• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

VOLUME 78 ISSUE 3 Penn State vs. Rutgers September 21, 2015 The Letter It really seemed like Saturday was Follow us on opening day for the 2015 football Twitter and season in Happy Valley. Check out the Forget the game against Buffalo, new Football which took place seven days Letter Blog earlier. Because of the horrible heavy rain PSU 0 21 0 7 - 28 throughout the valley that day, RUTGERS0 003 - 3 tailgaters had been forced to stay in their vehicles, or under their tents, while slopping around through wet grass or mud. There was no pre-game Blue Band show in Beaver Stadium; CONTENTS no flipping drum major; no sparkling Blue Sapphire; no dancing majorettes The Letter or Lionettes; no shiny silks; no Floating Lions formation. And a third of the Notes from the Cuff 93,000 ticket holders had just stayed home and watched the game on Other Sports ESPN. News of Note But this Saturday dawned bright and beautiful, and Nittany Lion fans had Game Photos all day to tailgate in the warm sun or visit the magnificent arboretum or Statistics walk all over one of the most gorgeous campuses in the country, before even filing into the stadium for the season’s first prime-time kickoff, as the sun began to dip toward the western horizon. Sitting in their alternate blue- or white-clad sections, the fans themselves were part of the first-ever Beaver Stadium Stripe Out show, as the last sunset glow faded behind the press box. PAST ISSUES This time there was the inaugural on-field performance of the 2015 Blue Band under new View past issues director Greg Drane. There was a drum major flipping perfectly at both ends of the field, before FAN ZONE saluting the crowd from his sitting split. There Football Schedule was a sparkling Blue Sapphire performing her Team Roster gymnastic moves and baton twirling and tossing GoPSUSports.com magic. There were the national champion Radio/TV Listings majorettes and Lionettes and high-flying silks, Big Ten Football TV the Blue Band salute to visiting Rutgers fans, the alma mater, and the Schedule Floating Lions traditional march. Big Ten Standings And then the new piece de resistance! Big Ten Schedule and Results Fireworks exploded from the tops of the video boards high above the north Penn Staters in the Pros and south end zone upper decks, as the players dashed out of the tunnel, For advertising info, following the flag-waving cheerleaders and Nittany Lion through the long contact: Angelo Scialfa welcoming lines of the Blue Band. The all-white student section was once again its usual loud and proud self. 609-259-1910 NOW it seemed like the 2015 season was really beginning in Happy Valley. [email protected] The players reflected the energy of the crowd and exploded for a 28–3 win over Rutgers in the Big Ten’s opening game, which was appropriately televised by the Big Ten Network for the second year in a row. Electrifying runs powered the Lions to 21 second-quarter points, before those nasty rain showers that had disappeared for a week appeared again to wet down the crowd and the AccuWeather vane on the top deck of the southern stands. But once again the only lightning to appear in the stadium was that of tailback Akeel Lynch, galloping through a gaping hole created by the previously maligned offensive line and outrunning all Scarlet Knights 75 yards to the end zone just before the spectacular Blue Band halftime show. Lightning crackled again in the fourth quarter, when freshman Saquon Barkley zigzagged through the Rutgers defense for most of his game-high 195 yards and his second touchdown. In between Barkley’s second and fourth quarter lightning TD runs, much thunder was created by the Nittany Lion defense, crunching Scarlet Knight runners and pass receivers, sacking quarterback Chris Laviano and winning the battle in the trenches. The visitors never reached State’s red zone until the fourth quarter and then could manage only a field goal. Penn State’s coverage teams also squelched the nation’s leading kick returner Janarion Grant, who had returned two kickoffs and a punt for touchdowns among his 337 all-purpose yards in just two games. The Lions allowed Grant just eight yards on one kickoff return, minus one yard on one punt return and 22 yards on four pass receptions. The precision booting of punter Chris Gulla and kickoff man Joe Julius gave Grant no chance to take off with the ball, before he was swarmed by the coverage teams. Gulla averaged 41 yards and excellent hang-time on all five of his punts, which landed inside the 20-yard line. Julius’ kickoffs sailed into or through the end zone. With State’s offensive line improving its communication and confidence and controlling the line of scrimmage, Lion runners gained 330 yards against the Big Ten’s No. 1 rush defense that had allowed an average of only 39 yards by its previous opponents. At the same time, Rutgers could net only 43 yards on the ground on 32 attempts, as the Lions compiled a 471 to 294 yard advantage in total offense, along with the 25-point margin in the score. In addition to State’s three tailback TDs, freshman De’Andre Thompkins tallied the home team’s first score on a two-yard jet sweep around left end. This means that 22 of Penn State’s 28 points were scored by first-year players—possibly an omen for the future. After the game, Coach James Franklin praised the improvement of the offensive line, which for two weeks in a row has not given up a sack, and the game management of quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who “made some great checks at the line of scrimmage to get us into runs and certain looks against their blitz.” He smiled about the one-two punch of Lynch and Barkley and said, “To be a running back, it’s all about breaking tackles and making people miss … You try to get a running back into a position to be one-on-one, and the running back must win more than 50 percent of those one- on-one situations.” Franklin cited the outstanding play of the special teams and said, “Our defense once again played well … We played cover two and were able to stop the run and stop big plays.” He also called the environment “unbelievable”—and he wasn’t referring to the rain. He said the attendance of 103,323 was “awesome” and the Stripe Out was “special.” Franklin praised the offensive line and Coach Herb Hand for staying patient and persevering. Tackle Andrew Nelson, who was hurt before halftime last week, did not suit up for this game. So, the starting line included Paris Palmer at left tackle, Derek Dowrey at left guard, Angelo Mangiro at center, Brian Gaia at right guard, Brendon Mahon at right tackle, and different combinations of Mike Gesicki, Kyle Carter and Brent Wilkerson at tight end or blocking back. The defense did see the return of cornerback Grant Haley, who missed the first two games, and linebacker Brandon Bell, who was injured in the season-opener at Temple. Haley picked off an interception to end Rutgers’ last threat of the first half, and Bell tied Jordan Lucas as State’s second leading tackler with nine stops. Safety Marcus Allen was first with 11 tackles. The Lion defense as a whole recorded nine tackles for loss to give it a nation-leading 31 TFLs— five of which were QB sacks by Carl Nassib, Jordan Lucas, Austin Johnson, Torrence Brown and Parker Cothren. Penn State has 18 players from New Jersey, and 13 of them played Saturday night. Franklin said the Jersey Boys played well, adding, “But if you’re from Jersey, and you’re playing Rutgers, it’s going to be a little different for you. Your parents are living in that community and they’re going to hear about it—things like that.” Pleased by their team’s week-by-week improvement, wet but happy Penn State fans headed home after midnight, already looking forward to the middle contest of the Lions’ first five- game home stand in Beaver Stadium against a first-time opponent—San Diego State. After a free Unrivaled Band Jam, featuring performances by the Blue Band and several high school bands, starting at 1:30 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center, the football game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and be televised again by the Big Ten Network. For the Glory, Published by Penn State Alumni Association Copyright © 2015 Penn State Alumni Association. All rights reserved. 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 3 Penn State vs. Rutgers September 21, 2015 Notes from the Cuff Penn State linebacker Ben Kline has been selected Follow us on to the Allstate American Football Coaches Twitter and Association Good Works Team that honors athletes Check out the who have used their free time to perform new Football inspirational acts of service. Kline served as Letter Blog president of Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes chapter for the last two years, during which time it raised more than $275,000 for kidney cancer awareness PSU 0 21 0 7 - 28 and research. He has also been involved in THON RUTGERS0 003 - 3 and Special Olympics and co-founded a student organization that benefits an orphanage in Kenya that has an academic partnership with Penn State.

Load more

  8

Copy Link