The battle for the Land-Grant Trophy has arrived.

Penn State football will try to win its third consecutive game when Michigan State comes to Beaver Stadium this Saturday. It’s currently up in the air whether this will be the Nittany Lions’ last game of the season, as the Big Ten’s week nine set up remains unclear.

No matter what, Saturday’s contest will have an extra meaning due to the fact that it will be Senior Day. As James Franklin’s program tries to send its seniors off with a victory, here’s a look at what the Spartans will bring to the table:

The Team

The Spartans currently boast a measly 2-4 record, but both of their victories were fairly impressive. Their first came in week two by sliding by “big brother” Michigan 27-24. Michigan State dropped its next two games in ugly fashion but bounced back with a huge 29-20 upset over No. 14 Northwestern.

After that, however, the Spartans hosted No. 4 Ohio State and were routed 52-12. Justin Fields threw for nearly 200 yards and two scores, while Michigan State quarterbacks Payton Thorne and Rocky Lombardi combined for no scores and two interceptions.

The Spartans’ other losses this season have come at the hands of Rutgers, Iowa, and Indiana. Their contest against Maryland scheduled for earlier this season was canceled due to a coronavirus outbreak in the Terps’ program.

Mel Tucker is in his first season as Michigan State’s head coach. He came over from Colorado after one season at the helm there and took over for long-time Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio.

Offense

The Spartans currently rank as the very worst offense in the Big Ten. They’re averaging just 319.7 yards per game along with a brutal 17 points, and have struggled to keep up with the vast majority of their opponents.

Rocky Lombardi has earned most of the snaps at quarterback, but redshirt freshman Payton Thorne has gotten some time, including when Lombardi went down with an injury against Ohio State last week. The Spartans’ starting quarterback for this weekend remains unannounced.

Lombardi hasn’t done much of anything impressive in his starting role this season. He’s completed 84 passes worth 1,090 yards and eight scores, but also has an ugly nine interceptions to his name. Thorne, on the other hand, has completed 26 passes with the time he’s gotten, but doesn’t have any touchdowns and has thrown two picks.

As for those signal-callers’ targets, Jalen Nailor and Jayden Reed are the two names that first come to mind. Nailor leads the team with 415 receiving yards and two touchdowns, his biggest performance coming against Iowa when he hauled in four catches worth 119 yards.

Reed, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Western Michigan, has a team-leading 27 grabs for 331 yards and three scores. He burst onto the scene in the week one loss to Rutgers by making a monster 11 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

Michigan State’s biggest issue on the offensive side of the ball is clearly the rushing attack, as it’s averaging just 95.2 yards on the ground per game. In fact, Connor Hayward and Jordon Simmons are the only Spartan rushers with triple-digit yards on the year. Hayward leads the team with 190 yards on 60 attempts, while Simmons is close behind with 147 yards on 42 tries.

The Spartans have just two rushing scores on the season. They’ve come from backup quarterback Thorne and, you guessed it, punter Tyler Hunt.

Defense

While the offense has been flat out bad, Michigan State’s defense hasn’t been completely bad this season. The Spartans are allowing a middle of the road 395.3 yards per game to opposing offenses, but have let squads get in the end zone often for 34.5 yards per game.

While neither of those marks are impressive, the Spartans do have some dudes on this side of the ball.

Cornerback Shakur Brown was one of the first players James Franklin mentioned when looking at the Spartans at his Tuesday press conference, and for good reason. The redshirt junior has racked up five interceptions on the year, which is tied for most in the nation, along with 23 total tackles and four passes defended.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, though, no one else on the defensive side of the ball has grabbed an interception this season. Linebacker Antjuan Simmons, however, has recovered two fumbles on the year. He leads the team with 65 total tackles, has two passed defended, and one sack to his credit.

On the defensive line, Jacub Panasiuk has led the way with 25 total tackles, while Drew Beesley and Michael Fletcher are tied with a team-leading three sacks.

Despite some of that talent, the Spartans played ugly games on the defensive side of the ball against Rutgers, Iowa, and, of course, Ohio State.

Special Teams

Matt Coghlin has been steady at kicker for the Spartans this season. The seasoned redshirt senior has nailed all 10 of his extra points and has been good on eight of his 11 field goal attempts. He has a season-long of 51 yards and has been responsible for 34 points this year.

At punter, Tyler Hunt has that one rushing touchdown to his name this year and has averaged 40.1 yards on 36 attempts, including 15 that have been downed inside the opponent’s 20.