Rutgers Penn State 27 – Rutgers 6 Volume 82, Issue 12 Dec. 2, 2019

Saturday, Penn State fans honored 16 seniors then watched them become just the fourth class in program history to compile 41 wins in their four years by defeating Rutgers, 27-6, in the regular season finale in Beaver Stadium. Playing without starting Sean Clifford, starting defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, starting cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields or running back Noah Cain, the Nittany Lions did not cover the spread the oddsmakers had set for them over the Scarlet Knights, but they did finish with a 10-2 regular season record for the third time in the last four years and expect to conclude their season in a high-ranking bowl game in California or Florida. Redshirt freshman Will Levis, who got the first significant playing time of his short career in the second half at Ohio State last week, started in place of the injured Sean Clifford and ran for 108 yards, while helping set up a Lion touchdown in each half. But until he tossed a 44-yard TD pass to Jahan Dotson in the fourth quarter, he had only completed six of 12 passes for 32 yards with one interception at the RU-2 that thwarted a Penn State touchdown in the second quarter, plus he took three sacks. Because of this the Penn State offense was one-dimensional, which radically limited Ricky Rahne’s play-calling. But Levis teamed with sophomore running back Journey Brown to become the first QB-RB tandem to rush for more than 100 yards each in a game since Michael Robinson and Tony Hunt did it in 2005 against Wisconsin. The two of them gained all the yardage on Penn State’s first touchdown drive of 76 yards on nine plays to climax the first quarter. Levis rushed 48 yards on four carries and Brown 28 more on four carries till the running back scored on a two-yard plunge to give the Lions a lead they would never relinquish. On Penn State’s first play of the second half, Levis galloped 49 yards on the longest run of the game, picking up a helpful downfield block by wide receiver Daniel George. Brown then carried for seven yards and 18 yards to his and the Lions’ second TD of the contest. On State’s concluding fourth quarter 8-play 44-yard touchdown drive, Brown covered most of the turf with a 33- yard breakaway. Levis only rushed for five yards, but Journey covered the final two to his career-high third TD of the afternoon that put the final points on the scoreboard. Overall, Levis carried 17 times for a net of 108 yards and Brown rushed 16 times for 103 yards and a virtually identical 6.4 yards per carry average. Sophomore running back Ricky Slade also rushed six times for 36 yards in the fourth quarter – a 6-yard average per carry, as the Lions’ ground attack was responsible for 252 of its 333 yards of offense. The Lions’ only score by air came earlier in the fourth quarter, when Levis bobbled the snap, moved to the left while regaining control of the ball and spied Jahan Dotson running free down the middle. His pass reached Dotson at Rutgers’ 5-yard line, and the lithe wideout executed a 360-degree spin that left three defenders looking for their under garments, while he slipped behind KJ Hamler into the end zone for a 44-yard TD. KJ hauled in five passes from Levis for 22 yards with a long of 17. Daniel George caught one for 11 yards and one for four yards. Hamler had a 24-yard punt return and three kickoff returns for 78 yards, and six yards on three rushes to lead the team with 130 yards of total offense. Penn State’s three-year starting cornerback John Reid joined the other defensive starters sitting on the sidelines, after he was injured early in the first quarter. Freshman Keaton Ellis got his first start in place of Castro-Fields, while freshmen Trent Gordan, Joey Porter Jr. and Marquis Wilson picked up a lot of playing time after Reid left the field. The inspired Rutgers team played its best game of the season, outgaining the Lions 383 to 333 in total offense and 199 to 81 in passing yards, while compiling a 33:11 to 26:49 margin in time of possession. The Scarlet Knights set the pace and controlled the clock, converting seven of 16 third downs and one of two fourth downs against an uninspired Penn State defense that nevertheless prevented Rutgers from getting into the end zone. Place kicker Justin Davidovicz made two of three field goal attempts for the visitors’ only points. Lion linebackers Micah Parsons and Cam Brown plus safety Garrett Taylor were State’s leading tacklers and spent plenty of time chasing down running back Isaih Pacheco, who gained 102 yards on 18 carries, and quarterback Johnny Langan, who netted 58 on 18 lugs of the pigskin. Langan and his backup Cole Snyder combined to complete 15 of 27 passes for 199 yards against the Lion secondary. Wide receivers Isaiah Washington and Bo Melton combined on seven catches for 115 of those yards. Langan’s longest completion went to Aaron Young for 39 yards, after a trick-play double reverse and pitch- back to Langan, who then launched the aerial. Penn State’s senior punter Blake Gillikin helped stymie Rutger’s offense by averaging a season-high 49.2 yards on his four punts, with one of them traveling 72 yards, another dropping inside the 10-yard line and another inside the 20. Coach James Franklin told the media after the game, “We won the field position battle, but we lost the turnover battle with the long interception.” He added, “We weren’t as explosive as we needed to be and probably gave up a few too many explosive plays.” Franklin pointed out Will Levis’ 100 yards rushing and Journey Brown’s third career game with two or more rushing touchdowns. “Journey Brown just continues to grow and get better,” he said. Brown missed practice the first half of last week, when he went home because a 17-year-old cousin had died unexpectedly last Sunday. Franklin said, “In my 24 years, I don’t think I’ve been around a kid who has overcome more adversity in his life than him.” He called Brown a special kid who always has a huge smile on his face and is very appreciative of Penn State and his football family. Franklin also talked about how the seniors just wanted to hang around after the game, soaking in Beaver Stadium for the last time. “Jan Johnson was one of the last guys walking around,” he pointed out. “Jan is a fifth-year senior, got an undergraduate degree, got a master’s degree … You think about all the things that he’s been able to do here at Penn State, and it’s pretty impressive.” He cited Nick Eury, a scout team running back loved by everyone on the team. He cited Jake Zembiec, a highly recruited quarterback, who had a career-ending injury, but remained on the team to help in any way he could. “Full of emotion,” he said about those two. “We got something really special here,” he pointed out. “Those guys have given a lot to this community, they’ve given a lot to this university.” He added that he was proud of the way the players have conducted themselves off the field. Senior offensive guard Steven Gonzalez told reporters that walking around the stadium was a celebration of their years here, and the opportunities to get their degrees. He advised younger players to “Appreciate every little thing, even the workouts, as hard as they are … Appreciate being here because time flies … Appreciate every moment and try to take it all in.” Other seniors whose parents joined them in the pre-game recognitions included, Nick Bowers, Cam Brown, Weston Carr, Dan Chisena, Blake Gillikin, Hunter Kelly, Colton Maxwell, John Reid, Michael Shuster, Garrett Taylor, Justin Tobin and Robert Windsor. Franklin said the next team activity is a meeting Thursday afternoon, so the players will be off till then, while the coaches will get on the road to go recruiting. The Lions were ranked 12th in the latest AP writers poll, 11th in the Amway coaches poll and currently sit 10th in the Playoffs lineup. The updated CFP rankings will be revealed Tuesday night. They will await the result of the Big Ten Championship game between Division champs Ohio State and Wisconsin next Saturday and the announcement of their bowl location on Sunday, after the selection of the four participants in the College Playoffs. For the Glory,

Notes from the Cuff

Penn State’s 2019 senior class is just the fifth class in program history to accumulate 41 wins. The others were 1974, 1975, 1996 and 1997…

The Nittany Lions reached the 10-win mark in the regular season for the 19th time in program history. The last time they had three 10-win seasons in a four- year span was 1993-96…

State is now undefeated at home for the third time in the last four years, marking the first time in the Big Ten era the Lions accomplished that feat. The last time Penn State went undefeated at home in three of four consecutive seasons was 1972-75…

Penn State leads the series with Rutgers, 28-2, with a 16-2 mark at home and a 6-0 record since Rutgers joined the Big Ten. The Lions have won the last 13 encounters with their only losses in the series coming in 1918 (26-3) and 1988 (21-16)…

The Scarlet Knights now have a 21-game losing streak in Big Ten contests…

The last time two Nittany Lions rushed for more than 100 yards in the same game was in 2015, when Saquon Barkley ran for 195 and Akeel Lynch rushed for 120 against Rutgers…

Penn State’s 81 passing yards were the fewest in a game since the Lions gained only 78 through the air against Ohio State in 2005…

QB Will Levis, DE Jayson Oweh, and CB Keaton Ellis became the 16th, 17th and 18th first-time starters for the Nittany Lions this season. Ellis joined RB Noah Cain as the only true freshmen to start a game this fall. QB Ta’Quan Roberson became the 19th true freshman to see action this year…

Journey Brown has scored at least one touchdown in four consecutive games for a total of nine this season and 10 in his career. He now has four career 100-yard rushing games. He is the Nittany Lions’ leading rusher this year with 113 carries for 688 yards…

WR KJ Hamler has extended his streak of making at least one reception in all 25 games of his career. He is Penn State’s leading receiver this season with 54 catches for 858 yards and eight touchdowns… TE Pat Freiermuth extended to 24 his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch. He is State’s second leading receiver this fall with 41 catches for 468 yards and seven TDs. And he announced on Twitter his intention to stay at Penn State for his third season next fall. The reasons he gave were: “The brotherhood and family atmosphere in this program is something that I am not ready to leave. The culture Coach Franklin and the staff have created here is something very special, and I love being part of it.”…

Sophomore WR Justin Shorter has reportedly entered the transfer portal. He did not play Saturday…

WR Jahan Dotson’s touchdown catch Saturday was his fourth this season. He has seven catches of 20 or more yards this fall…

LB Micah Parsons’ team-leading 10 tackles against Rutgers marked his seventh game this season with double-digit tackles. Sophomore Parsons is a finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker…

Punter Blake Gillikin is a finalist for the Pop Warner Award and is a CoSIDA Academic All-District awardee. He had his third career punt of more than 70 yards Saturday, his ninth of 60 or more yards and his 53rd of 50 or more yards. He is just the second Nittany Lion to pass the 10,000 career punt yards mark. His 10,147 yards trail only Jeremy Kapinos’ record of 10,476 from 2003 to 2006…

Pat Freiermuth was a semifinalist for the Mackey Award. Yetur Gross-Matos was a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award. KJ Hamler was a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award. And Jan Johnson was a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy for the top walk-on…

Penn State’s Honorary Captain for the coin toss Saturday was Bill Belton, who rushed for a career total of 1,657 yards and 14 touchdowns from 2011-2014…

Senior Zach Sowa took off his head and revealed his identity as the Nittany Lion mascot at halftime Saturday, as is the custom at the mascot’s last appearance in Beaver Stadium…

The Blue Band played seasonal music during its halftime performance and ended with a Happy Holidays formation…

The announced attendance Saturday was 98,805, despite the fact that the students were on Thanksgiving break and lots of ticket holders were wary of dire forecasts of cold and windy weather with a wintry mix of snow and freezing rain. It turned out to be a fine November day for tailgating and watching football in above freezing temperatures with a fair amount of sunshine.

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