Blue White Illustrated

BEST SACKBrandon Bell's leaping sack on Houston elicited memories of LaVar Arrington. Staring down a third- and-6 with momentum completely on Penn State's side, the veteran Nittany Lion linebacker jumped over the cutting running back blocker to force an 8-yard sack and fumble. BEST HITBell's first tackle of the night might have been his hardest. Finding Corey Clement snaking left against a flood right, Bell smacked Clement head on to bring the Wisconsin running back down for just a 2-yard gain in the game's first few minutes. BEST EFFORTTorrence Brown's strip on Clement was a beautiful effort that simply went unrewarded. Although the redshirt sophomore defensive end ap- peared to have given the Nittany Lions another shot at life, a streaking Marcus Allen was unable to grab the bouncing ball. The Badgers needed only a few more plays to punch in a 7-yard touch- down for a 28-7 lead. Jordan Smith's touchdown-saving tackle on Peavy prevented the Badgers from retaking a seven-point lead at the end of the third quarter, instead forcing a field goal. It didn't make any of the postgame highlight packages, but it was a crucial play that play that shouldn't be overlooked. BEST DECISIONThis Penn State team simply doesn't seem to care that oth- ers might be counting it out. Trailing 28-7 with only a couple of minutes re- maining in the first half, the Nittany Lions covered 90 yards in eight plays, capping their drive with a 40-yard Blacknall touchdown reception to cut the deficit to 14 points. Seemingly im- mune to disaster, the Nittany Lions again proved their mettle Saturday night. WORST DECISIONMaybe a different result would have produced a different answer here, but James Franklin's deci- sion to go on fourth-and-2 at his own 42-yard line midway through the sec- ond quarter proved fruitless. Running for his life, McSorley couldn't escape the pass rush, flinging an aimless ball toward the sideline. A major talking point at halftime, the decision didn't seem to matter once the Nittany Lions pulled ahead 35-31 in the fourth quar- ter. Also up for consideration: a late hit on McSorley by Leon Jacobs that pro- longed PSU's possession midway through the fourth quarter, leading to a field goal. MOST TELLING MOMENTIt took until the fourth quarter for Penn State to jump ahead, and when it did, it didn't look back. With Barkley slipping into the end zone on a wheel route early in the fourth quarter, McSorley put a per- fectly placed ball in between the run- ning back's hands to go up, 35-31. It was only fitting that the two offensive playmakers who led PSU to eight con- secutive regular-season wins should close out the Big Ten season by team- ing up to deliver one of the decisive plays in the conference championship game. D E c E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 5

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