EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Mel Tucker talks after every game about how his team gets better every game. This game was no different as he said after the loss to Penn State, “Guys played hard. They’ve been playing better for the better part of the second half of the season. So, we’re chalking up today to just play hard.”

MSU disappointing season ended on Saturday in University Park, Penn., 35-16, as they finish at 5-7 and just 3-6 in the Big Ten. What a difference a year makes as last year Tucker’s team won 11 games and went to a major bowl game. This year, the Spartans will be sitting at home trying to figure out what went wrong.

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Tucker said after the game when asked about this season, “Now is not the time for me to do that. There’s still a chance that we may play another game, wo we’ll have to see. At some point, I’ll assess the entire season, but not right now.”

The chances of another game are very slim with five wins but the 2022 bowl season proved teams with five wins could be chosen. If MSU is chosen for a bowl game, it will be another chance for the Spartans to get better.

MSU played from behind the entire time against Penn State. The Nittany Lions scored once in the first and second quarter for a 14-0 lead. Jack Stone put MSU on the board just before halftime with a 51-yard field goal to be down, 14-3, at the half.

PSU scored with 5:42 left in the third to make it 21-3. Payton Thorne fournd Maliq Carr for a nine-yard touchdown with 1:37 to go in the third for their first touchdown of the game, 21-10. Thorne then pulled the Spartans to within five, 21-16, on a two-yard run with 10:52 left in the game, 21-16, giving them a chance in the game. Their last two possessions, though, were an interception and an punt as PSU scored two more touchdowns in a 40 second time span to make it 35-16.

MSU ended their season winning three of their last six games.