Blue White Illustrated

13 loss to the Wolverines. "Very, very tough loss," said head coach James Franklin. "I feel for the kids. I'm frustrated. "We've had a hard time protecting all year long. We've got a pretty talented quarterback and we haven't been able to protect him. Six sacks, probably a lot more pressures and hits than that." Hackenberg wasn't alone in that game. Forcing Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner to the sidelines with what ap- peared to be an ankle injury, the Nittany Lions' defense swarmed throughout the night. Big plays, and yards, for that matter were difficult to come by in front of the 113,085 fans at the first Big Ten game ever played under the lights at the Wolver- ines' newly renovated stadium. Racking up three sacks and five tackles for 21 yards in losses, Penn State maintained its defensive mojo in limiting the Wolver- ines to just 64 yards rushing and only 256 yards of total offense. "We came into this game expecting to win," said linebacker Mike Hull, who led the Nittany Lions with 11 tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. "I think this one kind of got away from us. We've just gotta regroup, and it's tough a@er a loss like this." The scoring began for the Nittany Lions on their very first offensive possession when kicker Sam Ficken sent home a 35- yarder to take an early 3-0 lead. The Wolverines, suffering through their own spell of stagnation on the of- fensive side of the ball, answered when wideout Devin Funchess snatched a 43- yard air ball in front of safety Ryan Keiser to score the game's opening touchdown. Said Franklin, "They threw a post into cover two, which you shouldn't be able to do. We waited on the ball rather than at- tacking the ball, and their guy just ran right in front of us. That was, I think, a real big play in the game because it gave them confidence. It gave them a chunk play. We gotta attack the ball when it's in the air and we didn't do it in that situa- tion." The score gave Michigan a 7-3 lead, but it would be one of the few easy "chunk" plays that the Wolverines would enjoy on the evening. Trading scores, Penn State answered Michigan's touchdown with a 32-yard field goal from Ficken. On the next scoring drive, Hackenberg found DaeSean Hamilton on a 10-yard touchdown connection at the beginning of the second quarter. Prior to half, Michigan drew within three a@er a 45- yard field goal from Matt Wile. The offenses were limited a@er the half, and the Nittany Lions found them- selves stuck in a 13-13 tie entering the fourth quarter following Wile's second of three field goals late in the third quar- ter. Suffering from a stalled offense throughout the second half, Penn State hit bottom when, faced with a fourth- and-11 at the Michigan 37-yard line, Franklin ordered a fake punt. Said Franklin, "We had not been punt- ing well .… We were in an area of the field where my thought was, we ran a fake that we could run versus a safe defense. Even if they weren't at the line rushing, we had been working on that fake versus that look all year long. We didn't block it. We didn't execute it very well, but I figure in that area of the field, we weren't going to gain a whole lot anyway, so let's run a play to give us a chance. It did not work out well. Obviously, you'd like to have that one back." A@er that, Gardner returned to the game – despite a limp – and led Michi- gan on a field goal drive. Which is all it needed in order to win the game. Following Michigan's game-tying third-quarter field goal, the Nittany Lions had four more offensive posses- sions through the final 17 minutes, 30 seconds. Total offensive production? Fi@een plays for 19 yards. That about sums it up. SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 9:28 PSU Ficken, Sam 35-yard field goal 10 plays, 57 yards, TOP 5:32...................................................................... 3-0 6:37 MICH Funchess, Devin 43-yard pass from Gardner, Devin (Wile, Matt kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:51........................................................................ 7-3 0:52 PSU Ficken, Sam 32-yard field goal 11 plays, 60 yards, TOP 5:45......................................................................7-6 2ND 11:58 PSU Hamilton, DaeSean 10-yard pass from Hackenberg, Christian (Ficken, Sam kick) 4 plays, 28 yards, TOP 2:00......................................................................13-7 5:08 MICH Wile, Matt 45-yard field goal 11 plays, 48 yards, TOP 6:50..................................................................13-10 3RD 2:30 MICH Wile, Matt 42-yard field goal 4 plays, 3 yards, TOP 1:32......................................................................13-13 4TH 11:24 MICH Wile, Matt 37-yard field goal 6 plays, 29 yards, TOP 2:15.................................................................... 16-13 1:41 MICH TEAM safety............................................................................................18-13 O c T O B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 2

• Cover