Spartans defeat Lions,
35-28

By CHRIS ANTONACCI,
WILLIAM KALEC and MATT WONG
Collegian Staff Writers

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Penn State's chances to salvage its season against Michigan State Saturday fell short.

Spartans tailback T.J. Duckett's fourth-quarter touchdown run late in the fourth quarter proved to be too much for the Nittany Lions in their 35-28 loss after they trailed by 21 points in the third quarter.

"We played a good football team," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "You gotta play with heart, but you got to have a little bit more."

Michigan State puts points on the board early in the first quarter as Duckett sprinted for a 20-yard score, giving the Spartans an early advantage.

Penn State's offense was futile in the first half as it gave the ball back to Michigan State four plays later.

A 36-yard David Royer — filling for an injured Pat Pidgeon — punt was returned for a 64-yard touchdown up the middle by Gari Scott, and the Lions found themselves down 14 with 3:40 left in the fourth quarter.

Things did not get much better for Penn State in the second as Duckett surged down the left side for a 9-yard five seconds into the stanza, giving the Spartans a 21-point advantage.

Rashard Casey entered the game and engineered an eight-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Penn State's Larry Johnson.

Duckett scored again, this time from two yards out, and the Spartans enjoyed a three-touchdown lead against the Lions, who had defeated Michigan State 51-28 last year in Beaver Stadium.

Now in the third quarter, quarterback and captain Kevin Thompson marched the Lions 86 yards downfield in 16 plays with a 23-yard toss to Eddie Drummond.

After an exchange of interceptions by both sides, Penn State narrowed the gap to 11 with a Travis Forney field goal.

A LaVar Arrington-less Penn State defense held firm again, and the Lions took advantage.

Thompson found Drummond open again for a touchdown pass and score with 12:29 left in the contest, which was supplemented with a two-point conversion pass to Eric McCoo.

About five minutes later, Forney made good on a 30-yard field goal try, and the Lions bridged their 21-point gap to a tie.

But Duckett came through for Michigan State again.

The freshman from Kalamazoo, Mich., fell into the end zone, giving Michigan State the lead and the eventual win.

"It's hard to start like that and come back," Lions defensive end Justin Kurpeikis said. "To see that we still had a chance in the fourth quarter was a testament to the intestenal fortitude to the guys on this team."

Penn State had its opportunities, though, but John Gilmore fumbled, giving the Spartans a chance to seal the win.

Arrington came into the game on a Spartans' field goal try, but the kick sailed wide to the left.

With less than a minute on the clock and no timeouts available, Penn State started to drive downfield.

But time would expire after a toss over the middle to Drummond and the Spartans, along with the 74, 231 in attendance, went into a frenzy.

It was the third straight loss for Penn State, striking a similar demise to 1997, when it dropped its last three contests of the season.

The Lions finish the regular season 9-3, and advances to either the Outback Bowl or Alamo Bowl while Michigan State finished second in the Big Ten, improving its mark to 9-2.

"I'm happy with what we accomplished," Michigan State coach Nick Saban said. "But I'm disappointed we couldn't sustain it for 11 games."