Blue White Illustrated

KEY MATCHUPS P E N N   S T A T E   V S .   R U T G E R S | B Y   P H I L   G R O S Z W H E N P E N N S T A T E H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME 205.4 YPG, 5.2 YPC // RUTGERS RUN DEFENSE230.2.4 YPG, 5.6 YPC THE LOWDOWNPenn State only ranks sixth in the Big Ten in rushing offense, but it should have some success against a Rutgers defense that hasn't been very effective this season. Penn State's leading rusher, RB Miles Sanders, is coming off of his fourth 100-plus-yard game of the season, having gained 159 yards on 23 carries (6.9 ypc) and one touchdown against Wisconsin. He has now surpassed 1,000 yards for the season. The Nittany Lions' second-lead- ing rusher is QB Trace McSorley. He only had 9 yards against the Badgers on 11 carries, a season-low total that was no doubt impacted by the right knee injury he's been nursing ever since the Iowa game on Oct. 27. For the season, the fiBh-year senior has gained 620 yards on 133 carries (4.7 ypc). The Scarlet Knights have struggled to keep oppo- nents from running the ball on them. They rank 13th in the conference in rushing defense and have given up 24 TDs on the ground. Their leading tackler is WLB Trevor Morris with 91 stops, including 3.5 tackles for loss. MLB De- onte Roberts is next with 77 tackles and 3.5 TFL, while FS Saquan Hampton has 56 tackles. DE Mike Tverdov leads Rutgers with 4.5 tackles for loss. // KEY MATCHUP If guards Steven Gonzalez and Connor McGovern and C Michal Menet can get to the second level and control Morris and Roberts, Penn State should have success running the football. // EDGE Penn State PENN STATE PASSING GAME 215.1 YPG, 13.7 YPC // RUTGERS PASS DEFENSE 188.4 YPG, 11.7 YPC THE LOWDOWNEver since their 27-26 loss to Ohio State in late September, the Nittany Lions' passing game has strug- gled. They go into this week's game ranked ninth in the Big Ten in passing yardage and have thrown for only 16 touch- downs. McSorley had a solid aBernoon against Wisconsin, completing 19 of 25 passes for 160 yards, including a 14-yard TD pass to DeAndre Thompkins. For the season, he has completed 146 of 269 passes for 1,871 yards, with 13 TDs and five interceptions. Penn State's leading receiver is K.J. Hamler with 33 catches for 552 yards and five TDs. Juwan John- son is next with 21 catches for 293 yards, but he has barely played in Penn State's past three games due to an injury and it's unclear when he will return. Rutgers has looked pretty good against the pass statistically, ranking third in the Big Ten in yards allowed. That may be a reflection of the quality of their secondary, but it may also be an indication that op- ponents would rather attack Rutgers on the ground. The Scarlet Knights have intercepted only six passes. Hampton and SS Damon Hayes lead the way with two picks apiece. Rutgers ranks 13th in the Big Ten with 14 sacks, four of them by Tverdov. // KEY MATCHUP Hamler will do battle with Hampton. In addition to his two interceptions, the senior safety has broken up 10 passes. Up front, RT Will Fries will face Tverdov, who is by far Rutgers' best pass rusher. If Fries and/or Chasz Wright control him, McSorley should throw for over 200 yards. // EDGE Penn State PENN STATE PASSING GAME VS. RUTGERS PASS DEFENSE RUTGERS RUNNING GAME 131.3 YPG, 4.0 YPC // PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE 175.9 YPG, 4.2 YPC THE LOWDOWNTo put it mildly, Rutgers' running game has struggled this season. The Scarlet Knights rank 12th in the Big Ten in rushing offense. RB Raheem Blackshear is their leading rusher with 464 yards and two touchdowns on 105 carries (4.3 ypc). Isiah Pacheco is next with 460 yards and three TDs on 84 carries (5.5 ypc). Pacheco, a freshman, had an 80-yard TD run against Michigan last Saturday. Jonathan Hilliman is third on the team with 303 rushing yards but leads in rushing TDs with six. As a team, the Scarlet Knights have only 11 rushing TDs. Penn State ranks ninth in the Big Ten in rushing defense, but it should have some success on Saturday. OLB Micah Parsons is the Lions' leading tackler with 58 stops, while MLB Jan Johnson is next with 56. OLB Cam Brown has 53 tackles, followed by FS Nick Scott with 52. Penn State leads the Big Ten with 74 tackles for loss, including 15.5 by DE Yetur Gross-Matos. DE Shareef Miller has 10.5 negative-yardage stops, and DT Robert Windsor has eight. // KEY MATCHUP It will be interesting to see if Rutgers tackles Kamaal Seymour and Tariq Cole will be able to hold off Gross-Matos, Miller and Shaka Toney. If they can't, Penn State will add to its TFL total. Also, the matchup between Rutgers RG Jonah Johnson and Windsor will be crucial. Windsor has gotten excellent penetration into opponents' backfields the past five games. // EDGE Penn State RUTGERS RUNNING GAME VS. PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE RUTGERS PASSING GAME VS. PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE W H E N R U T G E R S H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME VS. RUTGERS RUN DEFENSE N O V E M B E R   1 4 ,   2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 RUTGERS PASSING GAME 143.1 YPG, 9.1 YPC // PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE 200.7 YPG, 10.3 YPC THE LOWDOWNThe Scarlet Knights are fielding the Big Ten's 13th-ranked pass offense. QB Artur Sitkowski has completed only 49.2 percent of his attempts for 1,140 yards, with four touchdown passes and a league-high 16 in- terceptions. His backup is Giovanni Rescigno, who also has posted a 49 percent completion rate (24 of 49) with two interceptions. Rutgers' leading pass-catcher is Blackshear with 39 receptions for 328 yards and two TDs. WR Bob Melton is next with 25 receptions for 216 yards, and Eddie Lewis has 24 catches for 173 yards. Amazingly, Rut-

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