Blue White Illustrated

KEY MATCHUPS P E N N   S T A T E   V S .   G E O R G I A | B Y P H I L G R O S Z W H E N P E N N S T A T E H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME 135.1 YPG, 4.1 YPC // GEORGIA RUN DEFENSE151.9 YPG, 4.0 YPC THE LOWDOWNSaquon Barkley emerged during the nonconference season as Penn State's most dynamic running back, and for the most part, the team's running game has been a one-man show ever since. The true freshman has rushed for 1,007 yards on 165 carries, and his averages of 100.7 yards per game and 6.1 per carry both rank fourth in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions' second-leading rusher is Akeel Lynch with 278 yards on 54 carries (5.1 ypc), but the redshirt junior carried the ball only five times in the last eight games of the regular season. WR Brandon Polk was Penn State's third-leading rusher with 149 yards on 15 carries, while Nick Scott, Mark Allen and Johnathan Thomas combined for 269 yards on 67 carries (3.89 ypc). Georgia's run defense has been solid for most of the 2015 season. The Bulldogs' leading tackler is graduate transfer MLB Jake Ganus with 96 stops. Georgia's big-play spe- cialists are junior strongside OLB Leonard Floyd and senior OLB Jordan Jenkins. Floyd is second on the team with 68 tackles, including 10.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Jenkins has 56 tackles, including 10.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. Georgia's third-leading tackler, junior OLB Tim Kimbrough, has been suspended for unspecified rea- sons and will miss the game. // KEY MATCHUP Penn State LT Paris Palmer will face Floyd, while guards Angelo Mangiro and Brian Gaia will go up against linebackers Ganus and Jenkins. // EDGEEven PENN STATE PASSING GAME 208.9 YPG, 13.0 YPC // GEORGIA PASS DEFENSE 146.1 YPG, 11.5 YPC THE LOWDOWN This matchup could end up pitting strength against strength. If their passing game can perform the way it did in the first half of the Michigan State game, the Nittany Lions could have some success against Georgia's top-rated pass defense. Against the Spartans, Christian Hackenberg completed 17 of 27 passes for 166 yards, one TD and one interception in the first half. For the season, Hackenberg has completed 184 of 345 passes (53.3 percent) for 2,386 yards, with 16 TD passes and five interceptions. Chris Godwin is Penn State's leading receiver with 63 catches for 968 yards and five touchdown catches. DaeSean Hamilton is the team's second-leading receiver with 40 catches for 509 yards and five TDs. Sophomore RS Dominick Sanders leads Georgia with five interceptions, and he knows what to do with the ball when he gets his hands on it, having racked up 205 return yards, including an 88-yard touchdown return. Sophomore CB Malkom Parrish is next with two interceptions for 27 yards, while Ganus also has two picks for 26 yards and a TD. As a team, Georgia has 11 interceptions. That's a bit of a surprise, because the Bulldogs have not put a lot of pressure on opposing passers. They have only 21 sacks this season, with Floyd providing a team-best 4.5 to go with 14 QB hurries. // KEY MATCHUP Godwin will go up against Sanders, while on the offensive line, Penn State's Palmer will be looking to keep Floyd out of the backfield. // EDGEEven PENN STATE PASSING GAME VS. GEORGIA PASS DEFENSE GEORGIA RUNNING GAME 194.3 YPG, 5.2 YPC // PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE149.8 YPG, 3.8 YPC THE LOWDOWN Sophomore RB Sony Michel took over the starting job aDer Nick Chubb was forced out of action due to a knee injury and finished the regular season with 1,076 yards on 199 carries (5.4 ypc) and seven touchdowns. Michel can expect to receive plenty of carries on Saturday, because one of his backups, junior Brendan Douglas will miss the game with a wrist injury. In addition, senior FB Quayvon Hicks will be out of action due to a knee in- jury; sophomore FB Christian Payne is set to replace him. The Bulldogs have the best rushing offense in the SEC East, while Penn State's rushing defense has been up and down all season. ILB Jason Cabinda is the Lions' leading tackler with 92 stops, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. FS Marcus Allen is their second-leading tackler with 75 stops. DT Austin Johnson won second-team All-Big Ten honors aDer finishing the regular season with 70 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. DE Carl Nassib, the winner of both the Lombardi and Hendricks awards, leads Penn State's defense with 19.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks, despite missing almost all of the Lions' last two games with an injury. As a team, Penn State leads the nation with 97 tackles for loss. // KEY MATCHUP Nassib will face sen- ior RT John Theus, while Johnson will go up against junior RG Brandon Kublanow. Georgia's offensive line is the smallest that Penn State has faced all season, averaging 6-4, 290 pounds per man. // EDGEGeorgia GEORGIA RUNNING GAME VS. PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE GEORGIA PASSING GAME VS. PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE W H E N G E O R G I A H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME VS. GEORGIA RUN DEFENSE D E C E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 GEORGIA PASSING GAME 187.1 YPG, 12.0 YPC // PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE174.5 YPG, 10.4 YPC THE LOWDOWNGeorgia's passing offense looks solid statistically, but looks can sometimes be deceiving. Junior quar- terback Greyson Lambert, a transfer from Virginia, has started 11 games, completing 152 of 236 passes (64.4 per- cent) for 1,844 yards, with 11 TDs and just two interceptions. But his numbers were boosted in September by games against Louisiana Monroe, Vanderbilt, Southern University and a bad South Carolina team. Against SEC opponents,

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