"This is as bad a football game as we have played in a long time," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "We broke down in so many ways. We broke down in the kicking game. And our pass protection broke down. We really couldn't handle their down guys, which was a disappointment."

Penn State played the game without two offensive starters who were disciplined for breaking team rules. Sophomore receiver Maurice Humphrey, who had emerged as the No. 1 receiver in the second half of the season, and senior offensive tackle Chris McKelvy did not make the trip. McKelvy stayed behind because he cut classes. Paterno did not say why Humphrey did not make the trip.

Michigan State had four sacks, including three from defensive end Greg Taplin, who abused McKelvy's replacement, senior Damone Jones.

"The two guys we didn't bring, we missed them a good bit," said quarterback Zack Mills, who was 11 for 24 for 114 yards.

The suspensions could explain some of Penn State's ineffectiveness on offense. It is harder to explain how one of the top-rated pass defenses in Division I-A failed to limit the Michigan State offense.

Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker, in his final home game, completed 29 of 50 for 357 yards and four touchdowns.

"We didn't play well," Paterno said. "There's no other way to put it. Michigan State played well. If they had caught the ball a little better they would have beaten us by 20 more points. I thought we were ready. We just weren't very sharp."

Penn State place kicker Robbie Gould gave the Lions a 3-0 lead seven minutes into the game, but it was all Michigan State after that. The Spartans scored on three of their next four possessions and took a 21-3 lead into the intermission.

Penn State helped the cause with some poor tackling on Michigan State's first touchdown. Smoker threw a short pass to Kyle Brown, who got around Gardner and then broke Anwar Phillips' tackle en route to an 80-yard score.

Early in the second quarter, Tyrell Dortch scored on a 14-yard run for a 14-3 lead. After another Penn State punt that pinned the Spartans on their 6, Smoker completed 7 of 8 passes for 98 yards on a drive that was concluded with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Eric Knott.

The big play on the drive came from the Michigan State 3. On third-and-13, after an illegal procedure penalty, Smoker completed a 40-yard pass to Brown down the sideline.

"It was like Murphy's Law out there," Jones said. "Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong."

Penn State didn't put up much of a fight after that. The Lions had seven consecutive three-and-out series to open the second half and did not get a first down in the second half until less than four minutes remained in the game.

Smoker completed two more touchdown passes in the second half, giving him 61 career touchdown passes and 8,876 career passing yards, both Michigan State records.

"I hate to go out like this," Jones said. "I have to live with this bitter taste in my mouth for the rest of my life."