Michigan State-Penn State observations: James Franklin tacks on second-half TDs

“I’m feeling fine, feeling really good”, Barkley said Monday. Michigan State’s offense moved inside the 20-yard-line four times in the first half and came up with no touchdowns.

The Nittany Lions’ running back is Penn State’s fourth player to be named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, joining Kerry Collins (1994), Curtis Enis (1997) and Michael Robinson (2005).

Trace McSorley completed 17 of 23 passes for 376 yards and four touchdowns and No. 8 Penn State beat Michigan State 45-12 to win the Big Ten East on Saturday.

The fact that McSorley is just 256 yards from breaking his program’s single-season yardage record (3,215) with the stakes this high is no coincidence. “Their two losses are against top-three teams by a touchdown or less in each of those games”. After turning around Stanford and taking the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl, he returned to MI and needed just two seasons to make the Wolverines great again.

The coaches: James Franklin is 24-14 in three seasons at Penn State and 48-29 in six seasons overall.

“To me it’s always been a year-end game for us”, Dantonio said. “I expect to play, the coaches expect me to play”.

The Spartans, meanwhile, are a team in transition.

The Nittany Lions (10-2, 8-1 Big Ten) figure to need Barkley against the Badgers (10-2, 7-2), whose defense ranks seventh in the country in total defense and third against the run. It’s how you end a season that either sends you upward or plateaus you. Michigan-Ohio State was one of the best games of the year.

While this offense is unlike anything Penn State fans have seen before the Franklin era, the defense is quite familiar thanks to a solid front seven led by linebackers Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell. Complaining about inches in a game where more than one play determined the outcome isn’t going to help you.

BARKLEY A GO: Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, who was knocked from the Rutgers game after a helmet-to-helmet hit, spoke at length with reporters on Tuesday and will play after testing negative for a concussion. He’d be the third TE in Michigan State history to reach that milestone.

Penn State’s DaeSean Hamilton (5) makes a catch in front of Michigan State’s Grayson Miller (44) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday Nov. 26, 2016. He hasn’t scored a touchdown since October 8, however. TE Josiah Price is two catches away 100.

One weekend remains before the astute playoff committee must decide on four teams who will fight it out for the national title.

Though it may not carry as much weight locally as the annual MI game, the MSU-Penn State rivalry is almost as important for Spartans who hail from the state of Pennsylvania.

Penn State’s youth movement is starting to pay dividends.

The sophomore, who burst onto the scene by hurdling defenders for big gains in his first few games as a true freshman, has 56 more touches than he did last season and has handled 75 percent of the team’s carries and almost all pass protection for running backs.

The Lions are playing with all sorts of energy, winning their last four games by an average of nearly 30 points per game.