Coming to Beaver Stadium this week for the Nittany Lions last regular season game is a powerful offensive Michigan State squad (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN 2). The Spartans (9-2, 6-1 BIG 10) are the kind-of squad that PSU doesn't want to play right now, especially with how poor the offense has played this season and last week againt Illinois.

Usually, I would say something along the lines of Penn State has a chance to end its first BIG 10 season under James Franklin on a good note with a win over the Spartans, but I just can't say that honestly with the way this team has been playing.Offensively, they couldn't do anything against one of the nation's worst offenses last week. The Illini defense held PSU to 265 yards of total offense, including just 95 yards passing. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg's rough season continued against Illinois as he went just 8-of-16 for 93 yards and a touchdown. It's been a tough season for the sophomore and it would be good for the Nittany Lions if he could have a bounce back game against the Spartans. Hackenberg has thrown for 2,411 yards with eight touchdowns and 14 interceptions.A bright spot for Penn State (6-5, 2-5 BIG 10) over the last few weeks has been running back Akeel Lynch. Lynch has rushed for over 100 yards in the last two ball games and now leads the team in rushing yards.The running game for Penn State has been getting better, but it just seems the passing game can't get going. Until it does Penn State will continue to struggle for the remaining two games of the season."I think considering everything that's happened and how it's all played out, I think he's been good. I think he's getting better every single day," said Franklin. "There are some things that we need to continue to work on. Footwork, fundamentals, technique, things like that which are going to be helpful. But I think the other thing is continuing to develop the guys around him, which I've talked about before. It's all of those things. It's not one factor.I think more than anything Hack's really, really competitive. He's really passionate about what he does and how he does it and has really high standards and expectations. There is nobody harder on Hack than Hack. I think that's something that I know we have to be aware of as a staff."The Penn State will have yet another challenging day ahead of them later today. The Michigan State defense is letting up just 20.8 points per game. Penn State has managed to score just 20 points one time in its last seven games. The Spartans are also only giving up 299 yards of total offense per game. So, offensive success won't come easy once again for Penn State.On the offensive side of the ball Michigan State is even more impressive. The Spartans are averaging 43.9 points per game and 514 yards of total offense per game, which ranks seventh in the nation. Penn State has one of the best defense in the country statistically and is the only Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team that is ranked in the Top 5 in in rushing defense (1st, 81.7 ypg), total defense (3rd, 267.2 ypg), scoring defense (4th, 16.2 ppg) and pass efficiency defense (3rd, 98.74). Penn State also is No. 2 in third down conversion pct. defense at 27.6 percent.However, last week the PSU "D" gave up a late game scoring drive that ended up being a game-winning field goal for an unimpressive Illinois offensive unit. That's not the kind-of momentum you want heading into a match-up with a team like Michigan State. The Spartans also boast the best passing attack in the BIG 10, which is led by quarterback Connor Cook. Cook is having a very productive year under the guidance of offensive coordinator and Lehighton native Dave Warner.Cook has thrown for over 2,700 yards, 21 touchdowns and just five interceptions. The Penn State defense has undoubtedly been good this season, but when they've struggled it's been in the secondary. Cook can certainly cause an issue for Penn State, especially if they don't get pressure on him. That's another issue the Nittany Lions defense will be presented with as well. The Spartans offensive line is probably the best in the BIG 10 this season, so it won't be easy to get to Cook.Cook also has a very good receiving target in Tony Lippett. Lippett has just over 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns on the year.Over the past two seasons Penn State has performed well on the last regular season game of the year. However, this season the Nittany Lions just haven't been consistent enough to pull the upset over the Spartans on Saturday.My pick is Michigan State 40, Penn State 14.