Post-Game Notes: Penn State – Michigan State University Athletics

TEAM/SERIES
• MSU concluded regular-season action with a 5-7 overall record and a 3-6 mark in Big Ten play.

• Despite the loss, MSU has still won six of the last 10 meetings against Penn State, while Saturday’s result levels the all-time series at 18-18-1 . . . MSU and PSU have split the last six meetings in University Park.

OFFENSE

• Michigan State’s 229 yards passing marked the Spartans’ 10th game out of the 12 regular-season contests that MSU had 200-plus passing yards.

• Redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne was 24-for-43 passing for 229 yards with one TD and one INT . . . Thorne completed 20-plus passes for the fifth game this season, while the 229 yards marked his third-straight game with 200-plus yards as part of eight of the 12 games this season . . . the TD pass marked Thorne’s 10th game this season with at least one scoring pass as part of 23 of 29 career games.

• Thorne added a 2-yard rushing TD, marking his sixth career game with at least one rushing TD and one passing TD . . . Thorne has a rushing TD in six different games, having thrown for a passing TD in all but one of those occasions . . . it also is the second straight matchup with Penn State that Thorne had a passing and rushing TD in the same game, doing so last year on Nov. 27, 2021, on a snowy Senior Day at Spartan Stadium . . . the rushing score was Thorne’s first rushing TD of the season and sixth of his career.

• Thorne is now 242-for-387 for the season with 2,679 yards with 19 TDs and 11 INTs . . . the 242 completions rank No. 5 on MSU’s single-season pass completions list, passing Drew Stanton’s 236 in 2005 . . . Thorne’s 387 pass attempts rank No. 8 on MSU’s single-season pass attempts list, one shy of his mark of 388 last year at No. 7 . . . the 62.5 completion percentage is a new personal-best for Thorne and No. 10 on the Spartans’ single-season list.

• For his career, Thorne is now 524-for-860 passing for 6,493 yards, moving up to No. 6 on MSU’s career passing list . . . he also moves up to No. 6 on the career completions list, as the 524 completions makes him just the seventh Spartan QB with 500-plus completions, while also moving up to No. 6 on the career pass attempts list . . . the TD pass on Saturday gave Thorne 49 career TDs, holding the No. 4 spot on MSU’s career passing TDs list.

• Graduate-senior wide receiver…