Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/83057
FLYIN' HIGH Stephen Obeng- Agyapong, right, and Gerald Hodges celebrate an interception late in the first quarter. Jonh Beale Scrappy Navy makes life difficult for Penn State IN HOT WATER MATT HERB | M A T T@B L U E WH I T E O N L I N E . c O M Navy is known for its triple-option, not its passing game. But the battle between Penn State cornerbacks Stephon Morris and Adrian Amos and the Midshipmen's wideout corps was one of the game's most contentious. "This was the hardest game I've ever had to play in my career," Morris said. "And not just because I was in man [coverage] the whole time. Those Navy receivers, they came at you. The run- ning plays, they sold them like they were passes. They were cut-blocking, they blocked to the whistle, after the whistle, throwing punches. "It felt like we were at war. Seriously. That was the hardest game I ever played. I ended up cramping up going into the fourth quarter. I never played that hard in my life. They did a hell of a job, Navy did." As hard as the Midshipmen played, Penn State did a pretty good job of clamping down on their passing game. Navy completed only 13 passes and finished with 126 yards in the air. The running game was a different story – Navy finished with 245 rush- ing yards - but the Midshipmen's seven pass-catchers finished with fewer yards than Penn State receiver Allen Robinson had all by himself. In addition, Penn State intercepted Trey Miller in one of the key plays of the game. Trailing by two touchdowns late in the first quarter, the Midship- men were driving and seemed poised to cut Penn State's lead in half. But Miller was intercepted by Gerald Hodges at the Penn State 10-yard line – one of four Nittany Lion takeaways in the game – and the Midshipmen never recovered. "We've got to take care of the ball," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "We're going to have a tough time beating high school teams if we don't take care of the football, much less a program like Penn State. We know that playing a Notre Dame, playing a Penn State, we have to almost play perfect to have a chance. They made some plays in the red zone. We've just got to play perfect. If we can find a way to stay close to these guys, then maybe we can do something. But the turnovers definitely hurt us, and it's the second week in a row we got off to a bad start. But a lot of it is [Penn State's] fault; they played well." S E P T E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 2 12 Up 20-0 against Navy, you need to let [Sam] Ficken kick that [field goal]. Regardless of how poor he's been, we need to get him some shots so he can build confidence. There probably won't be many games in which we have a big lead – this [was] the time to do it in my opinion. mkilvanick Matt McGloin has played some very good football the last few weeks. [He's been] solid. If we can get a run- ning game going, we will be in good shape. [Bill] Belton needs to get healthy. We need [that] back that can break the 15-20 yard runs. VuonoNYC FROM THE WEB ONLINE REAcTION TO PSU'S LATEST GAME I'm very happy for the entire team. There is definitely clear improvement each week and, given the defections and early in- juries, that's all we can ask for. Brazillm10 It was a touching moment to see the players and coaches get that first win under Bill O'Brien. I got to admit, I had tears of joy when [Gerald] Hodges and [Jordan] Hill got [O'Brien] with the victory splash after all the hard work they have put in and the tough times they have had to endure. Good job guys. happyvalleyishome How crazy is it that McGloin has 8 touchdowns and 1 interception after 3 games, and yet we are 1- 2. He played well today I thought. nittany8892 Got to love [Michael] Mauti, what an awesome player. Two knee in- juries and the dude is all over the field. I hope the NFL doesn't punish him too much for his ACLs. Reminds me so much of [Paul Posluszny.] bigwill57 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M