Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan State Spartans

Allen, Ross each score twice in Penn State's 28-10 win over Michigan State

Grunkemeyer completed 8 of 13 passes for 127 yards for the Nittany Lions (4-6 overall, 1-6 Big Ten).

Grunkemeyer sealed the win with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ross with 4:32 left and Allen added his second touchdown on a 26-yard run with 2:07 remaining.

“I’m just super happy for our kids,” said Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith. “I’m super happy for our program. I’m super happy for our fans and our following. We deserved this game. We now know again what it feels like to win, and we just got to build on this with momentum.”

Alessio Milivojevic completed 17 of 27 passes for 128 yards for the Spartans (3-7, 0-7) who lost their seventh straight game.

Elijah Tau-Tolliver ran 57 yards for a touchdown on Michigan State’s first play of the game. Allen tied it on the ensuing Penn State possession with an 8-yard scoring run.

Following a Michigan State field goal, the Nittany Lions went in front 14-10 on Grunkemeyer’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Ross.

“We haven’t won a game in a little bit,” Ross said. “So it’s definitely some relief to finally get that win again. We know what we’re about. We know what this team is about, so just finally getting that win just showcased that, and we all played amazing today.”

Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles did not play as he was on the pregame sidelines wearing a walking boot on his left foot. He started the first eight games of the season but saw his streak of 20 consecutive starts come to an end on Nov. 1 against Minnesota when he was replaced by Milivojevic.

“They earned that win beating us,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said. “They are good on defense. And we did think though, we had to create a couple opportunities situationally to take a shot, and we just did not capitalize a couple of times.”

Probation update The Spartans played their first game since the NCAA placed Michigan State’s football program on three years of probation for violations that occurred during Mel Tucker’s tenure as coach.

In his first comments about the NCAA investigation that's now concluded, Smith said after the game that he did not know about the investigation when he was hired from Oregon State in November 2023. He said it was brought to his attention earlier this year.

The takeaway Penn State: The Nittany Lions avoided their first seven-game losing streak in the same season since 1931. With a home game against Nebraska and traveling to Rutgers to close the regular season, Penn State's hopes to go to a bowl remain alive.

Michigan State: Porous pass protection and the inability of wide receivers hampered the Spartans' passing game. Michigan State gave up five sacks to Penn State, raising their total sacks given up this season to 35.

“We've got to protect him (Milivojevic)," Smith said. "The five guys in front of him, the scheme schematics have to help out once in a while. But you got to pick and choose once in a while to be able to try to push it down the field. And you run that risk (of a QB sack).”

Up next Penn State hosts Nebraska on Saturday.

Michigan State visits Iowa on Saturday.