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he flew out of bounds. BEST SACK As Pitt began to push deeper and deeper into Penn State ter- ritory following a fourth-down conver- sion early in the second quarter, Shareef Miller came around the edge on a bull rush to take down Browne for a loss of 7. What looked like a promising Panther drive fizzled out from there, as Pitt punted three plays later. BEST HITThe Nittany Lions had diffi- culty stopping Pitt's grind-it-out run game all afternoon, but Nick Scott dis- played some physicality of his own when he met running back Darrin Hall in the hole and slammed him to the ground, prompting a loud roar from the Beaver Stadium faithful. BEST EFFORT Miller once again made an impact from around the right edge, emerging with a clear shot at Browne. He missed high, but stuck with the play to grab hold of the quarterback's leg and record his second sack of the game. BEST INTERCEPTIONTroy Apke inter- cepted a rare downfield shot from Browne, giving the defense its second turnover of the day. The mistake helped keep the Panthers out of the end zone in a half that they controlled, at least as far as the clock was concerned. BEST KICK Blake Gillikin did his job to neutralize dangerous return man Quadree Henderson throughout the game, but his best punt came inside the seven-minute mark of the fourth quar- ter. Gillikin pinned the Panthers inside their own 5-yard line, giving them a long field ahead as they attempted to get back in the game late. WORST KICK Tyler Davis followed Penn State's most explosive offensive drive of the afternoon with his only mistake in the kicking game. Davis shanked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, giving the Panthers excellent field position that they would use to kick their second field goal of the game. MOST TELLING MOMENT Barkley opened the fourth quarter with a state- ment run, plowing straight over a Pitt defender en route to an 8-yard touch- down. The score put Penn State up 28- 6, giving the Nittany Lions a comfortable cushion to work with down the stretch. 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 5 R E C R U I T I N G Penn State landed its first 2019 com- mitment Saturday evening, as State College native Keaton Ellis verbally committed to head coach James Franklin following the Nittany Lions' 33-14 victory over Pitt. It was no secret that the Nittany Lions were the team to beat for the three-star cornerback. Since extending the offer, which took place back in June following an excellent performance at the staff's Elite Prospect camp, Ellis has been on campus about a half-dozen times. The 6-foot-0, 160-pounder held only two offers, from Buffalo and Syracuse, and had been expected to wait in the hope that other programs would step up their pursuit, but he ultimately decided to end his recruitment on Saturday. "Penn State checked all the boxes for me," Ellis said via text message. "The fact that my family is so close was huge for me. Penn State is a great school ac- ademically as well. The family atmos- phere was big, too. I really felt the love from all the coaches." Ellis wasn't the only top 2019 prospect in attendance for the Pitt game. Running back Jordan Houston of Oakton, Va., is another prospect who is leaning toward the Nittany Lions. Houston earned an offer from the staff in June 2016 following an excellent performance at one of their Elite Prospect camps. He then suffered a major injury to his fibula and ankle during his sophomore season, but has since rebounded nicely, earning offers from Boston College, Tennessee and Virginia Tech following camps this past summer. His visit for the game against Pitt was Houston's third since the spring. Considering that his mother attended Penn State, we feel as if the Lions should be considered solid favorites, although he continues to say that he has no plans to end his recruitment in the near future. Two elite 2019 prospects who made the trip for the game against Pitt were defensive end Brandon Smith and of- fensive lineman John Olmstead. Smith, who plays at Louisa County in Mineral, Va., is quickly emerging as one of the mid-Atlantic region's top pass rushers in 2019. Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame and Ohio State are just a few of the top schools that have already extended of- fers, but the Nittany Lions offered be- fore the majority of their competition and they've also built an excellent rela- tionship with Smith and his family, which is why we expect the Lions to be serious players with the 6-3, 218- pound Rivals100 prospect. Olmstead is also quickly emerging as one of the best at his position in 2019. A native of Metuchen, N.J., the 6-6, 290- pound tackle is ranked No. 59 in the na- tion by Rivals.com. Like Smith, he holds offers from a handful of elite schools, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and Wisconsin. But he grew up a Nittany Lion fan, and that connection might prove beneficial. "It was a big deal for me. I grew up watching Penn State, so it's a big offer for me," Olmstead said in May. "My dad is actually a Penn State fan, so I've been watching Penn State on TV ever since I was a little kid." The Lions did host one potential 2018 recruit Saturday in four-star Aliquippa safety Kwantel Raines. A 6-2, 200- pound prospect, Raines has been on the staff's radar for more than a year now. But with few scholarships remaining in this class and Penn State's coaches fo- cused on positions of greater need, it looks as if the staff would have to have to miss out on other players for Raines to ultimately end up signing with the Nittany Lions. Ellis joins Penn State's Class of 2019 R Y A N S N Y D E R | S N Y D E R 4 2 0 8 8 @ G M A I L . c O M

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