Blue White Illustrated

Lions to a stunning 13-10 win in the highly-anticipated, first-ever Big Ten showdown between the two schools. "I'm just so proud of these kids and of the whole organization cause they perse- vere," head coach James Franklin said. "We've been talking about perseverance at this whole program, this whole com- munity and what the whole university's been through, and I think this team ex- emplifies that. "They're gritty and they're hard- nosed. They never stop believing in themselves, they never stop believing in Penn State, they never stop believing in each other, so [I'm] really, really proud of them." In no way did the Nittany Lions make it look easy Saturday night. Flummoxed by a Scarlet Knights' de- fense that featured a destructive defen- sive line and a combination of blitzes that would send Hackenberg to the turf on five different sacks, the Nittany Lions were kept off the scoreboard until Sam Ficken's field goal in the third quarters. Though Penn State's defense put together another tremendous effort, there appeared to be nothing that was able to get the Nittany Lions' offense in rhythm. In fact, PSU had produced just 17 first downs, 58 yards rushing and 285 yards of total offense leading up to the final drive. Then, the likelihood of a Penn State win seemed slim at best, especially when staring down the length of the field and knowing it needed a touchdown in order to win. Said Franklin, "On offense, it was not pretty. It was not pretty. We still [have] to get the running game going. We got to consistently be able to protect [the quar- terback], but once again, guys just found ways to make plays when they needed it." Boy, did they them. Having no momentum offensively, the tide began turning for the Nittany Lions in the form of a defensive effort that al- lowed just three second-half first downs and only 95 yards of total offense for the Scarlet Knights. Combining for five total interceptions, Penn State managed to nearly completely shut down quarter- back Gary Nova and the Knights' ground game led, which was led by Paul Jones and Desmon Peoples. "I thought the defense played ex- tremely well, from top to bottom," Franklin said. Still, the Nittany Lions needed to score. Though linebacker Brandon Bell was able to intercept Nova and set Penn State's offense up at the Rutgers 46- yard line midway through the fourth quarter, Penn State once again came up empty-handed offensively. Frequently finding themselves in third-and-long situations, the Nittany Lions struggled to overcome the Scarlet Knights' blitz- ing schemes. So a@er the ensuing drive, once Rutgers punter Tim Gleeson booted the ball into the end zone for a touchback, Hacken- berg and company had only one option with 3 minutes and 5 seconds remaining in the game: Score a touchdown, or lose. They wasted no time, as Hackenberg immediately hooked up with redshirt sophomore wideout Geno Lewis for a 53- yard catch-and-run down the le@ side- line that set PSU up at the Rutgers 27. The reception, one of Lewis' 6 for 109 yards, was remarkable – not only be- cause he caught the high-thrown pass, but also that he was able to escape two Rutgers defenders and race down the sideline. Again finding themselves in a third- down situation soon a@er that play, Hackenberg dropped back to pass and delivered a bullet to tight end Jesse James, diving in the end zone. The side judges signaled for the touchdown, but Franklin and Hackenberg saw something else: a yellow flag in the backfield. Called for offensive holding, the Nit- tany Lions were pushed back to the Rut- gers 29 and into a third-and-12 situation with the game essentially on the line. Again, though, Hackenberg connected with Lewis – this time in the form of a 23-yard floater that set up an improbable first-and-goal at the Rutgers 6. Recalled Lewis, "I mean, I'm not going to say you like it, but those are the situa- tions you thrive for. Those show who's going to make the big plays, who's going to come up [in the clutch]. It just shows how strong the team is and who can get the win at the end of the day." A@er two carries from running back Bill Belton , the Nittany Lions finally reached the end zone, and, for the first time in the game, they were ahead on the scoreboard. By the time Ryan Keiser intercepted Nova one final time on a fourth-and-12 with less than a minute to play, the game was essentially over. What led to the turnaround? "Two things," Franklin said. "We made less mistakes in the second half and we made more plays. We made some mis- takes in the first half. We made less mis- takes in the second half. We made more plays. "It's really that simple." SCORING SUMMARY 2ND 2nd 11:32 Nova, Gary 14-yard run (Federico, Kyle kick) 10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:08 ......................................................................7-0 0:12 RU Federico, Kyle 32-yard field goal 14 plays, 78 yards, TOP 4:53....................................................................10-0 3RD 3:45 PSU Ficken, Sam 32-yard field goal 13 plays, 72 yards, TOP 5:18.................................................................... 10-3 4th 13:00 PSU Ficken, Sam 25-yard field goal 9 plays, 68 yards, TOP 3:42......................................................................10-6 1:13 PSU Belton, Bill 5-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick)...............................................13-10 S E P T E m B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 2

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