Blue White Illustrated

just pitched a shutout, and you guys were all over them last week. Can we get some defensive questions?" All over them? Guilty as charged. Fans and media didn't have a lot of complimentary things to say about Penn State's defense after the Central Florida game a week earlier. That was because UCF gouged the Nittany Lions for more than 500 yards of total offense. But the game against Kent State was an entirely different story. Penn State allowed the Golden Flashes only 56 yards rushing and 134 passing. It compiled three sacks and seven tackles for loss and got an interception from junior safety Ryan Keiser, the first of his career. "We knew after last week's game that we had to do better," defensive end C.J. Olaniyan said. "So starting on Monday we watched film and put a big emphasis on being better on each play. We focused on everything. It wasn't just the pass rush last week. We also missed tackles. So we refocused on what we had to do to take care of our assignments." The result was the Nittany Lions' first shutout since Sept. 18, 2010. Their opponent that day? The Golden Flashes. Having been outscored 58-0 in its past two trips to Penn State, Kent State probably isn't going to be in any hurry to resume this series. And speaking of Golden Flashes, that's what a lot of the people who ventured to Beaver Stadium on Saturday – the official attendance was 92,371 – probably expected to see when they looked at the weather forecast before leaving home. The radar showed an enormous green splotch extending from Montreal to Mexico, and that splotch was streaked with bright yellow-red lines, one of which appeared to be bearing down on University Park as kickoff approached. It was an ominous sign, both for fans and players. "I couple of us definitely had the Weather Channel on our phones checking to see if the rain was going to push back or not," tight end Kyle Carter said. "But once you get out there, you've gotta go with how it is. The first half was kind of sloppy. The second half was fine." The rain, which was heavy at kickoff S e P t e m b e R SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 0:09 PSU Belton, Bill 15-yard pass from Hackenberg, Christian (Ficken, Sam kick) 9 plays, 87 yards, TOP 3:39.........................................................................0-7 2ND 9:26 PSU Zwinak, Zach 2-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 10 plays, 82 yards, TOP 2:59.....................................................................0-14 3RD 4:53 PSU Zwinak, Zach 1-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 9 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:55.......................................................................0-21 4TH 13:12 PSU Ficken, Sam 25-yard field goal 10 plays, 72 yards, TOP 3:26....................................................................0-24 6:42 PSU Zwinak, Zach 1-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 12 plays, 83 yards, TOP 5:34....................................................................0-31 2:45 PSU Ficken, Sam 54-yard field goal 6 plays, 10 yards, TOP 2:59.......................................................................0-34 before tapering off, did not lend itself to high-precision offense. The most memorable play of the Lions' first two possessions was a quick kick by Hackenberg on fourth-and-7 that forced Kent State to start at its own 7-yard line. And even when they stopped treading water late in the quarter, there were a few blooperreel moments. The most notable: a second-and-goal play from the 6, on which Hackenberg dropped back to pass only to have the ball slip out of his hands as he was cocking his arm. Donovan Smith recovered the fumble for a 9-yard loss, and it was a good thing he did, because Hackenberg bounced back on the very next play with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Bill Belton. The Lions followed with a 51-yard drive capped by a 2-yard Zach Zwinak touchdown run to take a 14-0 lead and added an insurance touchdown late in the third quarter. Zwinak got the carry from 1 yard out – he's now scored 48 of Penn State's 133 points this season – but Belton got them close with an 11-yard run to the goal line that was initially ruled a touchdown before the call was overturned on review. Zwinak added a third shortyardage touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Sam Ficken kicked field goals of 25 and 54 yards. The running game was the key to Penn State's second-half scoring binge. The Nittany Lions totaled a season-high 287 2 1 , 2 0 1 3 2 rushing yards with Akeel Lynch leading the way. Lynch only had 14 carries, all but one in the second half, but finished with 123 yards. While Penn State didn't put the game completely out of reach until well into the second half, O'Brien was happy with its performance in poor field conditions. "The type of team you want to be is a smart, tough team that can play in all types of weather, he said, "and I think at " times we've shown that. That's what we showed today. " So now the Lions head into their offweek with a 3-1 record and a chance to rest up for the Big Ten schedule. The nonconference season exposed some weaknesses – the Lions' depth at linebacker and youth in the secondary are concerning – but Hackenberg has had promising moments in all four of Penn State's games this year. While the Kent State game was his worst showing statistically – he was 13 of 35 for 176 yards – it wasn't enough to diminish anyone's optimism heading into the Big Ten opener at Indiana. "Would we like to be 4-0? Of course we would," O'Brien said. "But 3-1 is better than 2-2. And we feel decent about where we're at. We've got a bye week to get healed up and self-scout and just try to improve as a football team. I think it comes at the right time for us, four games in, and hopefully it will help us." b l u e w h i t e o n l i n e . c o m

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