COLUMN: MSU and Penn State is a forced rivalry, not genuine

A then-sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins runs the ball through the Penn State defense. The Spartans fell to the Nittany Lions 42-14 on Saturday evening at Spartan Stadium. Josh Radtke/The State NewsWhen Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 into law, he unknowingly created all that is great about college football. While the first college football game wouldn’t be played until four years after his assassination, Lincoln set forth the blueprint for college football rivalries.

Given life by Lincoln’s signature, colleges of agriculture and technology began to spring forth from the earth. The newly founded universities unsurprisingly became rivals with elder universities in…