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offensively against the Zips, some color- ful advice and a late-game change in plans helped prompt a 21-3 win in front of 97,354 fans in a sweltering heat. Said Belton, "We can't let teams hang around, and I think if we do that, that gives them hope. That definitely gave Akron hope today. They thought that they could play with us, and that's not what we want to give them." Two touchdown passes from quarter- back Christian Hackenberg to tight end Jesse James helped end the threat. But, as head coach James Franklin acknowl- edged following the game, a contest that had "concerned" him greatly going into it was worthy of celebration. "Feels good walking in here with a win," he said, flanked by his two daughters at the podium. "We are going to enjoy wins around here. I'm not going to become one of these coaches that the losses hurt more than the wins feel good. We're going to enjoy it." His Nittany Lions, 3,300 miles closer to home than they were a week ago, ad- vanced to 2-0 on the season, saw their sophomore quarterback put up monster numbers again, and now enter the first game of the Big Ten season with some momentum. And, Franklin said, they still have plenty to improve upon. Nothing, it seems, more than running the football. Said Franklin, "We need to improve the running game. There's no doubt about it. We need to get that going." Coming off a lackluster rushing per- formance against Central Florida in Dublin, Penn State's corps of running backs continued to struggle Saturday, picking up just 106 net yards rushing on 31 attempts, good for just 3.4 yards per carry. Even topping the century mark, the Nittany Lions were able to record just 28 yards on 16 carries before the final two plays of the third quarter. Behind an offensive line that featured just one returning starter this season, the process of building an effective unit con- tinued Saturday, at times at a frustrating pace. Though the Nittany Lions performed admirably on defense, limiting the Zips to just 3 points for the aAernoon and 277 total offensive yards, PSU's offense struggled to find much footing on the ground or through the air. Although Penn State finished with 27 first downs to the Zips' 17 and piled up another 425 total yards, two key red zone intercep- tions by Hackenberg and six consecutive possessions finished by either turnover or punt tested the Lions' patience. "Today was not a good day, in my opin- ion," said Belton. "We just gotta be more patient and take what the defense gives us." Third-string back Akeel Lynch led the way with 45 yards on seven carries, but much of the Lions' success on the ground was prompted by a fourth-quarter switch to Franklin's wildcat formation. With Lynch, Belton and Zach Zwinak all taking direct snaps, the Zips had trouble adjusting. Early in the game, when settling down a unit that seemed jittery, Hackenberg was caught on ABC's television camera openly wondering what the offense was doing. By game's end, however, what had been a slight Akron advantage in time of possession finished as a Penn State edge. Sensing the frustration of his Nittany Lion running backs, Franklin cautioned that consistent disappointment can lead to deviation from the offensive game plan on an individual basis. "I think we'll have to be careful because what happens a lot of times… you start getting frustrated with things. So, guys start to try to do their own things and cre- ate plays," he said. "That happens up front, that happens at running back and that happens at a lot of positions where you start to try to go outside the system. We just have to be disciplined and work at it." Added Belton, "Sometimes, when everything isn't popping the way it's supposed to, you get frustrated and you get ahead of yourself. I think the majority of us did that today." Still, coming away with the win, Hack- enberg and the Lions largely took an op- timistic tone as they look forward to next week's game at Rutgers (8 p.m., BTN). "At the end of the day, you look at it and we haven't played our best football and we're 2-0," said Hackenberg. "So I think if we can continue to build and get better, we'll worry about Penn State and con- tinue to get better in our individual posi- tions on our respective sides of the ball and the things that we need to improve upon based on the game film." SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 2:58 PSU Belton, Bill 22-yard pass from Hackenberg, Christian (Ficken, Sam kick) 4 plays, 58 yards, TOP 1:40 .......................................................................7-0 3RD 11:11 Akron Stein, Robert 28-yard field goal 6 plays, 30 yards, TOP 2:27 ........................................................................7-3 2:38 PSU James, Jesse 13-yard pass from Hackenberg, Christian (Ficken, Sam kick) 10 plays, 79 yards, TOP 5:26 ....................................................................14-3 4TH 8:58 PSU James, Jesse 44 -yard pass from Hackenberg, Christian (Ficken, Sam kick) 2 plays, 60 yards, TOP 0:25...................................................................... 21-3 S E P T E m B E R 6 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 2 Steve Manuel LONG HAUL Belton scored PSU's first touch- down on a 22-yard catch-and-run.

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