Blue White Illustrated

week that Hackenberg had secured the starting job over teammate Tyler Ferguson, so when the native of Palmyra, Va., took the opening snap Saturday at MetLife Stadium in front of 61,202 fans, it wasn't necessarily a surprise. What was surprising, at least to those expecting the young quarterback to feel some early jitters, was Hackenberg's execution on his first two drives. He completed his first six passes, including a 16-yard strike to Matt Lehman, to begin the game. On the third drive, Ferguson replaced him – a decision O'Brien promised to the quarterbacks before the game. With his first pass, the junior college transfer from Bakersfield, Calif., found sophomore receiver Matt Zanellato across the middle for an 18-yard gain, which was the longest completion of the first half. But on the next snap, the ball squirted out of his hands without being touched by a defender. Syracuse recovered the loose ball, and Ferguson didn't return. The Orange capitalized on the turnover with a seven-play, 28-yard drive that ended in a 32-yard field goal by Ross Krautman. Penn State later tied the score on a 36-yard field goal by Sam Ficken. Zach Zwinak led the way for Penn State on the ground, totaling 52 yards on 13 carries in the first two quarters. He and the offensive line hit their stride on the last drive of the first half, which resulted in a 35-yard Ficken field goal to put the Lions up, 6-3, at the break. "We were just doing what Coach [Mac] McWhorter taught us to do," center Ty Howle said. "We have to be able to run the ball." After intermission, it almost looked like a completely new ballgame. In four offensive plays within the first two drives of the second half, each team scored a touchdown and tallied a combined 141 yards. Allen Robinson had been sidelined during the first half due to an undisclosed suspension – the details, O'Brien said, would stay between he and Robinson – but the junior wideout returned in the third quarter. And Hackenberg immediately hit him twice on the opening drive. The first was a screen pass that Robinson took 25 yards for a first down. On the second, Hackenberg found Robinson along the left sideline for a 51-yard A U G U S T SCORING SUMMARY 2ND PSU 0:55 PSU 11:46 PSU 11:05 SU 14:16 PSU 11:39 PSU 6:58 4TH SU 5:59 3RD 12:32 SU Krautman, Ross, 32-yard field goal 7 plays, 28 yards, TOP 3:20........................................................................ 0-3 Ficken, Sam, 36-yard field goal 9 plays, 30 yards, TOP 2:53........................................................................ 3-3 Ficken, Sam, 35-yard field goal 9 plays, 41 yards, TOP 4:00........................................................................ 6-3 Robinson, Allen, 51-yard pass from Hackenberg, C. (Ficken, Sam kick) 2 plays, 76 yards, TOP 0:34...................................................................... 13-3 Smith, Jerome, 10-yard run (Ross Krautman kick) 2 plays, 65 yards, TOP 0:41....................................................................13-10 Ficken, Sam, 46-yard field goal 4 plays, -1 yards, TOP 1:50.....................................................................16-10 Lewis, Eugene, 54-yard pass from Hackenberg, C. (Ficken, Sam kick) 1 play, 54 yards, TOP 0:08......................................................................23-10 Smith, Jerome, 1-yard run (Krautman, Ross kick) 1 play, 1 yard, TOP 0:03......................................................................... 23-17 catch-and-run touchdown. With Ficken's PAT and Hackenberg's first career touchdown throw, PSU took a 13-3 advantage. On Syracuse's ensuing possession, it began chipping away at the lead. Quarterback Drew Allen, who also won a hotly contested quarterback battle this summer, found Jeremiah Kobena wide open after running past safety Malcolm Willis. Kobena hauled in the 55-yard pass before Willis pulled him to the ground at the 10. Jerome Smith scored on a 10-yard run to tighten the score, 13-10. Penn State went three-and-out on its next drive, and just when it appeared as if Syracuse could jump back into the lead, Allen threw a pass directly into the lap of senior Stephen Obeng-Agyapong. The Penn State safety/linebacker nabbed the interception and the officials awarded 15 additional yards due to an unsportsmanlike conduct foul on the Orange after the play. Beginning at the Syracuse 31, the Lions used four plays that resulted in a 1-yard loss. But they still managed to scrape together points, as Ficken hit a career-long 46-yard field goal to give them a 16-10 lead in the fourth quarter. "He's done a helluva job, O'Brien said " of the junior kicker. "He deserves it. He's worked extremely hard. It's only one game, but I say he should be very proud 3 1 , 2 0 1 3 2 today of how he kicked the ball. " Penn State quickly got the ball back, and when it did, it only needed one play to extend its lead. After a play-action fake, Hackenberg found a wide-open Lewis at the goal line for a 54-yard touchdown pass. Hackenbeg threw two interceptions on the day. While his first one was inconsequential, his second, which came deep in Syracuse territory and was returned to the 1, resulted in points. Syracuse tacked on one more touchdown with about seven minutes left to play, to make it a one-possession game. But the Nittany Lions fended off two more Syracuse drives, and sophomore cornerback Trevor Williams put his stamp on the game with a toe-tapping interception along Penn State's sideline with less than two minutes left. The victory wasn't without its disappointments. Lehman went down early in the game with an apparent knee injury and didn't return. Linebacker Mike Hull left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury, too. He came back on the field with his knee heavily wrapped for one drive after halftime, but he didn't last. He watched the final minutes of the game from the sideline in street clothes and a ball cap. O'Brien had no update on either injury in his postgame news conference. B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M

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