Blue White Illustrated

N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 3 • It was a tough day for the special teams, starting with the first punt of the game, as Zech McPhearson allowed a short punt to graze his leg, giving Ne- braska the ball in Penn State territory to set up a field goal. Later in the first quar- ter, Blake Gillikin shanked a punt, giving Nebraska possession at Penn State's 36- yard line and setting up its first touch- down. Tyler Davis knocked two kickoffs out of bounds, and the hands team looked tentative on an onside kick at- tempt in the final minutes. Nebraska fielded the ball cleanly and drove 54 yards for one last score. Because of the muffed punt, Penn State "didn't start out the game the way we would have liked to start it," Franklin said. "I thought we were a little sloppy on special teams." • Penalties were a bigger problem for Nebraska than they were for Penn State, as the Huskers were flagged nine times, while the Lions were whistled for five in- fractions. But there were some costly penalties in that total, notably a targeting call on a fourth-quarter tackle by strong safety Troy Apke. Apke's ejection with 7 minutes, 26 seconds remaining didn't have much of an impact on the outcome of this game, but he will have to sit out the first half of next week's game at Maryland. LOOKING AHEAD On the heels of two home victories, the Nittany Lions will look to maintain their momentum this week at Maryland. The Terrapins have struggled of late, having lost six of their past seven games, includ- ing a 17-7 defeat at Michigan State on Saturday. The Lions haven't played in College Park since 1993, when they handed the hosts a 70-7 beatdown. No one is expect- ing a reprise of that score, or anything close to it. But the Terps will likely need more productivity out of their quarter- back spot if they're going to pull off an upset. They've had a run of extreme bad luck at the position this year, with their top two quarterbacks doing down with season-ending knee injuries. They've started four quarterbacks over the course of the season, including this week's likely starter, Max Bortenschlager. A 6-foot-3, 211-pound sophomore, Bortenschlager has had some health problems of his own, having recovered from a shoulder injury just in time to get the start in East Lansing. He completed only 13 of 25 passes for 121 yards against the Spartans, but that was partly due to the windy, snowy field conditions. The Penn State defense he'll be facing on Saturday didn't have its best day against Nebraska. But as is his habit, Franklin isn't dwelling on the negative. "We were able to get a win against one of the most historic and storied programs in the country, and against a helluva football coach," he said. "I've got a lot of respect for Coach [Mike Riley]. He's won everywhere he's been, at every single level, and he's an unbelievable person, so we're fortunate to get a win. We're 1-0 this week and we're going to enjoy it for a couple of hours."

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