Blue White Illustrated

PLAYER OF THE GAMEChristian Hack- enberg did it again. With an 80-yard field between him and the win, the Nit- tany Lions' sophomore made big play after perfect play to lead a game-win- ning drive that was capped by Bill Bel- ton's 5-yard touchdown run. PLAY OF THE GAMEWith three min- utes remaining in the game, Penn State started from its own 20-yard line down 10-6, but on the first pass attempt, Hackenberg found wide receiver Geno Lewis on a slant. Lewis then turned up- field for a 53-yard gain to put PSU deep in Rutgers territory with less than three minutes remain- ing. BEST PASSThere were too many to count from Hacken- berg down the stretch. Maybe the best didn't even count. Penn State quarter- back Christian Hackenberg threw an incredible ball to tight end Jesse James, who made an equally im- pressive reception for a touchdown. The problem? A holding call against center Angelo Mangiro negated the play. BEST RUNLooking for a receiver on third-and-3 in the red zone early in the second quarter, Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova tucked it and ran through traffic, hit a spin move at the goal line and punched it in for a 14-yard touch- down. BEST CATCHThe same as the play of the game. With the Rutgers crowd screaming, Hackenberg delivered an overthrown ball to Lewis that, somehow, he hauled in and converted into a 53-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline. BEST SACKFollowing Penn State's touchdown drive to take a late lead against the Scarlet Knights, defensive tackle Anthony Zettel capped his al- ready tremendous game with another sack on Nova. Runner-up? With Rutgers poised to potentially jump ahead 14-0 before halftime, defensive end Deion Barnes came up with a critical sack on Nova to push the Knights out of the red zone. It was his first sack of the season. BEST HITCornerback Grant Haley al- lowed a 21-yard pass down the sideline to Rutgers' Janarion Grant, but he also unloaded a wicked hit on the wideout late in the first half. BEST INTERCEPTIONJust after getting burned on a 16-yard pass to Leonte Car- roo, cornerback Trevor Williams came down with a tipped ball off the hands of Janarion Grant, who was running a route out of the backfield. It was Penn State's first interception of the season. Adrian Amos picked off Nova's very next pass, too, and Williams added another inter- ception in the third quarter. BEST EFFORTSafety Ryan Keiser bat- ted down Nova's long pass, which was on target to tight end Tyler Croft, pre- venting the Knights from maintaining momentum on their first possession of the night. BEST KICKRutgers punter Joey Roth didn't exactly boom one in the first quarter, but Jesse Della Valle's decision to let the ball bounce deep into PSU territory turned into Roth's best effort of the season, a 51-yarder. WORST KICKSam Ficken's 34-yard at- tempt that was blocked by Kemoko Turay - his second block of the season - kept the Nittany Lions off the score- board and gave Rutgers the game's mo- mentum. BEST DECISIONFor Penn State, finally giving up on the run was the best thing the Nittany Lions could do in the sec- ond half. Going nowhere on the ground, once Hackenberg and his receivers fi- nally found a little bit of a rhythm, they also found some offensive success. WORST DECISIONOn a critical third- and-long late in the fourth quarter, Penn State was charged with a holding call that negated a big first down com- pletion that would've put it in the red zone. The quick Hackenberg punt two plays later wasn't great, either. MOST TELLING MOMENTHackenberg found himself facing a persistent blitz package on third-and-long situations all night. Playing behind an inexperienced offensive line, Hackenberg saw more of Rutgers' defensive line than he ever could have wanted, and it stayed like that most of the night. – NATE BAUER JUDGMENT CALLS The best and the rest from the Lions' victory over Rutgers Steve Manuel 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 4 NULL AND VOID Hackenberg's best pass, which was caught by Jesse James in the end zone, was called back after a holding penalty.

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