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KEY MATCHUPS P E N N   S T A T E  V S .  N E B R A S K A WHEN PENN STATE HAS | THE BY P H I L G R O S Z BALL PENN STATE RUNNING GAME VS. NEBRASKA RUN DEFENSE PENN STATE RUNNING GAME 179.2 YPG, 4.2 YPC NEBRASKA RUN DEFENSE 160.8 YPG, 4.0 YPC PENN STATE PASSING GAME VS. NEBRASKA PASS DEFENSE PENN STATE PASSING GAME 255.4 YPG, 12.5 YPC NEBRASKA PASS DEFENSE 212.7 YPG, 13.0 YPC THE LOWDOWN The Nittany Lions' rushing attack has been very effective in the team's past three games, totaling 729 yards. Bill Belton rushed for 201 yards against Illinois, while Zach Zwinak finished with 149 yards and three touchdowns against Purdue and 152 yards against Minnesota. Against those three opponents, Penn State averaged 5.13 yards per carry with six rushing TDs. Nebraska's defense has struggled against the run. The Cornhuskers are ranked eighth in the Big Ten in rushing defense. Senior SS Corey Cooper is the Huskers' leading tackler, while sophomore DE Randy Gregory is their big-play specialist with 13.5 tackles for loss. EDGE Penn State THE LOWDOWN Christian Hackenberg is the Big Ten's third-leading passer with an average of 239.9 yards per game. Allen Robinson is the league's leading receiver with an average of 120.4 yards per game. The Cornhuskers prefer to use man-to-man coverage in the secondary. They have two excellent cornerbacks in seniors Ciante Evans and Stanley Jean-Baptiste. Those two have combined for seven interceptions, so Hackenberg will have to be on target with his throws. But Nebraska has also given up some big plays on which opponents have used play-action on first down to set up a deep pass. Hackenberg is very good at selling the play-action fake. EDGE Penn State WHEN NEBRASKA NEBRASKA RUNNING GAME VS. PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE NEBRASKA PASSING GAME VS. PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE HAS THE BALL NEBRASKA RUNNING GAME 240.3 YPG, 5.2 YPC PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE 144.0 YPG, 3.9 YPC THE LOWDOWN Nebraska enters its game against Penn State with the third-best rushing offense in the Big Ten, an of- fense built around junior Ameer Abdullah, whose 1,336 rushing yards lead the conference. Sophomore Imani Cross backs up Abdullah at tailback. He's rushed for 407 yards, averages 5.6 yards per carry and has totaled 10 rushing TDs. Nebraska uses a read-option rushing attack, with redshirt freshman Tommy Armstrong averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Look for Nebraska to attack Penn State's perimeter. MLB Glenn Carson is the Nittany Lions' leading tackler with 75 stops, while DT DaQuan Jones leads the team with 11.5 tackles for loss. EDGE Nebraska NEBRASKA PASSING GAME 200.3 YPG, 11.6 YPC PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE 231.7 YPG, 11.6 YPC THE LOWDOWN A foot injury has kept Taylor Martinez on the bench most of the season. In his absence, Armstrong and senior Ron Kellogg have shared the QB position. Armstrong has completed only 53 percent of his passes, but he excels at running the read-option. Kellogg is a better passer, having completed 67.2 percent of his attempts for 529 yards with four TDs and one interception. The Cornhuskers have two excellent receivers in Quincy Enunwa and Kenny Bell. Enunwa has 41 catches for 536 yards and eight TDs, and Bell has 39 receptions for 466 yards and four TDs. Also, Abdullah is an excellent receiver coming out of the backfield. EDGE Nebraska OTHER MATCHUPS SPECIAL TEAMS THIS 'N' THAT COACHING STAFF THE LOWDOWN The Cornhuskers have a big edge over Penn State in kickoff coverage. Opponents have averaged only 17.8 yards per kickoff return on 20 attempts this season. Penn State's return game has not been very dynamic. The Nittany Lions average only 20 yards per attempt, ninth-best in the conference, but they do have one of the top placekickers in the Big Ten in Sam Ficken. EDGE Even THE LOWDOWN Nebraska comes into this game with Martinez lost for the season with a foot injury and five other starters questionable due to health issues. It will be interesting to see how motivated the Cornhuskers are to play this game after losing to Michigan State last Saturday. It's senior day at Penn State, which means the Nittany Lions will be highly motivated. EDGE Penn State THE LOWDOWN Bo Pelini's future at Nebraska is cloudy. The sixth-year coach has compiled a 56-23 record, and the Cornhuskers lost at least four games in each of his first five seasons. The release in September of a two-year-old audio tape in which he criticized Nebraska fans did not help his cause. At Penn State, Bill O'Brien is not going anywhere unless an NFL team makes him an offer he can't refuse. EDGE Penn State N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 3 3 BL UEW HI T EON L I N E. COM

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