Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/216213
P O S T G A M E R E P O R T W E E K 1 1 N E B R A S K A 2 3 , P E N N STAT E 2 0 – OT SINGLE-LEG TAKEDOWN Ameer Abdullah had 147 rushing yards and two receptions for 18 yards. THE GAME AT A GLANCE GOOD NEWS It was another overtime thriller for the home crowd, and against one of the Big Ten's better teams, Penn State gave itself every opportunity to win. BAD NEWS Missed extra Steve Manuel Hitting the wall PSU loses fourth-quarter lead as Nebraska prevails in OT MATT HERB | m at t @ b l u e w h i t e o n l i n e . c o m It's become a commonplace occurrence anymore – so commonplace, in fact, that when Penn State's home finale against Nebraska went to overtime on Saturday, nobody was concerned or even particularly surprised. "We're conditioned well, and we're ready, and we feel like we can win any overtime game, safety " Ryan Keiser said. That confidence was well-founded. The Nittany Lions had won all of the three previous overn o V e m b e R 2 3 , time games they had played during Bill O'Brien's two-year tenure as head coach. But they couldn't summon that same magic against the Cornhuskers on senior day at Beaver Stadium. Sam Ficken missed a 37-yard field goal in overtime, and moments later, Nebraska's Pat Smith sent his 42-yard attempt sailing through the uprights for the decisive points in a 23-20 victory. Said Keiser, "It just didn't work out today. " 2 0 1 3 1 b l u e w h i t e o n l i n e . c o m points often come back to bite. Penn State made its fair share of mistakes throughout the game, but perhaps none were more costly than the first – the missed PAT after the Nittany Lions' first TD. THE TAKEAWAY A coach always wants to send his seniors out with a win, but Bill O'Brien wasn't able to accomplish that Saturday. You could tell that bothered him during the postgame news conference. But some of his youngsters had stellar performances – looking at you, Brandon Bell – so the future remains bright.