Penn State Sports Magazine
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drive, it continued moving the ball, in- cluding a 20-yard catch-and-run from tight end Jesse James. But immediately following that first big play, which put PSU in Maryland terri- tory, Christian Hackenberg threw an in- terception to Maryland star defensive back Will Likely on a deep pass along the leA sideline intended for leading receiver DaeSean Hamilton. AAerward, Franklin said Hackenberg "was expecting [Hamilton] to run a go [route] and we ran a post. And that's what resulted in that. That was a big play in the game early on. We were moving the ball and having success. That kinda swung the momentum a little bit." Maryland wasn't able to immediately capitalize on the turnover, as it went three and out on the next drive, thanks to a 6-yard sack from Deion Barnes on first down. On the next drive, however – fol- lowing Danny Pasquariello's 24-yard punt – Maryland drove 43 yards on eight plays in 3 minutes, 23 seconds before it found the end zone for the game's first touchdown – a 2-yard pass from C.J. Brown to P.J. Gallo at the beginning of the second quarter. It took two more drives for Penn State to respond, and even that almost didn't hap- pen. On third-and-19 from midfield, Hackenberg was pressured, as he was all day, and threw an interception that a Maryland defender returned for a TD. A roughing-the-passer call on defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, however, negated the interception and instead gave PSU a first down in Maryland territory. Although the Lions didn't capitalize with a touch- down, Ficken converted his second field goal of the day – this one from 25 yards out, narrowing Maryland's lead to 7-6. Barnes picked up his second sack of the day, along with a forced fumble on Mary- land's ensuing drive. Penn State wasn't able to recover it, but it forced the Terra- pins to punt from deep in their own ter- ritory. AAer regaining possession on Maryland's 45, Penn State struggled again to move the ball, picking up only 16 yards on seven plays. But, once again, Ficken was called in and converted. His third field goal attempt of the day – this one from 46 yards out – gave Penn State a 9-7 lead at halAime. Penn State's defense opened the second half with back-to-back three-and-outs and it forced a fumble on Maryland's fourth drive, which led to Penn State's only touchdown of the game. Driving 51 yards on eight plays, Hackenberg tossed a fade pass to James in the right corner of the end zone, and the junior tight end was able to drag a toe in bounds for the reception. With Ficken's PAT, PSU took a 16-7 lead with just over three minutes leA in the third quarter. But that's when Penn State's defense, which has been stout all season, began to falter. On the final drive of the third quarter, it allowed three consecutive first downs before Maryland's Brad Craddock kicked a 25-yard field goal to tighten the score, 16-10. On the ensuing kickoff, freshman Grant Haley fumbled the ball and gave Mary- land possession at Penn State's 24. Said Franklin, "That was a big play in the game, obviously." In response, Maryland needed only three plays and a minute and a half before run- ning back Wes Brown plugged it in from 1 yard out, giving Maryland a 17-16 lead. The two teams exchanged three-and- outs on the following two drives before PSU drove 33 yards on seven plays, cap- ping it off with Ficken's fourth and longest field goal of the day – a 48-yarder. PSU held Maryland to only 3 yards on five plays on the following drive and got the ball back with 3:22. Its goal was to drain the clock. "The book says you go four-minute offense there and try to run the ball and take as much [time] off the clock as you possibly can," Franklin said. That's not exactly how it worked. Lynch, who finished with a team-high 51 rushing yards, ran three times for only 7 yards, and Penn State was forced to punt. AAer a 15-yard return, Maryland took over on PSU's 42-yard line with 2:16 leA. Boasting the conference's most accurate long-distance kicker, Maryland drove 17 yards before Craddock converted a 43- yard field goal try with 51 seconds to play. With one last chance to regain the lead, Hackenberg threw three incomplete passes under pressure and fumbled a fourth-down snap. With that, the Terra- pins clinched their first victory over the Lions since 1961. The loss was Penn State's fourth in a row and leA it with a 1- 4 Big Ten record. Said Franklin, "Like I told the guys in locker room, the only way I know of get- ting out of things like this is working hard. So we're going to get out [to prac- tice] on Sunday and we're going to work hard. Tough times don't last; tough peo- ple do." SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 10:56 PSU Ficken, Sam 47-yard field goal 9 plays, 36 yards, TOP 4:04........................................................................ 3-0 2ND 13:52 UMD Gallo 2-yard pass from Brown (Craddock kick) 8 plays, 43 yards, TOP 3:23........................................................................ 7-3 5:06 PSU Ficken, Sam 25-yard field goal 13 plays, 49 yards, TOP 6:15...................................................................... 7-6 1:30 PSU Ficken, Sam 46-yard field goal 7 plays, 16 yards, TOP 1:34........................................................................ 9-7 3RD 3:18 PSU James, Jesse 8-yard pass from Hackenberg, C. (Ficken, Sam kick) 8 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:55...................................................................... 16-7 4TH 13:11 UMD Craddock 25-yard field goal 7 plays, 48 yards, TOP 2:55.................................................................... 16-10 11:30 UMD Brown, W. 1-yard run (Craddock kick) 4 plays, 24 yards, TOP 1:32.................................................................... 17-16 6:52 PSU Ficken, Sam 48-yard field goal 8 plays, 33 yards, TOP 2:47.................................................................... 19-17 0:51 UMD Craddock 43-yard field goal 5 plays, 17 yards, TOP 1:25.................................................................... 20-19 N O V E M B E R 1 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2