EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Those who have seen 6-foot-1, 249-pound Michigan State tailback T.J. Duckett in action have said at times, he appears to be running "downhill."

Unfortunately for the Spartans' massive workhorse, the only thing going downhill Saturday during their 42-37 loss to Penn State was Duckett's number of carries.

In the first quarter, Duckett carried the ball 10 times for 69 yards. He had three carries for 25 yards in the second, six for 21 in the third, and just three for 11 in the fourth.

Not surprisingly, as went Duckett, so went the Spartans. Michigan State had 141 yards rushing and 31 points at halftime, but just 45 more yards and six more points after that.

Early on, Michigan State appeared as though it was on track for a repeat performance of 1997, when the Spartans sent both Sedrick Irvin and Marc Renaud over the 200-yard barrier against the Nittany Lions in Spartan Stadium.

"We were moving the ball well, felt confident and felt good," said Duckett who, for those who don't want to bother with the math above, finished with 126 yards on 22 carries. "And then I don't know what happened. We just stopped. Things just went away."

Michigan State head coach Bobby Williams said the Spartans opted to throw more in the second half because they had fallen behind Penn State. True enough, the Nittany Lions did rip off 28 unanswered points to build a 42-31 lead, but Williams appeared to have abandoned the run as early as midway through the third quarter.

Why? Why wouldn't the Spartans continue to pound on a Penn State defense ranked dead last in the Big Ten against the run? Duckett wasn't sure, not only of why he saw the ball less and less but why the Spartans' other tailback, Little John Flowers, had just two carries after halftime.

"It's not my choice," Duckett said. "Chuck (Michigan State wide receiver Charles Rogers) had some big plays today, (quarterback) Jeff (Smoker) was on fire, and the passing game was looking good."

Smoker, in fact, had a career game, throwing for 356 yards and three touchdowns -- two to Rogers, who piled up nearly 200 receiving yards. But the Spartans didn't dominate the Lions in the air in the second half as they did on the ground in the first.

As a result, Michigan State's impressive 542 yards of total offense went for naught.

"We punted one time. Moved the ball, scored 37 points -- usually that's a victory for us," Flowers said. "As a team we didn't get it done."