Thorne’s sneak with 2:14 left in the third quarter gave MSU the lead for good, 23-20 (after Evan Johnson’s missed extra-point attempt).Īfter Reed's touchdown catch, Penn State (7-5, 4-5) scored late, with Clifford throwing a 15-yard touchdown to Parker Washington with 43 seconds left. Thorne ran for a fourth-down conversion and hit Reed for 21 yards on third-and-11, then Reed drew a third-down flag in the end zone.
The Spartans bounced back with their longest drive of the season, a 15-play campaign that took 8:53. So if something like that happens, you gotta keep going." "But we know to keep going and keep chopping, through the positives and the negatives.
"Things like that happen in a game," Walker said of Thorne's interception. In the third quarter, Penn State’s Daequan Hardy picked off Thorne on a poorly thrown out pass to Reed and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-17 Nittany Lions. However, Coghlin, a sixth-year senior, was injured and left the game. The Spartans got another clutch conversion from Thorne to Heyward on fourth-and-6 later in the half, then reclaimed a 17-14 lead on a 22-yard field goal by Coghlin. Matt Coghlin’s second extra point made it 14-0 MSU and closed a school-record 99-yard, nine-play drive in 4:01.
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On third-and-goal, Thorne did it again, shuffling to his left to buy time for his receivers to break free and threading a 9-yard touchdown to Mosley along the end line. Thorne converted a critical third-and-7, hitting Reed for 23 yards through heavy hand fighting with PSU’s Joey Porter Jr.
He flashed more power and speed with a 15-yard burst on the next play. It didn’t matter to Walker, who immediately ripped off a 35-yard run. Thorne hit tight end Maliq Carr for a 40-yard pickup on third-and-8 to get the Spartans into PSU territory, then Walker capped the eight-play, 76-yard opening march with a 2-yard scoring run around the right end.Īfter the defense held the Nittany Lions to a three-and-out on their first possession, MSU was pinned inside its 1. Less than 24 hours after a report that the Spartans might be without a number of players, Walker and Thorne put up a pair of touchdowns on MSU’s first two drives. "Just battling through the adversity this week threw at us was a great job," said Thorne, who also ran for a 1-yard touchdown. Tucker confirmed his team was battling illness late in the week, and Thorne said Walker, Kevin Jarvis, Jacub Panasiuk and others were among the sick. "Obviously, not being able to convert on fourth-and-1 and give it up on fourth-and-15 against this type of opponent on the road is going to make it difficult to win and be successful," Penn State coach James Franklin said. The Spartans converted nine of their 18 third downs and three of four fourth downs. The sophomore quarterback finished the game 19-for-30 for 268 yards, two scores and a pick-six. Thorne was 10-for-14 for 171 yards on third down alone. So you'll see the pieces put back together that you'd seen earlier in the year." "We will have guys back that you guys haven't seen in a long time. I'm very excited for that," said Reed, who had six catches for 89 yards.
"That stage, I've never played on that kind of stage or in that kind of bowl game. The Spartans (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) now await their bowl destination, potentially as high as New Year's Six games such as the Peach Bowl or Fiesta Bowl, or possibly the Outback Bowl or Citrus Bowl, depending on what happens over the next seven days.