Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/424631
Shelton weaved through traffic, bounced off a handful of tackle attempts and found himself home free down the side- line. The 90-yard return took only 14 seconds off the clock and gave the Spar- tans a 7-0 lead. The Nittany Lions' defense, resilient in the face of huge disadvantages through- out the season, wouldn't relent, though. Nor would the offense. Finding success through the air, soph- omore quarterback Christian Hacken- berg helped push his crew to the Spartans' 34-yard line on just five plays, but the drive stalled and ended with a badly skulled 51-yard field goal attempt. The feeling became achingly familiar to Penn State fans as the game proceeded. A pair of Michael Geiger field goals on Michigan State's next two possessions constituted defensive victories against the nation's No. 7 scoring offense. But, coming away with just three points on offensive possessions that reached the MSU 28- and 23-yard lines, respectively, the Nittany Lions found themselves trailing 13-3 with 4 minutes, 28 seconds to play in the second quarter. "Obviously, when you get field posi- tion, you've got to take advantage of it," said Franklin. "We weren't able to do that consistently." Penn State defensive end C.J. Olaniyan and defensive tackle Anthony Zettel combined to give them another chance. Olaniyan deflected the ball out of the hands of Spartans QB Connor Cook and into Zettel's arms, giving Penn State one last scoring opportunity with 43 seconds leB in the half. But the Nittany Lions still couldn't take advantage. Hackenberg aired out a 23- yard pass into the back corner of the end zone, but what could well have been an acrobatic touchdown catch by Chris Godwin turned into a deflating turnover when Spartan Trae Waynes snatched up the bobbled ball. Drive killed, threat ended, halBime. "I thought he made a nice throw. I thought Godwin made a nice adjustment on the ball and had a chance to make a big play, a momentum-swinging play," Franklin said. "It did not work out that way, went off his hands and ended up getting intercepted. There's no doubt that would have been a big play to get some real momentum for us, and it didn't happen." Although Hackenberg finished the first half completing 12 of 23 passes for 106 yards – more than his game total a week ago at Illinois – the Nittany Lions were plagued by the same inconsistency that has hindered their offense throughout the season. And, having failed to take full advantage of its scoring opportunities against an impressive MSU defense, Penn State spent the rest of the game scrambling to find that elusive offensive success as the defense tried to hang tight. Taking 17 yards in losses on an- other three sacks, the Nittany Lions amassed only 26 yards on the ground on 22 carries and only 195 yards through the air on 21 completions. "We tried to stick with the running game all day long and not abort it like we've done in the past, and we weren't able to consistently do that," Franklin said. "I thought for the most part we protected fairly well, but the times that we didn't, there were problems with sacks and fumbles and things like that." Getting the ball to start the second half, the Nittany Lions were able to move across midfield, only to see their progress pushed back 17 yards on a sack and penalty. Cook, having struggled throughout the first half, seized the op- portunity. On third-and-8, he found Keith Mumphery for a 25-yard comple- tion down the sideline, and he followed with a 31-yard pass into a soB spot in the middle of the field to Macgarrett Kings Jr. The defensive breakdown – comprising just two plays – set up running back Je- remy Langford's 3-yard plow into the end zone for a 20-3 lead. The Lions never recovered. They fum- bled on their next possession, and soon found themselves trailing 27-3, as Cook threw a 10-yard TD pass to Tony Lippett. Even aBer Lynch launched himself into the end zone, the 17-point deficit seemed insurmountable. ABer all, Penn State had averaged just 20.6 points per game through its first 11 games. It turned into another decisive vic- tory for the Spartans, and after the game, Franklin reflected on the gap be- tween Mark Dantonio's program and the one that he is trying to revive at Penn State. "We've been on sanctions for three years. Michigan State has been recruiting and building its program for a long time and done a nice job with it. It's one of the better programs," he said. "We're going to close the gap by developing the players that we have. We got great players and good kids here, and we're going to recruit for the future. "It is what it is. There's nobody more passionate about getting those things fixed as quickly as we possibly can, but there's a difference right now." SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 14:46 MSU Shelton, R.J. 90-yard kickoff return (Geiger, Michael kick)...........................7-0 8:41 MSU Geiger, Michael 36-yard field goal 9 plays, 47 yards, TOP 3:03...................................................................... 10-0 0:13 MSU Geiger, Michael 39-yard field goal 10 plays, 58 yards, TOP 5:35.................................................................... 13-0 2ND 4:34 PSU Ficken, Sam 41-yard field goal 5 plays, 17 yards, TOP 2:16...................................................................... 13-3 3RD 7:24 MSU Langford, Jeremy 3-yard run (Geiger, Michael kick) 7 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:11...................................................................... 20-3 4:29 MSU Lippett, Tony 10-yard pass from Cook, Connor (Geiger, Michael kick) 5 plays, 18 yards, TOP 2:43...................................................................... 27-3 1:37 PSU Lynch, Akeel 3-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 10 plays, 79 yards, TOP 2:46..................................................................27-10 4TH 2:49 MSU Langford, Jeremy 6-yard run (Geiger, Michael kick) 4 plays, 20 yards, TOP 2:07.................................................................. 34-10 N o V E m B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 B l U E w h i t E o N l i N E . c o m 2