The Big Ten East race has a new look after Week 10. That's bad news for the Big Ten's playoff hopes, but good news for Michigan State following a 27-24 win over Penn State. 

Once again, the Spartans played a game in terrible conditions. A long weather delay followed by rain sidetracked a noon kickoff well into the afternoon. In the end, though, coach Mark Dantonio knows how to win ugly and when it's least expected. That's what makes him one of the better coaches in this game. 

With one of the more surprising upsets of the day still fresh in our minds, here's what we learned from Michigan State's big win over the Nittany Lions

1. The Big Ten East could be won by ... the Spartans? The win over Penn State, coupled with Ohio State's loss to Iowa, puts Michigan State at 5-1 in conference play, which is tied with the Buckeyes. These two teams will play for the No. 1 spot in Week 11 in Columbus. If Michigan State gets a win there, it would be in the driver's seat to take the divisional crown with only Maryland and Rutgers in the way. There's still plenty of important football between now and then, but that the Spartans are even in this position to begin with -- by no means has Dantonio's team won pretty -- says a lot about this program's ability to rebound. It also says Wisconsin is the Big Ten's best remaining hope for a playoff spot.

2. Brian Lewerke is definitely Michigan State's long-term answer at quarterback: It's taken a little while, but Lewerke has settled in nicely in his first full season as the starting quarterback. Lewerke attempted 56 passes -- 56! -- in cruddy conditions for an astounding 400 yards two touchdowns. Those are big numbers to begin with, let alone in on a wet field. And these weren't dink and dunk throws, either. Lewerke was squeezing balls into tight spots along the sidelines and his receivers were making impressive catches as well. Lewerke still has plenty to, um, "work" on (pardon the pun) with his decision-making and overall skill set, but there's so much to like about what he offers running and passing. Long term, he looks like a good prospect for that offense. 

3. Michigan State's defense is the collective MVP, however: Credit Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead because he continues to draw up fun and creative plays. There are a lot of wrinkles the Nittany Lions show on a weekly basis that make it hard to defend. The Saquon Barkley pass, which started in a shift in the backfield, was a beautiful call. 

But Michigan State did a good job of getting off the field on third down -- Penn State was 4-of-12 -- and nabbing interceptions (3). They also did an excellent job at keying in on Barkley (more on that below). Those are the categories they had to win if they were going to pull off the upset. There are still things left to be desired in the passing attack, but overall this was a good effort to counter a creative offense. 

4. Saquon Barkley's Heisman campaign continues to dwindle: Barkley has a lot of competition for an award that he was favored to win not that long ago. Barkley had 113 yards of total offense, but under 100 rushing and receiving, with zero touchdowns. Barkley still gets his big play every once in a while because he's such a tremendous athlete, but the reality is he hasn't had a true game-changing performance since the Iowa win in September. And he's had one game since Iowa that he could hang his Heisman hat on (161 yards and three touchdowns vs. Michigan). Barkley is special, there's no doubt about that. He also hasn't had the Heisman-like October or November (so far) that he was projected to have.