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EAST LANSING, Michigan (Ticker) -- For the first time since 1922, Penn State has closed the regular season with three straight losses. Less than a month after being three wins away from the Sugar Bowl, the 13th-ranked Nittany Lions walked off the field at Spartan Stadium as fifth-place finishers in the Big Ten Conference after a 35-28 loss to No. 14 Michigan State. "When you play good football teams, you've got to play with heart, but you've got to play with poise," said Penn State coach Joe Paterno. "We had the opportunity to win at the end but we made a couple of mistakes. You've got to give Michigan State some credit. They had to come back. They came back and made some plays. That's a good football team." The Spartans (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) blew all of a 28-7 lead, but freshman T.J. Duckett's fourth touchdown run of the game with 2 1/2 minutes to play was the difference. Penn State (9-3, 5-3) was ranked second in the nation heading into its game against Minnesota on November 6 but lost to the Golden Gophers and fell last weekend to Michigan. Both games were played in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions played Michigan State without star linebacker LaVar Arrington. "LaVar was hurt last Saturday," Paterno said. "It's one of those things. Sometimes they respond to treatment, sometimes they don't. It hurt not having him." Duckett carried 22 times for a career-high 159 yards for the Spartans, who finished tied with Michigan for second place in the conference and likely will play in a New Year's Day bowl game for the first time since 1989. Florida Citrus Bowl scouts attended the contest. "This was a great game, my first big, big college game; a lot on the line," said Duckett. "We came through today. We played great as a team. We played a full 60 minutes and that's what we wanted to do. We just came out and played today." Trailing 28-7 at halftime, the Nittany Lions and quarterback Kevin Thompson awoke in the second half. Thompson hit Eddie Drummond for a 23-yard score 8:12 into the third quarter and Travis Forney booted a 31-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the period to bring Penn State within 28-17. Thompson hit Drummond again for a 12-yard touchdown 2:31 into the fourth, but the two-point conversion failed. The Nittany Lions tied it midway through the period on Forney's 30-yard field goal. Drummond caught six passes for 107 yards. On the first play from scrimmage following Duckett's go-ahead TD run, linebacker T.J. Turner picked off Thompson, effectively ending Penn State's hopes. Duckett was the star of the first half. He rushed for touchdowns of 20, nine and two yards, with wide receiver Gari Scott's 64-yard punt return for a touchdown accounting for Michigan State's other score. "Today our big plays came in the running game and T.J. had a lot to do with that," Michigan State quarterback Bill Burke said. "He made some tough yards after the initial contact. He was a big spark plug for us out there today. This is a cap on a great season for us." Burke completed just 8-of-24 passes for 73 yards. Scott caught three passes for 55 yards. Larry Johnson ran for a one-yard touchdown for the Nittany Lions.
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