Michigan State football absorbs one body blow after another, on ground and standings

EAST LANSING — For three quarters, Michigan State football once again found itself in a winnable game.

Until it wasn’t. For the seventh time in the past two months.

Penn State – mired in its own six-game losing streak and with an interim coach – put on a fourth-quarter masterclass in ball-control offense Saturday, Nov. 15. The Nittany Lions ran the ball 12 straight times and gnawed more than nine minutes off the clock, scored, then squelched the Spartans for a 28-14 victory that looked more lopsided than it actually was for much of the game.

But that still resulted in another loss – the seventh straight – for coach Jonathan Smith to close another tumultuous week in a program he is struggling to resuscitate.

“I think they’re about fighting back and they’re continuing to grind, even the way we practiced this week headed into this, and really with the way these guys played throughout the game,” Smith said. “I mean, they are playing hard and going.”

Penn State’s Devonte Ross scores on a reverse against Michigan State during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.

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MSU (3-7, 0-7 Big Ten) trailed, 14-10, going into the fourth quarter. But two sacks and a penalty forced the Spartans to punt early in the period, and the Nittany Lions (4-6, 1-6) pounced with punch after punch on the ground.

The Nittany Lions rushed for 72 of their 76-yard, 13-play possession which consumed 9:05. And the 4-yard touchdown “catch” for Devonte Ross was essentially another run play – a QB pop pass to the receiver in jet motion.

It was one body blow after another for an MSU team which has absorbed plenty in the past two months.

“That drive, they are making them earn it,” Smith said. “This isn’t a drive full of explosive plays.”

It was the fourth time during the losing streak MSU was within reach of ending it before its opponent pulled away. That includes taking a fourth-quarter lead before losing in overtime at Minnesota on Nov. 1 and letting a third-quarter lead vanish in a loss at Nebraska on Oct. 4. The Spartans trailed by a touchdown in the fourth quarter at USC on Sept. 14, the first defeat in the skid.

MSU has been outrushed 431-208 in the fourth quarter during the losing streak, with its seven opponents running 31 more plays. Both Michigan (91) and UCLA (68) also ran for all their fourth-quarter yards against MSU. Those two, and the loss at Indiana (53) were the three unwinnable fourth-quarter games in this stretch for the Spartans.

Penn State finished with a 11:27-3:33 time of possession advantage in the fourth quarter Saturday.

“It stings. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, not being able to get the job done,” defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren said. “But going from here, there is no choice other than to keep going. We’ll get through it to the other side.”

Nov 15, 2025; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions running back Kaytron Allen (13) runs for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

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Regardless of how hard they are battling, Smith and his Spartans sit on the verge of ignominy.

Not counting vacated and forfeited seasons due to NCAA violations, MSU’s ongoing seven-game losing streak matches its third-longest in school history, last set in Mark Dantonio’s 2016 season that featured a 3-9 finish and no bowl berth for the only time in his 13-year tenure. The second-longest is eight games, which featured a loss to end 1981 and seven straight to start 1982 under coach Muddy Waters.

The program record is 10 straight losses in the 1916-17 seasons, with Chester Brewer and his Michigan Agricultural College Aggies going winless in their nine-game schedule in 1917. Since joining the Big Ten, the Spartans have gone winless in conference play just once – an 0-5-1 finish in 1958 under Duffy Daugherty, who also went 1-5 in his 1954 debut season.

“These guys are going, working,” Smith said. “We gotta get better.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football takes another fourth-quarter body blow

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