The Letter You Could Tell from the Very Beginning That This Game Was Going Follow Us on to Go Down to the Wire

VOLUME 76 ISSUE 11 Penn State vs. Nebraska November 25, 2013

The Letter You could tell from the very beginning that this game was going Follow us on to go down to the wire. Twitter and Check out the It was a defensive struggle from new Football the start, with the two teams Letter Blog converting only five of 31 third downs and punting 19 times. Trying to catch a rock-hard football with PSU 6 0 7 7 0 -20 cold hands in sub-freezing weather, Neb. 0 7 10 3 3 -23 receivers dropped several passes and runners coughed up the ball seven times. CONTENTS The lead changed hands five times, and there were three turnovers,

The Letter including two fumbles near the goal line, a blocked punt, a missed field Notes from the C uff goal and a mixed extra point. But both teams left it all on the field till the O ther Sports final whistle. N ews of N ote Ultimately, the game wound up as the third overtime contest in Penn Game Photos State’s four home dates against Big Ten teams this fall. And for the first Statistics time in the Nittany Lions’ last six overtime games, they lost. Senior Day for 17 players making PAST ISSUES their last appearance in Beaver Stadium was spoiled by the View past issues Nebraska Cornhuskers, who walked away with a 23–20 win in the first overtime. With one game remaining for each Big Ten team, Nebraska moved up into second place behind Michigan State in the Legends Division with a 5–2 conference slate and an overall record of 8–3. Penn State stayed in third place in the Leaders Division with a 3–4 conference mark and an overall slate of 6–5. Michigan State, undefeated in seven conference contests, wrapped up the Legends title regardless of the outcome of their final game with FAN ZONE Minnesota in Spartan Stadium Saturday. Football Schedule Ohio State, also unbeaten in seven Big Ten games this fall, secured the Team Roster Leaders crown regardless of what happens on its trip to the Big House in GoPSUSports.com Radio/TV Listings Ann Arbor Saturday. Big Ten Football TV The Buckeyes (11–0) and the Spartans (10–1) will square off in the Big Sc hedule Ten championship game in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium at 8 p.m. Dec. 7 Big Ten Standings in a game televised by FOX. Big Ten Schedule and Res ults Howling northwest winds brought snow squalls swirling through Beaver Penn Staters in the Stadium before the opening kickoff and during halftime Saturday to add to P ros the misery of 98,517 braving the elements to pay tribute to State’s 2013 seniors. During the week, Coach Bill O’Brien had lauded them for their loyalty, leadership, character and commitment to Penn State. Also recognized were the seniors among the Blue Band, the grand national champion majorettes, back-to-back national champion Lionettes Dance Team, Blue Band silks, cheerleaders and six-time world champion Feature Twirler Matt Freeman. The two teams on the field were about as closely matched in their performance as they could be, with Penn State holding a two-yard edge in rushing, a 25-yard margin in passing, a 1:28 advantage in time of possession, and a 2–1 margin in quarterback sacks. But Nebraska posted a three-point edge where it mattered most—on the scoreboard. And then there were those game-altering plays. Like Ameer Abdullah’s fumble into the end zone that killed a Nebraska scoring drive in the second quarter, when Jesse Della Valle recovered it in the end zone for a touchback. (Remember Matt Lehman’s similar misadventure in Lincoln last year?) And the sack, strip and fumble recovery by Lion defensive end C.J. Olaniyan at the NE-8 to set up a Penn State touchdown on a seven- yard run by quarterback Christian Hackenberg early in the third quarter. And the 99-yard touchdown return of the ensuing kickoff by Nebraska’s Kenny Bell 15 seconds later. And Ciante Evans’ interception of Hackenberg to set up Pat Smith’s 39- yard field goal for the Huskers late in the third. And another drive-killing fumble knocked loose by State’s freshman linebacker Brandon Bell, when he smeared Cornhusker quarterback Ron Kellogg III at the PS-1 late in the fourth quarter to force the visitors to settle for a game-tying field goal rather than a game-winning touchdown. But Penn State’s string of five consecutive overtime victories was broken when Sam Ficken’s 37-yard field goal attempt sailed just outside the right upright and Pat Smith’s 42-yarder four plays later split the uprights. Nebraska thus became the only team to ruin two of Penn State’s Senior Days in the 24 years since the Lions joined the Big Ten. One could argue that there are any number of ways the outcome might have changed in Penn State’s favor. If Sam Ficken’s extra-point try after State’s first touchdown on a two- yard pass from Hackenberg to tight end Adam Breneman had not clanged off the right upright to end his string of 69 consecutive PATs since the Navy game last year, the Huskers would most likely have gone for the touchdown on 4th-and-1 late in the fourth and either won or lost the game in regulation time. If State’s defense had not allowed the Huskers’ third-string QB Ron Kellogg III to complete his first four passes for 71 yards to power a seven-play, 91-yard touchdown march for a 7–6 halftime lead, the Lions could have won. If Kenny Bell had not been able to hurdle over the attempted tackle by Ficken on his 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter, again victory could have gone to the Lions. If Hackenberg would not have thrown the interception that set up the Cornhuskers’ drive to a 39-yard Smith field goal late in the third quarter, the visitors would not have had their three-point margin of victory. On the other hand, if Malcolm Willis had not knocked the ball loose from Abdullah on the PS-1 with Della Valle recovering in the end zone in the second quarter, Nebraska would have most likely had a 14–6 halftime lead and maintained their margin to the end. Or if Kellogg had not surrendered the ball to Olaniyan on the NE-8, Penn State would not have had an easy touchdown to regain the lead after halftime. Or if Husker safety Corey Cooper had tackled Jesse James at the NE-20 instead of failing on his attempt to simply push him out-of-bounds, the Lion tight end would not have tiptoed his way down the sideline to a 46- yard touchdown, and the Nebraska win might have been sealed then. Or if a Husker had not been called for an unnecessary block several yards behind the runner on Abdullah’s apparent 62-yard touchdown dash in the fourth frame, the resulting score could have the ensured the visitors’ victory at that point. Or if Kellogg had not fumbled the ball, when Brandon Bell blasted him at the PS-1 with only 4:29 left in the game, the visitors would likely have finished their 12-play, 73-yard drive with a winning touchdown. But that’s the way it is in any contest where one of the teams has not displayed a clear superiority. And that’s why the game is played. Penn State’s junior power back Zach Zwinak was the game’s leading rusher with 35 carries for 149 yards, even though his longest gain was only 11 yards. The Lion defense would have been the first all year to hold Ameer Abdullah to less than 100 yards rushing, if he had not broken loose on that 50-yard run near the end of the game. The Big Ten’s leading rusher wound up with 147 yards on 25 carries. As usual, the conference’s leading pass catcher, Allen Robinson, led all receivers with eight grabs for 106 yards to post his seventh 100-yard receiving game this fall and break Bobby Engram’s Penn State record of six. He also surpassed Engram’s career receptions total of 167 by two and stands just 10 behind Deon Butler’s Nittany Lion record of 179. Middle linebacker Glenn Carson had a game-high 10 tackles to give him 256 for his career and tie Trey Bauer (1984–87). Malcolm Willis and Mike Hull had nine tackles. That tied a career-high for Willis, who also forced the first fumble of his career. For Hull it marked the sixth time in seven Big Ten games he has had at least nine stops. Freshman linebacker Brandon Bell made a career-high six tackles in addition to his forced fumble. Olaniyan got a sack for a 16-yard loss, posted the third forced fumble of his career and got his first career recovery. Adrian Amos got a six-yard quarterback sack. But kickoff return coverage has been Penn State’s Achilles Heel, as this was the second week in a row that an opponent returned a kickoff for a touchdown. And Purdue almost had a second one last week, before Ficken made a touchdown-saving tackle. Coach Bill O’Brien lamented the kickoff return after the game, but said, “The kids are trying hard though. They are good kids and working hard … We will continue to work hard on special teams this coming week.” O’Brien was disappointed his team could not win for the seniors in their last home game, but said, “I think both sides played with great effort; that is never the problem at Penn State. It is too bad that we did not win, but Nebraska did a great job.” He said tailback Bill Belton did not play because he had strep throat and could not practice all week with a bad shoulder. But O’Brien praised the work of Zwinak, saying, “He banged up his shoulder. He banged up his wrist. But he kept running. Zwinak is just a very tough kid.” State’s 240-pound tailback has run for 150 yards on 26 carries at Minnesota, 149 on 26 carries against Purdue and 149 on 35 carries against Nebraska in his last three games to raise his season total to 874 yards on 180 carries. Senior All-Big Ten guard John Urschel said “Not being able to come out with a “W,” especially on Senior Night is tough, but I think we played as hard as we could. We just didn’t execute well enough.” Senior offensive lineman Eric Shrive, who at the beginning of the season received a national award for his work in spearheading the largest fund- raising effort ever for kidney cancer research by Penn State’s Lifting for Life group, said, “It’s unfortunate to go out with a loss in overtime, but it’s been a great ride here at Penn State, and I’m fortunate for the opportunity.” The Lions have a difficult assignment in their season finale next week, traveling to Madison to meet the 14th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers (9–2, 6– 1 Big Ten), the three-time defending conference champions who are out of the race this year. The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN. For the Glory,

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 76 ISSUE 11 Penn State vs. Nebraska November 25, 2013

Notes from the Cuff National Scholar-Athlete Award winner John Urschel is also one of 10 finalists for the Follow us on Senior CLASS Award presented by Premier Twitter and Sports Management to an FBS student- Check out the athlete that excels both on and off the field. new Football Fans can vote for Urschel daily through Dec. Letter Blog 16 at seniorCLASSaward.com. They may also vote for Penn State’s Ariel Scott, who is a

PSU 6 0 7 7 0 -20 finalist for the same award among women’s Neb. 0 7 10 3 3 -23 volleyball players … Penn State alumnus Dave Robinson, an All-American end in 1962 and the CONTENTS sixth Penn Stater to be inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a 12-year career in the NFL, The Letter was honored at halftime Saturday. Robinson was named to the All-Decade Notes from the C uff team of the 1960s after earning All-Pro honors and being selected for the O ther Sports Pro Bowl three times … N ews of N ote Seniors honored Saturday were DT Kyle Baublitz, OT Kevin Blanchard, Game Photos punter Alex Butterworth, LB Glenn Carson, OG Bryan Davie, WR Brandon Statistics Felder, OT Garry Gilliam, OT Adam Gress, C Ty Howle, DT DaQuan Jones, WR Alex Kenney, TE Matt Lehman, S and LB Stephen Obeng-Agyapong, PAST ISSUES OT Eric Shrive, OG John Urschel, S Malcolm Willis and FB Pat Zerbe, plus senior managers Justin O’Brien, Tony Perrice and Chris Venturino … View past issues The Nittany Lions have won 20 of 24 Senior Day games since joining the Big Ten, losing only to No. 16 Michigan in 1999, No. 11 Michigan State in 2010 and Nebraska in 2011 and 2013 … Having won the last four meetings, Nebraska holds a 9–7 lead in the all- time series with Penn State. These teams are not scheduled to meet again until 2017 … Allen Robinson, the Big Ten leader in receptions (8.1 per game) and receiving yards (119.1 pg), who is on pace to become the first player since at least 1985 to lead the conference in both categories in consecutive years, is a semifinalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award given annually to the top receiver in the nation … FAN ZONE ARob improved his single-season reception records to 89 catches and

Football Schedule 1,310 yards. He has nine career 100-yard receiving games, tied with Joe Team Roster Jurevicius for second all-time at Penn State, behind Bobby Engram’s 16 … GoPSUSports.com Radio/TV Listings Christian Hackenberg’s 217 passing yards Saturday raised his total to Big Ten Football TV 2,616, moving him into fifth place on the single-season chart at Dear Old Sc hedule State. He is 35 behind Anthony Morelli in fourth and 63 behind Kerry Collins Big Ten Standings in third … Big Ten Schedule and Res ults Hack’s eight 200-yard passing games tie him with Michal Robinson (2002– Penn Staters in the 05) for 10th on the career chart and with Daryll Clark (2009) for third on P ros the single- season chart behind Collins (10) and Matt McGloin (11) … Zach Zwinak has 10 100-yard rushing games, tied with Charlie Pittman for 11th on State’s career list. He has 1,881 career rushing yards to rank 18th behind Franco Harris (2002).

News of Note RALLY AWAY AT THE WISCONSIN GAME NOV. 30 Follow us on Penn State fans can get revved up for the game against the University of Twitter and Wisconsin Badgers at the Alumni Association’s Pep Rally, featuring the Check out the Penn State cheerleaders, the Nittany Lion, the Pep Band, free new Football refreshments and more. Alumni and friends can also gather together the Letter Blog evening before at the Friday night mixer, which is co-sponsored by the Alumni Association and its local chapter. Friday Night Mixer: Meet Friday, Nov. 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the Hilton PSU 6 0 7 7 0 -20 Madison Monona Terrace, 9 East Wilson St., Madison, Wis. This event is Neb. 0 7 10 3 3 -23 free for Madison Chapter members, $5 for non-members and $10 for a family. Enjoy appetizers and a cash bar, along with the Penn State Pep CONTENTS Band, cheerleaders, the Nittany Lion and more! For more information and to purcha]se tickets, visit the Madison Chapter website. The Letter Notes from the C uff Game-day Pep Rally: Meet Penn Staters in the Union South building, O ther Sports 1308 West Dayton St., in Madison, Wis. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET and N ews of N ote 2:30 p.m. CT. The pep rally opens at 11:30 a.m. CT and the program begins at 12:30 p.m. CT. Click here for more pep rally information, Game Photos including parking availability, bus transportation and a University of Statistics Wisconsin campus map.

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