Blue White Illustrated

Pitt Postgame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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out of the way while the Panthers self- destructed. Pitt made enough mistakes to lose two or three games. It was flagged for 14 penalties for 116 yards, including a roughing-the-passer penalty that set up a PSU touchdown and a holding call in the end zone that yielded a safety. The Panthers also had three turnovers, missed a 35-yard field goal, botched the hold on a PAT, were intercepted on the goal line and got stuffed on fourth down at the Penn State 4-yard line. They even flubbed the coin toss, electing to receive even though the coaches had wanted to open the game on defense. Not since Three Rivers Stadium came down has the North Shore seen an im- plosion like that. Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • K.J. Hamler had another electrifying performance for the Nittany Lions, scor- ing their first touchdown on a 32-yard jet sweep and their second on a 14-yard catch. He also had a leaping 28-yard kickoff return that might have been a lot longer if he hadn't been yanked to the turf by his facemask. Hamler became the first Penn State wide receiver to have a rushing and re- ceiving touchdown in the same game since Derrick Williams against Indiana in 2008. • Playing in his hometown, Sanders en- joyed his first 100-yard game, finishing with 118 on 16 carries for a robust average of 7.4 yards per attempt. He could have had an even bigger night, but two of his best carries were wiped out by penalties. • It's hard to believe that Amani Oruwariye didn't make his first career start until last week against Appalachian State. All the guy does is make plays. Penn State's interception leader last year as a junior backup cornerback, Oruwariye intercepted his second pass of the season last night, pulling in one of Kenny Pickett's few deep passing at- tempts at the goal line to snuff out a first- quarter drive. "The ball just likes Amani," Franklin said. "I've been around guys like that my whole career where they just seem to be around the ball and make plays." • Blake Gillikin had a fantastic night despite the lousy field conditions. He av- eraged 42.6 yards on five attempts, and the shortest of those kicks – a 27-yarder early in the second quarter – was a per- fect pooch punt that was downed at Pitt's 4-yard line. "Blake was a big difference in the game this week," Franklin said. "Tough weather conditions, and he was able to punt the ball and swing field position when we needed to." • A

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