In loss, missed chances overshadow solid effort for Penn State's defense

After the best game of his career, Garrett Taylor sat, eyeblack still on his cheeks, and said it wasn’t good enough.

The Penn State safety led the team with five solo tackles and five pass break-ups as well as an interception that marked the team’s only turnover. But Taylor said he had too many missed tackles and, most importantly, a dropped interception late in the fourth quarter that could have changed the outcome of the game.

It was a performance that mirrored that of the defense as a whole. Penn State allowed just 21 points -- the lowest total of any of the three conference games the Nittany Lions have played this year.

But Brent Pry’s unit caved in the game’s most crucial moment, as a stunned homecoming crowd at Beaver Stadium saw Michigan State march 76 yards down the field to score a go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute remaining in a game the Spartans went on to win, 21-17.

“It's funny, you say we played well enough to win, our defense, but we still lost,” Taylor said when asked to evaluate the defense’s performance. “So, in my mind, we didn't play well enough to win.

“I don’t think I did enough.”

Taylor’s inability to bring down a second interception when it hit him in the hands was one of several instances where Penn State failed to shut the door on Michigan State. Given chance after chance to make a game-changing strike, the Spartans finally did so in the game’s waning moments.

Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke targeted wide receiver Felton Davis, isolated in one-on-one coverage deep down the left side of the field against Amani Oruwariye, with about 30 seconds to go.

Felton bested Oruwariye to make the catch inside the 5-yard line, broke the cornerback’s desperate tackle attempt and found himself in the end zone to give the Spartans a lead. At that moment, all of Penn State’s mistakes that had seemed so innocent before took on a meaning as large as the Nittany Lions’ season.

Another dropped interception on a ball that hit Oruwariye in the chest earlier in the drive was the most obvious of the bunch.

“Of course it's frustrating,” redshirt senior safety Nick Scott said. “I mean one or two big plays never decide the whole outcome of the game, but you've got to avoid plays that don't go your way where you have the opportunity to make the big play.”

There are other instances to point to besides the dropped picks.

Perhaps the most profound of those game-changing plays came in the first half. Penn State managed to keep Spartans out of the end zone, making three stops on the goal line before offensive-lineman-turned-defensive-tackle CJ Thorpe drew a personal foul penalty for taking a swipe at the helmet of a Michigan State player.

Both Taylor and Shareef Miller lamented “selfish penalties” after the game. This one turned a potential fourth-and-goal or field goal attempt into a first down, then a touchdown after the Spartans scored on the next play.

The margin of victory for Michigan State, of course, was four points -- in other terms, the difference between a touchdown and field goal.

“As a defense, we just made too many mistakes,” Taylor said. “We hurt ourselves.”

Saturday’s loss marked the second straight game in which Penn State’s defense gave up a long scoring drive to lose a late lead.

Scott said fatigue wasn’t an issue like it was in the fourth quarter against Ohio State, when the Buckeyes marched 96 yards down the field for the game-winning score amid numerous missed Penn State tackles.

But no matter the circumstances, for Miller, they all hurt the same.

“When you put so much into this game and then you lose, it's very upsetting,” he said.

“Football, this is my life. It's the only thing I've got besides my family. When you put so much into this game, you sacrifice, you work so hard, you prepare, and then you don't win, it's not a good feeling.”