Blue White Illustrated

O c T O B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 10 R Y A N   J O N E S | B L U E W H I T E c O N T R I B U T O R Redshirt freshman DaeSean Hamilton hauled in a school-record 14 receptions. True freshman safety Marcus Allen had 11 tackles in his first career start. But on a night of statistical superlatives for a number of Nittany Lions, it was the quiet senior linebacker Mike Hull whose play made the most noise. With a game-high 19 tackles (including 2.5 tackles for loss) and an interception Saturday night, Hull paced a Penn State defense that at times dominated the flow of an eventual 31-24 overtime loss to Ohio State. He was everywhere against the Buckeyes' quick-hitting attack, and inarguably the biggest reason the Lions held Ohio State below 300 yards of total offense. The impact was obvious enough to James Franklin, who made sure his senior defensive captain was the first player he mentioned aBer the loss. "Mike Hull played an unbelievable game," Franklin said. "I think he should be on every award list right now. He de- serves that. The guy's playing at a really, really high level, week in and week out. He makes plays sideline to sideline, run game to pass game. We don't take it for granted, at all. You've heard me say this before: I've got a man crush on him. I love him." Hull has justified his coach's affection all season. He came into Saturday's con- test averaging nearly 11 tackles per game, his 64 total stops more than double that of the next Nittany Lion on the list. As the clear-cut leader of a talented but vastly less experienced group that in- cludes junior Nyeem Wartman, sopho- more Brandon Bell and true freshman Jason Cabinda, Hull always figured to be the pacesetter with this unit. Against the Buckeyes, he was something more. What he is, in many ways, is a throw- back to the men whose play built this program's reputation as Linebacker U. On a night when Shane Conlan was hon- ored for his recent election into the Col- lege Football Hall of Fame, Hull made maybe his strongest case yet to be in- cluded on the list of Nittany Lion legends at the position. On performances like this, he's earned the right to hear his name mentioned among his predeces- sors. Not unlike Conlan and so many others on a lineage that runs from Onkontz to Mauti, Hull prefers to let his play do the talking. Meeting the media well aBer midnight Saturday, he was (as usual) po- lite and matter of fact. Despite the out- come, he knew he and the rest of the Penn State defense had just put together their best showing of the season. It sim- ply wasn't quite enough to beat a top-15 team. "I just think we're a tough defense," Hull said. "We show up every Saturday, and it might not be pretty all the time, but we're going to keep fighting and get the job done. Unfortunately in overtime today, we weren't able to." Honestly, I couldn't be prouder of this team. They played a great game, the staff made some nice adjustments and the future is bright. mkilvanick To even stay in a game with them let alone almost beat them in spite of one of the worst officiating I have ever seen is incredible. But I can't help but hope something is done to acknowledge the EXTREMELY poor officiat- ing. I want to know how they charge a time out at the end to put the icing on the cake. But wow, what an effort by all. PSU Paul I can legitimately say I have never been more proud of a team after a loss. The talent gap on the field tonight was alarming. I am not sure PSU has 12 players that could play for OSU right now. Jpro717 This had to help with recruiting. That stadium was insane. Gotta think Mahon missed his assignment on Bosa at the end of the game. This is the B10. Officiat- ing has always been way substandard for a major conference. And, actually, what bothers me more is the lack of review on the INT in the first quarter. No feed to the review guys? That's inexcusable, especially when the TV broadcast should have been readily available as a backup. BruceK - PSU83 And I think we can honestly say the stripes cost us the game here. Seems like the O-line actually played a bit better when smith was out. acg116 Ohio State's front seven was as good as advertised. I almost turned off the game at halftime, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Don't know what was said at halftime, but our D played inspired and the offense scratched and clawed its way back. Again, I hate to lose, but I can't be anything but proud of our Lions. This team learned a lot tonight. Brazillm10 FROM THE WEB ONLINE REAcTION TO PSU'S LATEST GAmE RAISING HULL Linebacker wins praise after 19-tackle performance vs. Buckeyes

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