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"Guys responded well. I think the weather was a factor for both teams. … We've been in this situation so many times, and the players believe in each other, they believe in the coaches, and the coaches believe in the guys. We're going to battle for four quarters." Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • Penn State's high-pressure defensive scheme kept the Knights on their heels all night, no matter which of their two young quarterbacks was in the game. The Lions held Rutgers to 87 total yards, and no, that's not a misprint. Eighty-seven yards. Take a moment to let that sink in. They also surrendered only five first downs and totaled nine tackles for loss in dealing Rutgers its fourth shutout loss of the season. "Obviously our defense played well," Franklin said. "That was a challenging weather situation for both offenses. But I thought our defense played really well, holding them to 87 yards and five first downs for the game. That was signifi- cant." • While the Lions didn't have as much success as they might have liked when it came to generating points, they didn't have any trouble generating yards. They finished with 549 yards, as four rushers surpassed 50 yards: Saquon Barkley (92), Miles Sanders (85), Tommy Stevens (61) and Trace McSorley (55). They also had 25 first downs. • Tyler Davis did a terrific job handling the tricky field conditions at High Point Solutions Stadium, kicking field goals of 32 and 34 yards into a fierce wind in the first quarter. Davis, who was working with a new holder in walk-on quarter- back Billy Fessler, finished the game with four makes on four attempts, although a bad exchange did cost the Lions a point on a botched PAT. "Tyler Davis has been money for us all year long," Franklin said. "And Billy Fessler came in and did a nice job as well." • Sanders' fumble on the opening kick- off may have set an ominous tone for a Penn State team that has been very good lately at holding onto the ball. But the miscue didn't cost the Lions any points, and it turned out to be their only turnover of the night, despite horren- dous field conditions that pretty much emptied out the stadium by the end of the third quarter. THE BAD • The Lions le? a few points on the field, at least in the first half. They made four trips to the red zone in the first and second quarters and came away with nine points. Davis salvaged three of those trips with field goals, but the other re- sulted in a turnover on downs a?er a high snap on fourth-and-1 led to an incom- pletion in the end zone. Rutgers totaled only 66 yards of offense in the first half but was still within strik- ing distance at the break due to Penn State's red zone misfires. • While the Lions didn't turn the ball over, they didn't come up with any take- aways either. Rutgers has been one of the Big Ten's more careless teams this sea- son, with a league-worst 11 fumbles heading into the game. But the Lions weren't able to pounce on any loose balls on Saturday. Of course, that's about the only thing the defense didn't do. "We didn't win the turnover battle. That's probably the one critique I would have," Franklin said. "The ball was on the ground a lot, and we didn't come up with it." THE TAKEAWAY Bring on the Spartans. It may have taken Penn State a couple of quarters to put the hammer down on Rutgers last night, but it got what it needed in order to turn next Saturday's game into one of the more consequential senior days in the program's recent his- tory. Michigan could, of course, put a damper on the Lions' Big Ten Champi- onship Game hopes with a victory over Ohio State in a game that will be ending SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 6:34 PSU Davis, Tyler 32-yard field goal 11 plays, 46 yards, TOP 4:14........................................................ 3-0 1:42 PSU Davis, Tyler 34-yard field goal 11 plays, 64 yards, TOP 2:27........................................................ 6-0 2ND 5:28 PSU Davis, Tyler 40-yard field goal 7 plays, 6 yards, TOP 1:41............................................................ 9-0 3RD 12:33 PSU Barkley, Saquon 1-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 3 plays, 10 yards, TOP 1:20........................................................ 16-0 6:46 PSU Davis, Tyler 32-yard field goal 8 plays, 41 yards, TOP 3:54....................................................... 19-0 3:32 PSU Robinson, Andre 2-yard run (Fessler, Billy pass failed) 6 plays, 63 yards, TOP 2:01...................................................... 25-0 4TH 7:59 PSU Allen, Mark 27-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 12 plays, 95 yards, TOP 5:54.................................................... 32-0 4:07 PSU Stevens, Tommy 12-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 4 plays, 74 yards, TOP 2:03......................................................39-0 N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 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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