We move to the Big Ten today, with the battle for the Land Grant (huh?) trophy, which has determined the Big Ten champ 2 of the past 4 years.

The Most Anticipated College Football Games of 2009: #19, Penn State @ Michigan State

Location:
Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
November 21st, 2009
Kickoff: TBA (Probably 3:30 pm EST)

"Hooray!  We won a big wooden box that we can use as a weapon!"

Why to watch:
Well, I'm sure a lot of fans from the Big Televen will gripe about this game being above UM-OSU (which is played on the same day about an hour drive away in Ann Arbor) on our list.   The fact of the matter is, 2 of the last 4 years ('05 and '08), this game has determined the winner of the Big Ten.  OSU has dominated in the last 4 years vs. Michigan, while PSU has gone 3-1 vs MSU (more competitive games as well, except for last years shellacking in Happy Valley).  Add that to Michigan's 3-9 campaign last year, OSU reloading, MSU improving and PSU being a little beat weaker than last year, and I see this game being pivotal, yet again, in determining the Big Ten crown.

History:
If the Land Grant trophy doesn't say it all, I don't know what does.  This has got to be the ugliest trophy in all of sports.  You'd be better off giving away the Geller Cup from Friends.  You'd have to make half of the troll dolls hair blue and half green, which might make it slightly less attractive, but still about 1,000 times better than the LGT.  But, I digress.  Penn State owns the series wins wise, but there have been some competitive games and some big time upsets by MSU.  In '99 T.J. Duckett kept rumblin and stumblin into the end zone, capping off a terrible end to a once potential National Title run for the Nits.  In '07, MSU stormed back against PSU after being down 24-7, eventually winning 35-31.  The Lions have won 7 of 9 matchups this decade (even during their down years from 00-04, they only lost once to MSU). 

The matchup:
Coming into '09, the Nittany Lions have a lot of players at key positions to develop.  They've got the talented recruits in place but lose a lot of senior leadership from last years squad.  3/5ths of the o-line, 3/4ths of the Dline, the entire WR corps and the entire starting secondary are all gone from last years squad.  They lose a lot, but have some good players looking to step up and step in for the departed.  SO CB D'anton Lynn and FR S Gerald Hodges could make a big impact in the secondary.  RS SR Sean Lee returns from injury to solidify the LB corps.  Derek Moye, Graham Zug and Brett Brackett offer size and stability at the WR position, but will they have the explosiveness to exploit the MSU secondary the same way they did in '08?  The good news is PSU returns a 5th year senior at QB in Darryl Clark.  Clark has gone through a lot to become the Penn State starter, and his fire and emotion was evident all year last year.  If he's healthy up until the MSU game, look for PSU to be at 9-2 or 10-1 headed into this game with their horrible non-con schedule and home games vs Iowa and OSU.

5th year SR QB Darryl Clark leads the Nittany Lions during their spring game

Michigan State loses multi-year starters at the QB and RB positions in Brian Hoyer and Javon Ringer, but I still feel that they've got what it takes to be a talented squad on offense.  Remember how MSU always used to bite it the 2nd half of the season every year?  John L. Smith smacking himself in the head ring a bell?  DeAntonio has these guys on point, on the cusp of the top of the middle of the pack of the Big Ten.  Which, to be honest, is a great accomplishment.  MSU is stacked with talent each and every year, but they were consistently wilting away when the pressure came.  Starting with that win in '07 against Penn State, they've developed a solid toughness that has permeated the team.  While they aren't in the top tier (OSU, PSU) of the BIG T1E1N, they are right there with the Wisconsin's and Iowa's of the league.

John L. Smith slaps himself silly!

The problem with MSU's rise is that they were so one dimensional last season.  The WR's were inconsistent and MSU ended up handing the rock off to Ringer over and over.  With a QB competition brewing (Cousins vs. Nichol), who knows what will happen this season.  But, by the time the PSU game rolls around, a starter should be entrenched.  If not, MSU will be in bad shape, in this game and all season long.  If the MSU passer is given enough time to throw the ball, he could have a field day against PSU's green secondary.  Only safety Drew Astorino and CB A.J. Wallace have gotten any playing time before the start of '09, and both in limited action.  After losing their entire starting secondary to graduation, we'll see if MSU has the horses to take advantage.

Fun Facts / Stats:
Penn State leads the battle for the Land Grant trophy 12-4
PSU and MSU are the nations oldest land-grant universities, thus spawning the creation of the LGT
Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993; prior to that, Michigan State led the series between the two teams (8-1-1).

Prediction:
I think Penn State will be sporting a 10-1 record coming into this game (loss to Illinois @ Illinois), while MSU will be at 8-3.  The last time PSU traveled to Michigan State, they suffered a defeat to the Spartans, 35-31, in Mark DeAntonio's "breakout" game as head coach of Sparty.  Last year, DeAntonio was angry as he felt the Lions were running up the score at the end, and called time outs to keep the PSU players freezing and waiting to celebrate their 3rd Big Ten title.  That bad blood boils over to this year and keeps MSU motivated all game long, but I think that Penn State is still too talented for Sparty to keep up with.
Penn State 35, Michigan State 21.

The top 25, so far:

20. 9/7 - Cincinnati @ Rutgers
21. 9/3 - Oregon @ Boise State
22. 9/19 - Cincy @ Oregon State
23. 11/21 - OSU @ Michigan
24. 10/17 - USC @ ND
25. 12/12 - Army vs Navy