The program’s third straight loss, the Michigan State Spartans fell to the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions, 28-7, on October 26 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.

Sitting at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in B1G play, head coach Mark Dantonio tried to find a silver lining when addressing the media postgame.

Colton Pouncy, Michigan State beat writer for The Athletic, shared a headline-grabbing quote from the 13-year head coach:

Wil Hunter of The Spartan Wire added further context to Dantonio’s comments:

“You have to remain positive,” Dantonio stated.

“We have to get ourselves healed up. We have a lot of guys who are banged up, nicked up; guys that haven’t played.

“You (have) to try to get those guys back and you have to stay positive that we are 4-4 – that’s the beauty in it, I guess, if there is any beauty there. The beauty is we’re not 2-7, we’re 4-4.

“We (have) to take that and try to build on those things and get ourselves ready for Illinois.”

Averaging just 21.8 points per game, Michigan State’s offense ranks 111th out of the 130 FBS programs.

Completing just 16-34 passes for 165 yards and an interception, redshirt senior Brian Lewerke was replaced by redshirt sophomore Rocky Lombardi in the fourth quarter of the Penn State loss.

Dating back to halftime of the Ohio State game on October 5, the Spartans have only seven points in their last 10 quarters of action.

Seeking a return to the win column, Michigan State will host Illinois (4-4) on November 9.