Despite its loss to Indiana last week, Penn State looked a lot better in the narrow 27-24 defeat to the Hoosiers.

It was certainly an improvement over the few weeks prior, and I thought the Nittany Lions played with energy, toughness and offensively interim head coach Terry Smith and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki finally took the handcuffs off of redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer. It was the best the passing offense has looked all season.

I’m not into moral victories, but the way this season has gone, I’m sure Penn State faithful were happy to see their team be competitive against the No. 2 ranked team in the country and take them down to the wire.

And even though I thought the PSU defense battled and played solid in this game, it was certainly disappointing to see the defense give up chunk play after chunk play in the passing game on Indiana’s game winning drive.

Now, there is no denying that IU receiver Omar Cooper Jr. made the catch of his life in the back of the end zone, which ended up being the game winner, but Fernando Mendoza marched the Hoosiers right down the field with the game on the line with a 10-play 80-yard drive.

During Penn State’s now six-game losing streak, the defense has had a few opportunities to come up with big stops late that most likely would have sealed the victory for the Nittany Lions. That’s why I have continuously said this season that out of everything I’ve been most disappointed in the performance of the defense.

The Nittany Lions (3-6) will be looking to avoid their seventh consecutive loss later this afternoon as they take on Michigan State in East Lansing (3:30 ET, CBS).

PSU has not lost seven games in a row since the 1931 season. The Spartans (3-6) have also lost six games in a row coming into this matchup.

Looking at the numbers, I think it’s important to once again let Grunkemeyer throw the ball down the field. “Grunk” — as he been tabbed by the Penn State fan base — threw for 219 yards with one touchdown and one interception and he had four 20-plus yard completions. Transfer Trebor Pena looked good against IU as well, finding space in the middle of the field and hauling in six catches for 99 yards.

Michigan State has struggled in defending the pass this season, giving up 227 yards per game which ranks 79th in the country.

The Penn State rushing attack also has a chance to get going this afternoon as well with Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton. Singleton was finally able to break loose last week with an explosive 59-yard run as he rushed for 71 yards on the day with two touchdowns.

Singleton now has 50 career touchdowns and 5,000 all-purpose yards. He’s the first Big Ten player to surpass those numbers since Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor did it in 2019.

Allen leads the Nittany Lions in rushing with 736 yards and 10 touchdowns. Allen surpassed Evan Royster in career rushing attempts last week and with 3,613 career rushing yards, he is just 319 yards away from Royster’s all-time rushing yards record of 3,932 yards. The Spartans are giving up 144.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks 66th.

The Spartans are currently going through a quarterback controversy on the offensive side of the ball between Alessio Milivojevic and Aiden Chiles. Chiles was benched last week against Minnesota in favor of Milivojevic, with the freshman throwing for 311 yards and one touchdown.

The Michigan State offensive line has struggled this season, meaning that their quarterbacks have been under a lot of pressure. The Spartans are giving up 3.3 sacks per game which ranks 128th in the country.

Chiles is the better runner of the two, but Milivojevic showed last week he is definitely the better pocket passer. I would expect you’re probably going to see both signal callers play later today, because Chiles does offer a running element to his game and the PSU defense has struggled against quarterbacks that can escape the pocket.

There were several opportunities for the Nittany Lions’ defense to sack Mendoza last week and many times he was able to avoid pressure and run for a first down. But also, with that being said, I think Milivojevic is probably going to take a majority of the snaps because of his ability to get the ball out quick and on target.

It will be key for Penn State to actually get home when they get pressure on the quarterback. The Spartans have one of the best receivers in the Big Ten on their roster in Nick Marsh and if either Milivojevic or Chiles has time to get the ball to Marsh big plays will probably ensue.

Marsh has 46 catches for 554 yards and five touchdowns. His counterpart in transfer Omar Kelly has also had a nice season with 29 catches for 529 yards and two scores.

Las Vegas has Penn State as a 7.5-point favorite over the Spartans.

The Nittany Lions need to finish a game. Against Oregon, UCLA, Northwestern, Iowa and last week against Indiana, Penn State had a chance to make plays late to win the game. It’s like when a three-point shooter in basketball is struggling and they need to just see one go in the hoop to get their confidence back.

I think that’s where this PSU team is at presently. They have been close to winning a few of these games of late, but they haven’t been able to make the plays down the stretch to bring home the “W.”

I do think that this week is the week where the Nittany Lions finally will get over the hump. I think the offense found something with Grunkemeyer last week. When he was able to set his feet and fire, he threw a pretty good ball, and it also looked like the offensive line played pretty well.

The question is will the defense be able to make the crucial plays that are needed to come away with a win? Completing sack opportunities, creating turnovers and getting off the field on third down are the keys on the defensive side of the ball if the Nittany Lions want to end this skid.

My pick is: Penn State 34, Michigan State 24.