VOLUME 76 ISSUE 2 Penn State vs. Eastern Michigan September 9, 2013 The Letter The weatherman dialed up a Follow us on perfect day for football in Happy Twitter and Valley Saturday, and the Nittany Check out the Lions did their part to make fans in new Football Beaver Stadium enjoy the Letter Blog delightfully warm, sunny afternoon by running through, over and around Eastern Michigan, 45-7. PSU71072145 Penn State’s rushing attack, which EM70007 had been bottled up by a gambling Syracuse defense last week, broke loose for 251 yards and five CONTENTS touchdowns, powered by Bill Belton and Akeel Lynch—the first two Lions to rush for more than 100 yards in the same game since Evan Royster and The Letter Silas Redd did it against Northwestern three years ago. Notes from the Cuff News of Note Belton gained 108 yards on just nine carries for a 12-yard average and two Other Sports TDs—one of which was a 51-yard burst, the longest since Royster went 69 Game Photos yards to paydirt at Northwestern in 2009. Lynch likewise ran for 108 yards Statistics in 13 carries, including a 27-yarder, and his first career touchdown. Starter Zach Zwinak scored touchdowns on two of his seven carries for 43 yards. PAST ISSUES Meanwhile, heralded quarterback Christian Hackenberg made his Beaver Stadium debut, completing 23 of 33 attempts for a freshman record 311 View past issues yards and another TD. To top off the offensive fireworks, placekicker Sam Ficken broke Craig Fayak’s 1992 record by booting his 14th consecutive field goal. At the same time, the Lion defense pitched a shutout, since the visitors’ only score resulted from the novice QB’s worst mistake in his two games—an unforced first-quarter fumble on his 11-yard line that EMU’s Hunter Matt picked up and carried into the end zone. It replicated the miscue by State’s other touted new signal-caller, JUCO transfer Tyler Ferguson, at MetLife Stadium last Saturday. Each of the newbies lost their concentration for a second and simply dropped the ball as they cocked their arm to throw. FAN ZONE But Hackenberg quickly bounced back, after completing only one of his first Football Schedule five passes, to connect on 22 of his next 28 to nine different receivers and Team Roster break Zack Mills’ mark of 280 yards set in 2001. GoPSUSports.com Radio/TV Listings Wideout Allen Robinson caught seven of Big Ten Football TV Hack’s passes for 129 yards, including a Schedule 45-yard touchdown, when the QB faked a Big Ten Standings run then sailed an aerial to the speedy Big Ten Schedule and junior, who had gotten behind the EMU Results secondary. Brandon Moseby-Felder hauled Penn Staters in the Pros in six passes for 56 yards, and tight end Jesse James caught two for 46. The Lions’ total offense of 574 was the most since they compiled 594 against Coastal Carolina in the 2008 season opener. Their 251 yards on the ground were the most since they gained 260 on the Northwestern defense in 2010. The 183 yards put up by Eastern Michigan were the fewest against the Penn State defense since it allowed only 170 by Indiana State in the first game of 2011. And the 2-0 start to the 2013 season is the reverse of what the Nittanies suffered with a depleted roster last fall in their first year ever under NCAA sanctions. State’s performance Saturday was witnessed by more than 50 members of the undefeated 1973 team that returned for their 40th reunion. That squad—the first in Division I college football history to go 12-0—was captained by All-Americans Ed O’Neil and Randy Crowder, Academic All- American and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Mark Markovich and Penn State’s only Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti. Cappy, who dedicated his trophy to his young brother Joey, who was dying of leukemia, in the most moving Heisman acceptance speech ever, ran for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns in 1973. He also won the Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp, ABC-TV and UPI Player of the Year awards and, in 1993, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. During a halftime ceremony honoring the team Saturday, Athletic Director Dave Joyner announced that Cappelletti’s No. 22 would be the first ever retired by Penn State. The ever-modest Cappy asked that it not be retired until the end of the career of its current wearer—redshirt freshman tailback Akeel Lynch, who promptly went out in the second half and rushed 11 times for 101 yards and his first TD. Defensive tackle DaQuan Jones tied his career high with nine tackles for the second consecutive game and leads the Big Ten conference in tackles for loss (five). Middle linebacker Glenn Carson had one more tackle than Jones, as the two seniors led the Lion defense, which allowed the Eagles only 44 yards and two first downs on 24 plays in the second half, including five three-and-outs. Junior defensive tackle C.J. Olaniyan had an 8-yard quarterback sack, Jones had a 7-yarder, and redshirt freshman Austin Johnson teamed up with Carson for a 3-yard dump of Eagle QB Tyler Benz. The defense can really only be charged with allowing 10 of State’s opponents’ 24 points this year, since 14 resulted from EMU’s return of Hackenberg’s fumble for a TD and Syracuse’s return of a Hackenberg interception to the 1-yard line for a quick punch–in. But the 18-year-old has made up for his four freshman mistakes by throwing three touchdown passes of 45 yards or longer and engineering 11 scoring drives in two games. He also executed the two-minute drill Saturday, moving the Lions 67 yards in 1:58 to culminate in Sam Ficken’s 39-yard field goal before halftime. Against Syracuse, he drove his team 41 yards to Ficken’s 35-yard three-pointer before intermission. After making his collegiate debut in one of the largest NFL stadiums in the country, he played his first game in Beaver Stadium, which is 25,000 seats larger than MetLife and called his experience “awesome.” “The fans were great,” Hackenberg said about the 92,863 in attendance. “It definitely lived up to all the hype that I have been hearing throughout my entire recruiting process … The student section was fantastic, and we really got after it in the second half.” Asked what Coach Bill O’Brien said to him after he misfired on four of his first five passes then gave up a fumble for the visitors’ only score in the first quarter, Hackenberg replied, “He just told me to calm down and get ready for the next play.” The freshman calmed down and guided his team to 42 points in the next 39 minutes of playing time. Sophomore Ferguson steered the home team to its final seven points by completing passes to Geno Lewis and Alex Kenney and handing off to Lynch on his five carries for 65 yards, including a 27-yard sweep around left end and an 18-yard TD run through the right side. Coach O’Brien said his offense is “still a work in progress.” He told the media, “We have to execute better, especially at the beginning of the game … We won the day today. We have to try to win the day tomorrow.” He said Hackenberg was “amped up” for his first game in Beaver Stadium. “You can take 5,000 recruiting trips here, but it isn’t like playing here,” he pointed out. O’Brien said he was “very, very pleased with our defense.” He noted, “They shut the team out; we gave up a touchdown on offense.” The second-year mentor praised the play of DaQuan Jones, saying, “He’s improved his strength, he’s improved his conditioning … He’s a fantastic kid. As hard as he works on the field, he works even harder in the classroom. He’s just a great representative of Penn State.” Defensive coordinator John Butler said the interior defensive line is one of the team’s strengths. He said, “DaQuan is a pro interior player because it’s hard to move him.” He said Jones played in the shadow of Jordan Hill and took a lot of double team blocks, so Hill could be single blocked. “DaQuan was very unselfish … He’s going to have a long future in football after Penn State.” Defensive line coach Larry Johnson said, “He’s starting to see how to raise the bar, because he’s been around guys who have done that.” Jones said, “I’m not looking to get numbers but to have fun with my teammates, and that’s something that we did today. … I’m trying to go out there and make plays and be an impact guy.” With several non-scholarship players gaining playing time, especially on special teams, O’Brien declared, “Our run-on program is one of the most important parts of our program.” He said, several guys who came to Penn State as run-ons have been awarded scholarships. “We have guys that grew up in Pennsylvania, that have dreamed of playing at Penn State their whole lives. That’s what it’s about … There’s a lot of great stories on this football team.” Asked about the play of redshirt freshman Akeel Lynch, O’Brien lit up: “He is a guy who has worked extremely hard to improve.