Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/752142
P R E G A M E R E P O R T P E N N S T A T E @ R U T G E R S 8 P . M . , N O V . 1 9 B T N RUTGERS FACTS COACH Chris Ash (Drake, '96) COACH'S RECORD 2-8 in one season; career record: same 2016 RECORD 2-8 (0-7 Big Ten) RECORD VS. PSU Penn State leads the all-time series, 24-2. MOST RECENT MEETING Saquon Barkley rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and Akeel Lynch added 120 yards and a score, as Penn State defeated Rutgers, 28-3, last September in the teams' Big Ten opener. GOOD NEWS The Knights may be struggling, but in their history, they have nine victories over ranked opponents, including a win over second- ranked USF in 2007. Their most recent win over a ranked oppo- nent came in 2009 when they shut out No. 23 USF, 31-0. BAD NEWS Rutgers suffered a major loss when senior wide receiver Ja- narion Grant went down with a season-ending leg injury Sept. 24 against Iowa. Grant had been a standout on offense and special teams. His 4,251 all-purpose yards are the fourth-highest total ever at Rutgers, and his eight TDs in the return game (five on kick- offs, three on punts) are tied for the most in FBS history. DID YOU KNOW? Rutgers has the youngest offen- sive coordinator in the Power Five conferences in 28-year-old Drew Mehringer. A former quarterback at Rice, Mehringer served as an assistant coach at James Madi- son and Houston before being brought aboard by Ash last De- cember to install a spread offen- sive scheme. M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Even by Twitter's standards, James Franklin has been a model of brevity this week. His feed has consisted largely of one word: Rutgers. ABer Penn State defeated Indiana last Saturday aBernoon in Bloom- ington, he tweeted the following: "Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers." On Saturday night, as a lane to the Big Ten Championship Game was opening up with Michigan's loss to Iowa, he offered this: "Rut- gers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rut- gers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rut- gers, complete focus on Rutgers nothing else!" And on Sunday morning, just in case anyone didn't get the message: "Rutgers, Rut- gers, Rutgers." What are we to make of this, aside from the fact that, yes, Penn State will be playing Rutgers on Saturday night? Mostly that Franklin is de- termined to keep his players from looking too far ahead. The Nittany Lions' fu- ture has been getting brighter by the week, and 1 Barkley, the Big Ten's lead- ing rusher, was a Rutgers re- cruit before switching his commitment to the Nittany Lions. Photo by Steve Manuel N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M