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135 yards, capitalizing on a Maryland scheme that Franklin called "high-risk, high-reward." "Basically, they said, 'Your receivers won't beat us and the quarterback won't consistently make the throws,' " Franklin said. "But we made big plays tonight. A number of guys made big plays." Those big plays in the passing game al- most weren't enough, though, as Mary- land, ranked 12th in the Big Ten with an average of 341.3 yards per game heading into Saturday's matchup, ripped the Nit- tany Lions for 466 yards. Included in that total were 124 rushing yards by quarterback Perry Hills. A two-time Pennsylvania state wrestling champion from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Hills also had 225 passing yards and put Mary- land in position to go 2-0 against Penn State since joining the Big Ten last year. With Hackenberg and Hills leading the way, the two offenses took turns throw- ing haymakers in the second half. Bran- don Ross gave Maryland the lead early in the third quarter, scoring on a 10–yard run on third-and-goal, but Penn State took it right back, as Hackenberg found DaeSean Hamilton on the sideline for a 20-yard score and a 24-20 lead. Hills then led the Terps on an 88-yard drive late in the quarter, capping it with a 10- yard completion to DeAndre Lane, be- fore Penn State answered with a 27-yard TD pass from Hackenberg to Geno Lewis. That back-and-forth ended in the fourth quarter. ABer Brad Craddock hit a 29-yard field goal to trim Penn State's lead to one point, the Lions' defense tightened up, stopping fourth-down conversion attempts on two consecutive drives, then getting an interception from Malik Golden on a tipped pass with just over a minute leB to clinch the victory. "The college game with the run-pass options, it kind of gets you on your heels because we're so aggressive in stopping the run," Franklin said. "They ride that ball in there, then they pull it out, the linebackers are vacated and then they throw the ball. If you're just doing that, fine, but they're also doing the quarter- back running game. So you've got to stop the running back, you've got to stop the quarterback, you've got to stop the run- pass options. It's a challenge. … We've got to continue to work on it and get bet- ter. But the most important thing is that we held them to one less point than our offense scored." The Nittany Lions were on their heels right from the start, as Maryland's first seven drives either reached or began in Penn State territory. The first three fiz- zled out, two because of turnovers by Hills. But the fourth produced points, as Hills shook free of Troy Reeder in the backfield and scooted 12 yards for a touchdown, countering a 6-yard scoring run by Barkley moments earlier. Maryland totaled 156 yards in the first quarter and maintained its momentum in the second, as Craddock gave the Terps their first lead with a 44-yard field goal following a Barkley fumble. Craddock later added a 27-yarder for a 13-7 lead. Penn State, meanwhile, was saddled throughout the first half with field posi- tion that ranged from mediocre to terri- ble. The Lions really only clicked on two drives: the one that ended in Barkley's touchdown run, on which Hackenberg hit passes of 38 and 40 yards to Hamilton and Godwin, respectively, and a late-sec- ond-quarter possession featuring more deep passes, including a 37-yard TD grab by Godwin to give Penn State a 14-13 lead. ABer a 40-yard field goal by Joey Julius in the final minute, Penn State went into the break with an unlikely 17-13 lead – unlikely because the Nittany Lions were thoroughly outplayed in the first half, to- taling less than 10 minutes of possession time and converting only 1 of 6 third- down opportunities. "We got some turnovers, but we were in situations where the offense was backed up," Franklin said. "We weren't able to swing the field [position] really the whole first quarter and most of the first half." That changed when the offense started to connect downfield, and the defense's late stand ultimately clinched the game. The Nittany Lions now turn their at- tention to Illinois, which will head to Beaver Stadium on the heels of a 24-13 loss to visiting Wisconsin on Saturday. Franklin said he would prefer a less- stressful finish than the one he and his team endured against the Terps. "I lost probably 45 pounds. I aged five years," he said. "But I'm really proud of our team and how they handled adversity." SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 2:49 PSU Barkley, Saquon 6-yard run (Julius, Joey kick) 5 plays, 86 yards, TOP 2:18......................................................... 7-0 1:36 UMD Hills, Perry 12-yard run (Craddock, Brad kick) 3 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:04...........................................................7-7 2ND 9:35 UMD Craddock, Brad 44-yard field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 2:04......................................................... 7-10 3:51 UMD Craddock, Brad 27-yard field goal 9 plays, 43 yards, TOP 3:52........................................................7-13 3:09 PSU Godwin, C. 37-yard pass from Hackenberg, C. (Julius, J. kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:42......................................................14-13 0:31 PSU Julius, Joey 40-yard field goal 8 plays, 38 yards, TOP 2:09......................................................17-13 3RD 9:17 UMD Ross, Brandon 10-yard run (Craddock, Brad kick) 9 plays, 68 yards, TOP 4:05....................................................17-20 5:32 PSU Hamilton, D. 20-yard pass from Hackenberg,C. (Julius, J. kick) 7 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:40....................................................24-20 0:51 UMD Lane, D. 10-yard pass from Hills, P. (Craddock, B. kick) 10 plays, 88 yards, TOP 4:28..................................................24-27 4TH 13:39 PSU Lewis, G. 27-yard pass from Hackenberg, C. (Julius, J. kick) 8 plays, 77 yards, TOP 2:08..................................................... 31-27 10:15 UMD Craddock, Brad 29-yard field goal 8 plays, 54 yards, TOP 3:33.................................................... 31-30 O c T O B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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