachie, who has totaled 279 tackles during his time in East Lansing.
The one thing that will allow Michigan State to upset the Nittany Lions is making it difficult for Clifford to find Hamler. The Nittany Lions haven’t been creative on offense this year and Clifford’s been reluctant to make the big play. Penn State needs to establish the run game in the first half, which will give Clifford more options.
Penn State will likely prevail in this game because of its defense. Michigan State has one standout player in Stewert, however, the Nittany Lions are too good to allow him to dominate.
Prediction: Penn State 24, Michigan State 7
Matthew White is a sophomore studying broadcast journalism with a double minor in Business and Spanish. To contact him, email mmw42@psu.edu.
About the Contributors
Matthew McClure
Senior / Broadcast Journalism
With his hard-work and dedication to excellence, Matthew McClure looks to achieve future goals in sports broadcasting. He is from Glenmoore, Pennsylvania and a senior broadcast journalism major at Pennsylvania State University. He has experience working in sports and is willing to work outside his comfort zone. Matthew served as an active member at CommRadio, where he performed many different play by play broadcasts, wrote articles, and is a host of his NBA talk radio show Half Court. The past two summers, Matthew moved to Florida to work as an communications intern at the Florida Collegiate Summer Baseball League. There, he broadcasted every game for the Seminole County Scorpions, and was presented with the Sara Whiting Young Professionals Award.
Matthew White
Junior / Public Relations, Business, Spanish
Matthew White is a junior from Los Gatos, California. White is majoring in Public Relations with a double minor in Spanish and Business. He currently produces weekly content for Comm Radio by broadcasting live sporting events, producing podcasts, cutting sound bites, producing intros and bumps for live sporting events, writing articles and beat writing for Penn State teams. White excels with his passion, public speaking skills and unique work ethic. To contact him, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Logan Dolby
Senior / Broadcast Journalism
Logan Dolby is a senior studying broadcast journalism, and is an all around sports fan. He loves everything about sports. He is from Pulaski, Pennsylvania. Currently, he is working towards perfecting his ability of crafting his sports takes and working with all of the technology required for a job in broadcast journalism.
He has experience with Adobe Audition and Premiere, as well as editing, broadcasting play by play, producing, working a sound board and podcasting. He also has two years of experience in hosting a live radio show, Half Court.
Jeremy Ganes
Senior / Journalism
Jeremy Ganes is an aspiring sports broadcaster and journalist at Penn State. He writes articles, produces broadcasts, and announces games for the CommRadio sports department. He also co-hosts an NFL-focused talk show called 4th & Long that airs live on CommRadio, alongside DJ Bauer. In addition to CommRadio content, Jeremy also assists in production and serves as an on-air personality to the PSNtv show Penn State Sports Night, where he covers sports such as baseball and football. He is also a reporter and producer for the Centre County Report. He can be contacted at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
