Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1201503
Tanner Morgan completed 18 of 20 throws for 339 yards, with three touch- downs and no interceptions, and re- ceivers Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson had seven catches apiece for a combined total of 307 yards and two touchdowns. The Gophers' success was due in no small part to Ciarrocca's game plan, which excelled at putting Penn State in difficult situations. The Nittany Lions had to respect Minnesota's ability to play ball-control offense. They had seen it on film. The Gophers would use the running game to generate positive yardage on first and second down and create makeable third-and-short situa- tions. But if the Lions focused too in- tently on stopping the run, they ran the risk that Minnesota would use its All- Conference wide receiver tandem to ex- ploit a vulnerable secondary. It was a problem with no good solution, and while the Lions were trying to figure it out in the first half, the Gophers were piling up points. On the third play of the game, Morgan threw to Bateman for 15 yards. Two plays later, the two connected for a 66-yard touchdown. On their sec- ond possession, the Gophers opened with a 28-yard pass to Bateman on first down, and they finished the drive with a 21-yard touchdown throw to Chris Aut- man-Bell. They scored their third TD on a 38-yard completion to Johnson, taking a 21-10 second-quarter lead. The Gophers' game plan was so im- pressive that Franklin complimented Ciarrocca by name in his postgame presser. "We were in a situation where we felt like we had to commit more to stop the run," he said. "You're one-on- one, and their receivers made plays. [Morgan] is very comfortable in the pocket. It's a one-man read. If [that de- fensive player] buries himself into the box, then you pull it for a slant on the backside. If he doesn't, then you hand it off, and the ball is coming out quick. He's not holding on to it, and that's who he's been. I thought Coach Ciarrocca, their offensive coordinator, put some re- ally good plays in and called a really good game." The Lions put together a rally in the second half, but it fizzled out, thanks mainly to one last red zone mishap – a pass interference penalty that negated a catch at the Gophers' 2-yard line and pushed them back to the 25. Howden's interception followed two plays later. The juxtaposition of their ragged per- formance and Minnesota's crisply exe- cuted offensive game plan brought an end to the uneasy truce between Franklin and some of the more vocal F A S T F O R W A R D >> A N E A R L Y L O O K