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N O V E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 13 As if Penn State needed to prove any further that it's a second-half football team, it went out and scored 35 unan- swered points a@er hal@ime against Michigan State Saturday in Beaver Sta- dium. Taking into account their 45-12 victory, which li@ed them into next weekend's Big Ten Championship Game, the Nittany Lions have now outscored their past six opponents by a combined 175-40 in the final two quarters. Against the Spartans, Penn State trailed, 12-10, heading into hal@ime be- fore reeling off five consecutive touch- downs. Like they have for the better part of the season, players credited the coach- ing staff's game-plan adjustments as one of the reasons why. With new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead finishing his first full regular season with PSU, while leading one of the country's best deep-passing attacks, he must have one heck of a hal@ime speech that he gives. "They're real fiery, man," said junior wide receiver Chris Godwin, who fin- ished with five catches for 135 yards and a pair of TDs, most of which came in the second half. "He gets his blood going, his face starts turning red, but it gets us going. Obviously we wish we could have better starts in the first half, but all year we've been a second-half team, so I think we've kind of embraced it." Against the Spartans, however, it was a strong effort in the red zone from the de- fense early on that helped keep the game within reach halfway through. Michigan State's first four drives went for 12, 11, 13 and 14 plays, respectively, and went all the way into the red zone. That's when Brent Pry's defense stepped up and held the Spartans to a field goal on all four occasions, limiting them to just 12 points. "They kept us in the game, to be honest with you," head coach James Franklin said. When the defense came back out a@er hal@ime, it forced a three-and-out on Michigan State's first possession. So while the offense has been known for its second-half adjustments, the defense's shouldn't be overlooked. Whether it's Moorhead, Pry or another member of the coaching staff doing the talking, seemingly every hal@ime adjust- ment has been effective for Penn State, especially in the second half of its 10-2 regular season. That rang true again Saturday. As God- win noted, the Lions would rather be a more balanced team in the first half, but they'll take what they can get. Trace McSorley echoed his leading re- ceiver's comments, as 265 of the quarter- back's passing yards and all four touchdowns came in the third and fourth quarters. The difference between the two halves? "A lot of was what we talked about at hal@ime," McSorley said. "Coaches do a great job of making adjustments. It gives guys a chance to see things about how [the opponent is] trying to play us throughout the first half. Maybe they have a new wrinkle or something like that. "A lot of it is just our senior leadership. They do a great job of making sure guys are focused and saying things during hal@ime to make sure guys are ready to come out and play that second half. Our defense did a great job helping the team do that. They preached that they wanted a three-and-out and get the ball back to our offense, and our offense wanted to get at touchdown on our next drive. Es- pecially for us at home, we get a three- and-out and then get a touchdown and it gets the crowd into it an really helps us build momentum." T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . c O M THIRTY SOMETHING Another second-half surge lifts Penn State to victory Bell (11) was a big part of Penn State's defen- sive effort, fin- ishing with 18 tackles in his final home game. Photo by Steve Manuel

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