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gram on an interim basis following Dar- rell Hazell's midseason dismissal. At hal?ime, those fans had something to cheer about, as the score was tied, 17-17. But when the Lions dropped the ham- mer, they dropped it hard, outscoring Purdue 45-7 a?er the break. By the time it was over, they had piled up 511 yards of offense and amassed their highest point total since a 66-10 victory over Coastal Carolina in 2008. "I don't want to say we're a second- half team, because we're trying to change that. We've done a better job of that here recently," Franklin said. "But today it helped us coming in [at hal?ime] and telling the guys, 'Look, don't worry and stick to the plan. We're a second-half team. We're going to come out and make some adjustments.' " Franklin said he knew the Lions were going to be in for a battle against the Boilermakers. "They did the same exact thing to Nebraska on the road [last week]," he said. "They were leading at the half. Their new coach, he's done a re- ally good job bringing energy and adding some wrinkles, and their team is playing with a lot of energy and juice right now." Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • As expected, Saquon Barkley had a huge day against the worst run defense in the Big Ten. The standout running back took full advantage whenever the Lions were able to get him the ball in space, fin- ishing with 207 yards and two touch- downs on 18 carries and adding 70 receiving yards on three catches. With Barkley supplying most of the yardage, the Nittany Lions got off to a great start. They covered 85 yards on their opening drive, finishing it off with a 3-yard run by Barkley. And on the last possession on which he played, Barkley was responsible for all the yardage, scooting 81 yards to give Penn State a 24- point lead early in the fourth quarter. "I think he's the type of player that we would all admit has the chance to break one every play," Franklin said. "That's why he's exciting. That's why he's one of the better running backs in all of college football." • The Lions were very opportunistic in the second half, turning a Brandon Smith interception and a muffed punt into 14 points to create a bit of separation in what had been a back-and-forth slugfest. Franklin has talked o?en about playing complementary football. That's how it's done. "The turnovers were huge," he said. "Brandon just has got really good football intelligence. He has got really good in- stincts, and then you saw his athleticism. A?er he caught the ball, he was able to make a big run, break some tackles. What an awesome story that is. We've had that two years in a row. Last year we had [Carl] Nassib [as a former walk-on turned major contributor]. This year you've got B. Smith who is doing some wonderful things. It's awesome." And while Penn State was preying on Purdue's miscues – the Boilermakers finished with two fumbles and two inter- ceptions – it was doing a nice job of tak- ing care of the ball itself. The Lions didn't have any turnovers on the a?ernoon – a key factor in a game that could have gone in a different direction had they failed to seize their opportunity in the third quar- ter. SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 11:33 PSU Barkley, Saquon 3-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 8 plays, 85 yards, TOP 3:27......................................................... 7-0 6:26 Purdue Jones, Markell 1-yard run (Dellinger, J.D. kick) 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 5:07.........................................................7-7 2ND 14:32 Purdue Posey, Cameron 1-yard pass from Blough, David (Dellinger, J.D. kick) 13 plays, 55 yards, TOP 5:24...................................................... 7-14 12:33 PSU Godwin, Chris 38-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 5 plays, 82 yards, TOP 1:59...................................................... 14-14 6:57 Purdue Dellinger, J.D. 42-yard field goal 12 plays, 50 yards, TOP 5:36.................................................... 14-17 2:36 PSU Davis, Tyler 33-yard field goal 11 plays, 72 yards, TOP 4:21........................................................17-17 3RD 12:29 PSU Godwin, Chris 1-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 4 plays, 24 yards, TOP 1:18.......................................................24-17 8:17 PSU Robinson, Andre 4-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 2 plays, 24 yards, TOP 0:39...................................................... 31-17 4:21 PSU Davis, Tyler 29-yard field goal 6 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:42.......................................................34-17 2:32 Purdue Yancey, DeAngelo 62-yard pass from Blough, David (Dellinger, J.D. kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:49..................................................... 34-24 1:18 PSU Sanders, Miles 21-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 3 plays, 40 yards, TOP 1:14...................................................... 41-24 4TH 13:56 PSU Barkley, Saquon 81-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 1 play, 81 yards, TOP 0:13........................................................ 48-24 6:09 PSU Allen, Mark 1-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 7 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:07.................................................... 55-24 2:25 PSU Robinson, Andre 19-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 4 plays, 28 yards, TOP 2:16.....................................................62-24 O c T O B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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