EAST LANSING, Mich. — Penn State enjoyed Saturday’s win over Michigan State as you might expect a team to after breaking a six-game losing streak.

Interim coach Terry Smith got a Gatorade bath and was carried off the sideline. The locker room was loud, and the smiles were everywhere in postgame interviews.

That celebration only happened, though, because the Nittany Lions finally played their game.

The 2025 season has been one of disappointment, as the preseason No. 2 team crumbled, saw its head coach fired and lost its on-field identity on offense and defense.

Things slowly started to change once Smith took over. But still, one-possession losses against Iowa and No. 2 Indiana stung. Penn State had chances to win both games late but failed to do so.

Then, in East Lansing, the Lions “ended on (their) terms.” And it looked the way it was supposed to all season long.

Senior running back Kaytron Allen exploded for a career day, and a swarming Jim Knowles defense gave Michigan State no room to breathe.

Allen leaned heavily on the Spartan defense late. Penn State’s 13-play, 76-yard drive in the fourth quarter consumed just over nine minutes of game time. And 12 of those plays were runs, with the lone pass a short shovel to Devonte Ross on the goal line, who used his own legs to score.

The Lions iced out the Spartans by taking a commanding 21-10 lead. But that wasn’t it.

“That drive there was the statement to finish,” Smith said.

On the ensuing drive, cornerbacks Zion Tracy and Daryus Dixson met in the backfield on a well-designed blitz, securing a strip sack — their fifth takedown of young quarterback Alessio Milivojevic — and fumble recovery.

Allen quickly took off for 42- and 26-yard runs to score again and really put things away.

“We hadn’t finished at all this season,” Smith added after the 28-10 victory. “This was the first game we truly finished.”

Allen’s superstar season continued as he rumbled for a career-high 181 yards on 25 carries — a whopping 7.2 yards per rush. He scored two touchdowns in the process.

On the day, Allen moved closer to Penn State immortality. He is 139 yards away from breaking Evan Royster’s all-time rushing record with the Nittany Lions and has two games to get there.

“Kaytron was just unbelievable,” Smith said. “Happy for him for a career day.”

“He’s a dog. Everything he does on the field, it speaks for itself,” wide receiver Trebor Peña said. “He’s like that, and you gotta feed him.”

Allen said after the win the whole game plan was to wear Michigan State’s defense down over time. He did just that, securing 131 of his yards after halftime. And after a down week against Indiana, he said it had “been a minute” since he was as happy as he was Saturday night.

Penn State’s commitment to Allen and the run game has been extremely key since Smith took over. He has not run the ball fewer than 19 times in the past four games.

Nick Singleton contributed, too, as he continues to turn around his senior campaign. He rushed for 56 yards, his second-best output in Big Ten play.

“Just leaning on the O-line, trusting them boys up front. I couldn’t do it without them, so I appreciate them boys a lot for helping me do this. And Nick, too. He played a big part. He was going out there, running the ball too. It was just one-two punch out there.”

“I always said to you guys, if they’re touching the ball, it means we have a chance to win,” Smith said. “And man, did we win today behind those guys.”

Overall, Penn State secured a season-high 240 rushing yards.

“That felt real good. I feel like it was a big game for us to show our true identity,” starting guard Vega Ioane said. “A lot of words talking about we can’t run the ball, things like that. Well, there it is, man. It just goes to show how well five people gotta work as one for it to succeed.”

Penn State’s much-maligned passing attack also stepped up when needed. It wasn’t a huge day, with Ethan Grunkemeyer throwing for 127 yards, but he also completed passes when needed.

That included a 75-yard, play-action score to Devonte Ross.

It was Penn State’s longest play of the year and its longest passing play since the 2023 season.

“The touchdown pass to Devonte was huge,” Smith said. “It was critical because it showed them that we can throw the ball down the field, and it backed them up just enough to allow us to run the football.”

Defensively, Penn State got after Milivojevic relentlessly in just his second career start. He was sacked five times, including twice by star Dani Dennis-Sutton. Knowles’ defensive scheme has looked completely different in the past two weeks, launching creative blitzes one after another toward Penn State’s opponents.

“We’re just getting back to being up in people’s faces, being aggressive, more handsy,” cornerback Daryus Dixson said. “Just coming in with all the pressure we’re bringing, showing that we’re not one of those teams to back off.”

“I thought our defense got after it,” Smith said. “We’re starting to take shape on the defensive side and create some havoc, get some takeaways, get some stops when we need them.”

In the end? The intended 2025 formula finally led to the intended — and most important — 2025 result: a win.

“We’re going to play Penn State football,” Smith said. “This was an old-school Big Ten game. We dominated up front. We threw the ball when necessary, and it was efficient”

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