VOLUME 78 ISSUE 8 Penn State vs. Maryland October 26, 2015

The Letter

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CONTENTS

The Letter Notes from the Cuff Other Sports News of Note Game Photos Statistics Wearing throwback uniforms that replicated those worn by the 1961 Maryland team—the first ever to defeat Penn State—the Terrapins challenged the Nittany Lions Saturday in a game the late and great Ridge Riley, founder of The Football Letter, would have called a “barnburner.” The game itself was a throwback to the days when teams played to PAST ISSUES defeat their opponent rather than the odds­makers’ point­spread. In the current age, when many fans consider a win to be a loss if the winner View past issues didn’t beat the spread, the sheer joy of watching a hotly contested game between two worthy opponents seems to have disappeared. FAN ZONE Saturday two teams that met on the gridiron 37 times before either of

Football Schedule them joined the Big Ten provided a conference contest that left spectators Team Roster limp in their seats in agony or in ecstasy in Baltimore’s M&T Bank GoPSUSports.com Stadium. Radio/TV Listings The fact that Penn State had beaten its neighbors from across the Mason­ Big Ten Football TV Dixon line 35 times in their previous 38 encounters and had a 5–2 record Schedule in comparison to Maryland’s 2–4 slate meant nothing to the snapping, Big Ten Standings clawing Terrapins, who beat the Lions in virtually every statistic except Big Ten Schedule and Results the score. Penn Staters in the Pros Together the two teams thrilled a crowd of 68,948 with big offensive For advertising info, plays, tough defensive stops, critical takeaways and giveaways in a game contact: Angelo Scialfa that went back­and­forth with exciting action for 60 minutes, before Penn 609­259­1910 State claimed a one­point victory. [email protected] Trading four touchdowns and one field goal for three touchdowns and three field goals, the Lions eked out a 31–30 margin that gave the fans more than they may have bargained for but all that they could ask for. The contest played in the beautiful home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens featured five lead changes, six touchdown plays of 10 or more yards, 13 “big plays” of 20 or more yards from scrimmage (with a long of 48), eight turnovers, and two magnificent college band performances. It was the first time in 24 years the two teams played in Baltimore, where they had met in 1987, 1989 and 1991 in old Memorial Stadium—home of the erstwhile Baltimore Colts—that was torn down after owner Bob Irsay’s infamous midnight ride to Indianapolis with the Colts. (The first was a close 21–16 Penn State win, the second a 13–13 tie and the third a 47–7 Nittany Lion run­away.) But the location of Baltimore’s “new” pro stadium next to the Orioles’ Camden Yards’ ball field and close to the always­bustling Inner Harbor saw thousands of “tourist fans” roaming the streets of the strikingly rebuilt downtown the way they would at a bowl game location. And their collective mood seemed to be just as festive. The “neutral” location also made the Maryland fans feel the game was as special as it turned out to be. The outcome made Penn State “bowl­eligible” with six victories this season, while that one­point loss slipped Maryland’s 2015 record to 2–5. Of course, it was a fair turnabout for last year’s 20–19 victory by the Terrapins on a last­minute field goal in Beaver Stadium—their first win in 22 trips to State College. Last year’s contest had several similarities to this year’s. The losing team held the lead in time of possession, third down conversions and total offense, but gave away two more turnovers and relied too heavily on field goals, rather than touchdowns. The winning team was ineffective with its rushing attack, had fewer third­down conversions, but scored when it counted. Saturday Maryland dominated in rushing yardage, total offense and time of possession. But State had nine of those 20+ yardage plays (all passes) to just four for the Terps (3 passes, 1 run). Maryland had nine rushes and six passes that gained between 10 and 20 yards. The Lions had just one of each. But the closeness of the game and its back­and­forth progression made it extremely exciting for the non­partisan spectator. Penn State scored first on Saquon Barkley’s six­ yard TD run, set up by quarterback Christian Hackenberg’s 38­yard pass to DaeSean Hamilton and 40­yard completion to Chris Godwin on a drive that covered 83 yards in just five plays in 2:27. Maryland bounced right back with a three­play, 67­yard drive in 1:08, as QB Perry Hills’ 48­yard pass to Malcolm Culmer set up Hills’ own 12­yard touchdown run to tie the score just before the end of the first quarter. The Terps pulled ahead 13–7 on two Brad Craddock field goals early in the second frame, before Hackenberg threw 38 yards to Saeed Blacknall and 37 yards to Godwin for a lightning two­play, 75­yard drive in just 49 seconds to retake the lead at 14–13 with 3:30 left in the first halftime. Godwin made a spectacular one­handed catch in the end zone, while the Terp defender drew a flag for pass interference. State extended its lead to 17–13 just 31 seconds before halftime, when Joey Julius kicked a 40­yard field goal to complete an eight­play, 38­yard drive sparked by Hackenberg tosses 17 yards to tight end Kyle Carter and 24 yards to wide receiver Hamilton. Maryland regained the lead, 20–17, by moving 68 yards on nine plays (all on the ground) in 4:10 on their first possession of the second half. Hills covered 56 yards himself on six carries (including a game­long of 36), before tailback Brandon Ross covered the final 10 to paydirt. On Penn State’s next possession, the Lions grabbed the lead back at 24– 20 with a seven­play, 79­yard march in 3:53. The drive was composed of four Barkley rushes for 21 yards and three Hackenberg passes seven yards to Hamilton, 31 yards to Godwin and 20 yards to Hamilton for the touchdown. Not to be outdone, the Terrapins, on their ensuing possession, traveled 88 yards on 10 plays in 4:32 to recover the lead at 27–24, when Hills completed a 10­yard toss to DeAndre Lane in the end zone. On the next possession, the Lions moved 77 yards on eight plays in 2:08, sparked by Hackenberg’s 27­yard toss to Godwin and climaxed by another 27­ yarder to Geno Lewis in the end zone. The junior wideout leaped high and snared the ball away from the defender for his first touchdown of the season. And the scoreboard read Penn State 31, Maryland 27 with 13:46 left in the game. Hills immediately threw a 43­yard pass to Taivon Jacobs, and Maryland moved down field. But the Lion defense rose up to stop the Terps’ drive at the PS­18, from where Craddock booted a 36­yard field goal. However, State’s Grant Haley was called for a roughing the kicker penalty, when his dive to block the kick landed him on Craddock’s foot, after the ball was launched. So, Maryland’s interim head coach Mike Locksley chose to take the points off the board, and the Terps continued their drive from the PS­9. But the Lion defense was impenetrable, throwing Hills for a two­yard loss, then stopping him for no gain, then forcing him to throw an incompletion. Again Craddock booted the ball—this time 29 yards through the goal posts —to make the score 31–30 with 10:15 left. From there it was a defensive struggle and battle of turnovers till the final whistle.

State’s Nick Scott returned the kickoff 24 yards, but had the ball stripped from his grasp by Denzel Conyers and recovered by Alvin Hill to give the Terrapins possession at the PS­32. On the first play, Lion linebacker Brandon Bell smashed in to sack Perry and forced him to fumble. State defensive end Garrett Sickels scooped up the ball and ran 36 yards down the sideline, until he was pushed out­of­ bounds at the MD­28. Hackenberg threw three incompletions, and Julius attempted a 45­yard field goal that drifted wide left. Maryland then moved to their own 36­yard line, before Trevor Williams intercepted Hills’ fourth­down pass at the PS­37. Six plays later Hackenberg was sacked and lost the ball, which Conyers recovered at the PS­45. On third­and­five Hills was sacked for a five­yard loss by State’s defensive end Carl Nassib, who entered the game as the nation’s leader in sacks and tackles for loss. On fourth­ and­10, Hills completed a seven­yard pass to Jacobs, but the Terps had to turn the ball over on downs. Four plays later Maryland forced the Lions’ Danny Pasquariello to punt for the sixth time in the game, and the Terrapins had one last chance with the ball at their own 25 and 1:21 left on the clock. On the first play, Hills fired a pass toward Culmer, but it went off his fingertips into the arms of State’s Malik Golden. And State’s third interception sealed the wild and wonderful contest. Hackenberg completed 13 of 29 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns, thus setting Penn State’s all­time record for pass completions at 608 and passing yardage at 7,453. He tied Daryll Clark (2006­2009) for second with 43 touchdown tosses, passing Todd Blackledge (1980­1982), Tony Sacca (1988­1991) and Zack Mills (2001­ 2004). He passed Mills on the completions and yardage charts. Hack posted his 18th 200­yard passing game to tie Matt McGloin (2009­ 2012) at the top of the career chart and extended his own record for 300­ yard passing games to nine. The junior Lion quarterback said Maryland “threw the kitchen sink at us, and we were able to react and make the plays to do what we needed to do.” Sophomore Godwin, State’s leading receiver this fall, caught four passes for 135 yards and one touchdown. That’s a superlative 33.8­yard average per catch. Redshirt sophomore Hamilton, who last year set all State’s records for freshmen, hauled in five passes for 96 yards and a TD. His 106 career receptions is 13th all­time at Penn State. Redshirt freshman linebacker Troy Reeder led all tacklers in the game with 10, followed by Marcus Allen and Austin Johnson with nine and Jason Cabinda with eight. LB Brandon Bell had a six­yard sack and 3.5 tackles for 17 yards in losses, as the Lions totaled 11 TFLs for 47 yards. Allen had a nine­yard sack, Anthony Zettel a three­yarder and Carl Nassib one sack for five yards and two TFLs for seven yards in losses. Grant Haley, Williams and Golden had interceptions, while Sickels and Allen recovered fumbles forced by John Reid and Bell. Coach James Franklin said the Nittany Lions were “resilient” Saturday, facing adversity and experiencing highs and lows. He said the punting of Pasquariello was important and didn’t allow William Likely (one of the nation’s top returners) to have an impact on the game. He summed it up as “a great win on the road in the Big Ten.” Franklin said the Terrapins had a high­ risk, high­reward, game plan Saturday, pointing out that their defense played a lot of “cover­ zero, which is man, no deep safeties, or cover­ one with pressed corners.” He said this was new for them and forced Penn State to throw the vertical passes. “Usually when you play someone like that and you burn them a couple times deep, they stop,” Franklin said, but pointed out that Maryland had the guts to continue the game plan, seeking the high rewards. They overloaded the box, and dialed up a lot of blitzes on defense. On offense they were creative with trick plays, as interim head coach Mike Locksley, Maryland’s former offensive coordinator replaced Randy Edsall, who was fired after the Terps’ 49–26 loss at Ohio State two weeks ago. Last Saturday, while Penn State lost to Ohio State, 38–10, Maryland had a bye, which gave Locksley an extra week to prepare for Penn State. Franklin said, “The mobile quarterback (Perry Hills) was a pain. All the run­pass options get you on your heels … You have to stop the running back, you have to stop the quarterback and you have to stop the run­pass options.” Hills, a former PIAA wrestling champion at Pittsburgh Central Catholic, set a Big Ten quarterback rushing record by gaining 170 yards against Ohio State two weeks ago. Penn State held him to 124 yards and one touchdown rushing, although he completed 19 of 28 passes for 225 yards (79 more than his average) and one TD. But the Lions also intercepted him three times and sacked him four times for 23 yards in losses. The Lions uncharacteristically fumbled four times, losing three of them, but recovered two of Maryland’s three fumbles to give State five takeaways to its three giveaways. This increased Penn State’s turnover ratio to plus 10, while Maryland’s ratio slipped to minus 19. Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium after two on the road to host Illinois (4–3, 1–2 Big Ten) in a contest that kicks off at noon Saturday on ESPN2. For the Glory, VOLUME 78 ISSUE 8 Penn State vs. Maryland October 26, 2015

Notes from the Cuff Penn State is now 36–2–1 versus Maryland, 3–0–1 in Baltimore, 21–1 in State College and 12–1 in Follow us on College Park … Twitter and Check out the new Former Nittany Lion All­American runners Lenny Football Letter Moore and Lydell Mitchell, who live in Baltimore, Blog visited with the Penn State team on Friday night and had some words of wisdom for the young Lions … PSU 7 10 7 7 ­ 31 UMD 7 6 14 3 ­ 30 State’s 31–30 win was its first one­pointer since its overtime victory over Boston College by the same score in the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee CONTENTS Stadium last year. It was the first one­point win in the regular season The Letter since a 28–27 verdict at Minnesota in 2006 … Notes from the Cuff The Nittany Lions and Fighting Illini will be playing on new turf in Beaver Other Sports Stadium Saturday. The 10­year old grass, which had been damaged by News of Note the heavy rainfall during the five weeks that Penn State played Game Photos successive home games, has been replaced by new Kentucky bluegrass Statistics sod from the Tuckahoe Turf Farms in Hammonton, N.J., which also supplies several NFL stadiums … Three legendary Lions—Coach Joe Paterno, five­time AFCA Coach of the Year, holder of the NCAA Division I record of 409 victories, and producer of 16 National Football Foundation Scholar­Athletes, 47 Academic All­ Americans and 18 NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners; and 1978 All PAST ISSUES Americans, quarterback Chuck Fusina and placekicker Matt Bahr—were inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame last weekend … View past issues The Lions this year have scored 48 points (six touchdowns and two field goals) after turnovers (10 fumble recoveries and seven interceptions) … FAN ZONE Penn State’s defenders now have had at least five tackles for loss in 15 Football Schedule consecutive games and at least one quarterback sack in 30 straight Team Roster contests … GoPSUSports.com The Lions have scored on 24 of 27 trips into the red zone (inside the Radio/TV Listings opponent’s 20­yard line), tallying 14 touchdowns and 10 field goals … Big Ten Football TV Schedule The 24.2­yard average per catch by Penn State’s receivers against Big Ten Standings Maryland was nearly double their 12.9 average entering the contest. Big Ten Schedule and Results Chris Godwin, who leads the team’s receivers with 34 catches for 628 Penn Staters in the Pros yards, posted his second straight 100­yard receiving game and his third For advertising info, of the season. DaeSean Hamilton is second on the list with 24 grabs for contact: Angelo Scialfa 316 yards … 609­259­1910 [email protected] Tailback Saquon Barkley was the third true freshman to start a game for the Lions this fall and the sixth true or redshirt freshman. He is the 12th player to have his first start this season … Anthony Zettel’s 36th career tackle for loss ties Tamba Hali (2002­2005) and Matt Millen (1976­1979). Carl Nassib’s 12.5 season sacks ties Maurice Evans (2006­2008) at No. 4 on State’s season chart. The former walk­on pre­med major, who never started a game in high school or college until this fall, has at least one sack in every game. He has garnered midseason All­America honors from multiple organizations … Junior safety Malik Golden sealed Saturday’s victory with his first interception of the year. Sophomore cornerback Grant Haley had his second pick this season and third of his career. Garrett Sickels, sophomore defensive end, recovered the second fumble in his career and returned it 36 yards. Sophomore safety Marcus Allen had his first career fumble recovery, and freshman corner John Reid forced his first fumble … It was hard to tell by the colors in the stadium which team had the most fans Saturday, but the Penn Staters certainly seemed to cheer louder … Penn State is 52–20–4 in regular season games played at neutral sites. This was only the third neutral site Big Ten game the Lions have played since joining the conference in 1993 … Nine players on Penn State’s roster hail from Maryland: S Marcus Allen, RB Mark Allen, DE Kam Carter, OG Brian Gaia, TE Jonathan Holland, WR Josh McPhearson, S Ayron Monroe, TE Brent Wilkerson and CB Trevor Williams … Penn State’s football program is partnering with the Head Health Network (HHN) to utilize HHN’s advanced sensor system in the University’s innovative concussion research. For the remainder of the season, 24 football student­athletes will be equipped with helmets containing sensors that monitor impacts and relay the data to sideline personnel in real time. HHN has also partnered with Louisiana State and Texas A&M football teams … Penn State’s men’s rugby club team is one of 16 squads invited to participate in the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup, which will be held next spring with the championship game being played on May 2. “The Nittany Lions have been among the very best rugby teams in U.S. collegiate history,” said Jack Clark, a Varsity Cup co­founder. “Penn State is always well­ coached and well­supported; they bring so much to the Varsity Cup postseason.”

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Part of your Penn State Alumni Association's mission is to strengthen the connection of alumni to the University and to provide valued services to members. The Football Letter is just one of the many benefits of membership provided to support that mission. VOLUME 78 ISSUE 8 Penn State vs. Maryland October 26, 2015

News of Note Halloween Clash with Illinois Set for Noon Kickoff Penn State’s home game against Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 31, is set for a Follow us on noon kickoff on ESPN2. For more information, visit GoPSUsports.com. Twitter and Check out the new Pep Rally, Event Details for Northwestern Football Letter Penn State will visit Evanston, Ill., next month, and details are set for the Blog alumni mixer and pre­game pep rally scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7. For all the info, visit the Alumni Association’s website.

PSU 7 10 7 7 ­ 31 And for alumni, students and fans on social media, use and UMD 7 6 14 3 ­ 30 share #PSUpeprally for everything trending about the 2015 Penn State pep rallies this season. CONTENTS Follow the Alumni Association on Social Media The Letter Stay updated on Alumni Association news and events by following us on Notes from the Cuff Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Also follow The Football Letter and The Other Sports Penn Stater magazine on Twitter for more information on what’s News of Note happening at Penn State. Game Photos Statistics Huddle with the Faculty Alumni and friends can catch light refreshments and some food for thought at “Huddle with the Faculty,” the popular free lecture series hosted by the Penn State Alumni Association each home football Saturday at The Nittany Lion Inn. Oct. 31 (Illinois): “The Five Myths of Online Learning,” featuring Craig Weidemann, vice PAST ISSUES president for Outreach and vice provost for Online Education View past issues U.S. News and World Report recently recognized FAN ZONE the 15­year­old Penn State World Campus as having the No. 1 online bachelor program in the Football Schedule country. The World Campus now has more than Team Roster 16,000 students worldwide pursuing one of more GoPSUSports.com than 125 online degrees and certificates. While Radio/TV Listings the World Campus shares the same rigor, quality, Big Ten Football TV Schedule and admission requirements as our traditional Big Ten Standings Penn State programs, there remain many questions and myths regarding the quality and future of online programs. Join us as we talk about the Big Ten Schedule and Results myths surrounding online learning, what is next, and where the college Penn Staters in the Pros learning experiencing is heading.