Blue White Illustrated

KEY MATCHUPS P E N N   S T A T E   V S .   R U T G E R S | B Y P H I L G R O S Z W H E N P E N N S T A T E H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME 152.2 YPG, 4.6 YPC // RUTGERS RUN DEFENSE179.6 YPG, 4.8 YPC THE LOWDOWNPenn State's running game struggled in its past two games against Ohio State and Michigan State. The Nittany Lions rushed for 91 yards on 35 carries vs. the Buckeyes and 65 yards on 21 carries vs. the Spartans. Penn State now has the ninth-best running game in the Big Ten despite having an elite running back in Saquon Barkley. The standout junior is still on pace to top 1,000 yards for the third consecutive season, having amassed 864 yards on 152 carries (5.7 yards per carry) with nine rushing touchdowns. QB Trace McSorley is the Nittany Lions' second-leading rusher with 305 yards on 103 carries and eight TDs. Despite its recent struggles, Penn State should have success against a Rutgers defense that is ranked 13th in the Big Ten vs. the run. OLB Trevor Morris is the Scarlet Knights' leading tackler with 78 stops, while MLB Deonte Roberts is next with 72. FS K.J. Gray has 53 tackles and three tackles for loss. DEs Kemoko Turay and Darnell Davis lead Rutgers in negative-yardage stops with four and 3.5, respectively. NT Sebastian Joseph has 2.5 tackles for loss. For the most part, Rutgers has had difficulty getting penetration into opponents' backfields. As a team, the Scarlet Knights have only posted 35 tackles for loss. // KEY MATCHUP One huge factor in this game will be the performance of offensive tackles Will Fries and Chasz Wright. If Barkley is going to have success running outside the tackle box, Fries and Wright will have to seal off Turay and Davis. Also, Penn State LG Steven Gonzalez must get to the second level to block Morris. // EDGE Penn State PENN STATE PASSING GAME 291.3 YPG, 13.0 YPC // RUTGERS PASS DEFENSE 214.3 YPG, 12.7 YPC THE LOWDOWNThis matchup will pit Penn State's offensive strength against Rutgers' defensive strength. Even so, the Lions should have success throwing the football on Saturday. McSorley is the second-leading passer in the Big Ten, having completed 190 of 296 attempts for 2,452 yards. He's got 19 touchdowns, but his interception total is up to eight aBer he threw three against Michigan State last Saturday. McSorley has completed 64.2 percent of his passes, and he has a pass-efficiency rating of 149.5. Four receivers have totaled 30 or more receptions, a list that is topped by Barkley with 39 catches for 504 yards and three touchdowns. TE Mike Gesicki is next with 38 catches for 374 yards and four TDs, while WR DaeSean Hamilton has 36 for 606 yards and a team-leading six TD catches. Despite ranking 13th in the Big Ten with only 12 sacks, Rutgers has 11 interceptions, the third-best total in the conference. SS Kiy Hester leads the Knights with three interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. SS Jawuan Harris is next with two interceptions. Turay leads Rutgers with 2.5 sacks, while Davis has two. // KEY MATCHUP It will be interesting to see how much pressure Rutgers' front four can generate against McSorley. The key matchup here will pit Wright and Fries against Turay and Davis. Also watch the matchup between Hester and Gesicki. // EDGE Penn State PENN STATE PASSING GAME VS. RUTGERS PASS DEFENSE RUTGERS RUNNING GAME 167.4 YPG, 4.3 YPC // PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE120.2 YPG, 3.2 YPC THE LOWDOWN The Knights are up to sixth in the conference in rushing, and that's been due largely to RB Gus Ed- wards, a 6-foot-1, 235-pound graduate transfer from Miami (Fla.). Edwards is Rutgers' leading rusher with 630 yards on 140 carries. Robert Martin has rushed for 358 yards on 79 carries, while freshman Raheem Blackshear has averaged an impressive 6.9 yards per carry. In addition, Rutgers likes to use WR Janarion Grant on jet sweeps; Grant has seven carries for 74 yards. Rutgers has totaled 19 rushing TDs, but the Scarlet Knights still rank 13th in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 22.6 points per game. Penn State's run defense has been solid through nine games, ranking fiBh in the Big Ten. MLB Jason Cabinda is the Lions' leading tackler with 63 stops including four tackles for loss. FS Marcus Allen is next with 56 tackles. For the season, Penn State has 69 tackles for loss, the second-best total in the Big Ten. Defensive ends Shareef Miller and Shaka Toney lead Penn State with eight and 6.5, respec- tively. // KEY MATCHUP If Rutgers hopes to have success on offense, it will need Johnson and Martin to pick up yards between the tackles. The key matchups here will pit RT Kamaal Seymour against DE Kevin Givens and LT Tariq Cole against Miller. Also, guards Doran Miller and Marcus Applefield will take on Cabinda. // EDGE Penn State RUTGERS RUNNING GAME VS. PENN STATE RUN DEFENSE RUTGERS PASSING GAME VS. PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE W H E N R U T G E R S H A S T H E B A L L PENN STATE RUNNING GAME VS. RUTGERS RUN DEFENSE N O V E M B E R 8 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 RUTGERS PASSING GAME 127.0 YPG, 10.3 YPC // PENN STATE PASS DEFENSE211.2 YPG, 10.1 YPC THE LOWDOWNRutgers' passing game has struggled throughout the season, ranking 14th in the Big Ten. Two quarterbacks have gotten starts. Kyle Bolin, a graduate transfer from Kentucky, has completed 73 of 133 for 711 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions. In October, he lost the starting job to junior Giovanni Rescigno. Since taking over at Illinois, Rescigno has completed 32 of 63 passes (50.8 percent) for 407 yards, with two TDs and one interception. The Scarlet Knights' leading receiver is TE Jerome Washington with 24 catches

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