Michigan State Spartans vs Penn State Nittany Lions Match Player Stats On Nov 29, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 29, 2014

No. 8 Michigan State 34, Penn State 10: R.J. Shelton returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and Jeremy Langford rushed for a pair of scores as the visiting Spartans pounded the Nittany Lions.

Langford recorded 118 yards on 30 carries while Tony Lippett caught a scoring pass from Connor Cook, who was 13-of-25 for 180 yards. Michael Geiger kicked a pair of field goals for the Spartans (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten), who finished the regular season in second place in the East Division, a game back of Ohio State.

Penn State's Christian Hackenberg went 21-of-45 for 195 yards with an interception and a fumble, while DaeSean Hamilton recorded six catches for 55 yards. Akeel Lynch recorded a team-high 51 rushing yards and a TD for the Nittany Lions (6-6, 2-6), who have lost six of their last eight and will find out their bowl fate next week.

Shelton fielded the opening kickoff on a bounce at the 10 and broke several tackles en route to the end zone. Penn State responded with a solid drive, but Sam Ficken missed a 51-yard field goal and Michigan State promptly answered with Geiger kicks of 36 and 39 yards to push its lead to 13-0 after one quarter.

Ficken booted a 41-yard field goal to get the Nittany Lions on the board with 4:34 left in the second quarter, but Hackenberg was intercepted in the end zone in the waning seconds of the half, which proved to be Penn State's final chance to remain close. The Spartans scored two touchdowns less than three minutes apart midway through the third as Langford scored from 3 yards out and Cook found Lippett for a 10-yard score after Hackenberg fumbled on a sack by Marcus Rush.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Langford, who found the end zone on a late 6-yard run to cap the scoring, recorded his 15th straight regular-season conference game with at least 100 yards rushing, extending his school record and the longest active streak in the nation. ... Lippett finished with four catches for 53 yards - both team highs - for Michigan State, which evened the all-time series at 14-14-1. ... After averaging 361 passing yards in the Nittany Lions' first three games, Hackenberg failed to surpass 224 yards in any of the team's final nine contests.