Blue White Illustrated

State since the 1940s. And, to be fair, those celebrated PSU playmakers did wreak their share of havoc – enough to keep the fourth- ranked Nittany Lions on top of Pitt by double digits for most of the a@ernoon. "Overall, I thought we played a very complete game," coach James Franklin said. "Our offense is very explosive, and that's how we were today. I'd like to see us sustain more drives, but I thought we showed we can score at any moment. I thought our defense did a great job of holding them to field goals early on… and special teams, I thought that was the area of the game where we played our best." Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • Saquon Barkley took charge of the game in the second half. He finished the a@ernoon with 183 all-purpose yards – 88 rushing, 45 receiving and 50 on a pair of kickoff returns – and scored two touch- downs, both a@er intermission. "If Saquon has opportunities for big plays, he's going to get them," Franklin said. "It wasn't like we went into hal@ime saying, we've got to give Saquon the ball more. We call plays based on what the defense does, and he either gets the ball or he doesn't." • The Lions had two interceptions, one of which set up a touchdown and both of which were by defensive backs. A year ago, the secondary supplied only six picks all season. Penn State has been pri- oritizing takeaways, so this is an encour- aging development. "I still think there are probably a few balls every single game that we can get our hands on," Franklin said. "We've got some guys who kind of lock in for the big hit, so I think we can get a few more interceptions." • Franklin had called Pitt return spe- cialist Quadree Henderson a potential "game-wrecker" earlier in the week. Henderson did not wreck the game. The longest of his three punt returns was 13 yards, and his net total was zero yards a@er he tried to backtrack on two other punts. "I thought that had a lot to do with our punting – our location and hang time," Franklin said, "and probably more so our coverage units." The Lions also did a nice job on kickoff returns, holding Henderson to 33 yards on two attempts. • Blake Gillikin was the unsung hero behind Allen's safety. With the score tightening up and Penn State needing to pin Pitt deep, the sophomore punter hit a 42-yarder that was downed at the 4- yard line, leaving the Panthers' offense with no margin for error. THE BAD • Panthers running back Qadree Olli- son had a pretty good day, rushing for 96 yards and catching two passes for 30 yards. With Ollison averaging a robust 6.4 yards per carry, Pitt was able to chew up the clock and keep Penn State's of- fense off the field. The Panthers out- gained the Nittany Lions, 342 yards to 312. But Penn State bettered their average gain per pay by 2 yards (6.0 to 4.0), and as Franklin acknowledged a@er the game, time of possession isn't as meaningful a stat as it used to be. "For us, we're mainly worried about the scoreboard," he said. • Penn State wasn't able to fully capi- talize on the defensive attention that Barkley received, and one issue was that McSorley didn't connect with the wide receivers very o@en. The Lions got six catches for 79 yards from their wideouts, with DaeSean Hamilton supplying half of the catches and more than half of the yards (45). Early in the game, McSorley misfired on a couple of throws that looked as though they could have gone for big yardage. "I think we were a little off," Franklin said. "I think Trace missed some throws early in the game that he normally doesn't." • Penn State's secondary took a physi- cal beating on Saturday. Allen le@ the game briefly in the second half, while Amani Oruwariye exited late in the fourth quarter and did not return a@er being helped off the field. His status for next week is uncertain. • Miles Sanders' a@ernoon consisted of one carry and one fumble. He pounced on the loose ball, so the Lions avoided what could have been a very costly turnover. But they obviously need a reli- able backup behind Barkley, which makes Sanders' fumble a worrisome miscue. • Cam Brown's personal foul late in the first half hurt Penn State at a key mo- ment in the game. It erased a negative- yardage play and set up a field goal that cut into what had been a two-touch- down lead, giving Pitt some momentum just before hal@ime. SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 12:53 PSU Gesicki, Mike 8-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 1 play, 8 yards, TOP 0:04............................................................. 0-7 5:20 PSU Gesicki, Mike 10 yd pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 6 plays, 62 yards, TOP 2:43.......................................................0-14 2ND 1:12 Pitt Alex Kessman 28-yard field goal 15 plays, 77 yards, TOP 5:30...................................................... 3-14 3RD 10:32 PSU Barkley, Saquon 46-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 1 play, 46 yards, TOP 0:09......................................................... 3-21 6:03 Pitt Alex Kessman 24-yard field goal 9 plays, 59 yards, TOP 4:29.......................................................6-21 4TH 14:54 PSU Barkley, Saquon 8-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 6 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:32...................................................... 6-28 10:09 Pitt Ben DiNucci 3-yard run (Qadree Ollison pass from DiNucci, B.) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:45.................................................... 14-28 5:53 PSU Allen, Marcus safety................................................................. 14-30 3:34 PSU Davis, Tyler 24-yard field goal 7 plays, 34 yards, TOP 2:11....................................................... 14-33 S E P T E M B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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