Maryland Penn State 59 – Maryland 0 Volume 82, Issue 4 Sep. 30, 2019

A resurgent Maryland football team that led the nation after scoring 142 points in its first two games this season became the victim of Penn State’s first shutout against the Terrapins since 1970, as the Nittany Lions were nearly flawless in their 59–0 domination on Capital One Field at Friday night. It was the second year in a row that State opened its Big Ten schedule on a Friday night on the road with an impressive offensive display, after winning at Illinois, 63–24, last September. After the first two weeks of the 2019 season, Maryland was the highest scoring team in the country with a 71-point average, including a 63–20 romp over then No. 21 Syracuse. And Penn State was second with an average of 62 points in their wins over Idaho and Buffalo. Despite their 20–17 upset at Temple in their third game, Maryland’s fans were undeterred, because Penn State had struggled in a close 17–10 win over Pitt the same Saturday. With both teams having a bye week to prepare for their meeting, Terrapin partisans were hyped up about the opportunity to beat their neighbors from the north for only the third time in 43 clashes with the Nittany Lions. Since the game was on Friday night for the benefit of the FS1 network, Maryland closed its campus at noon. Classes were canceled, while professors and staff needed special permission to be on campus, which was being cleared for football traffic and parking. The crowd of 53,228 was the largest since 2011 and the fifth largest in history. The Terps were wearing their black uniforms, and their fans were urged to do the same for a declared “Blackout.”

The strategy worked right up until kickoff. In just two minutes and five seconds, Penn State scored its first touchdown, and it was all downhill from there for all those wearing black. As the score mounted from 14–0 in the first quarter to 38-0 at halftime, the black-clad crowd quieted, then gradually disappeared, as the “Blackout” turned to a “Whiteout,” and Penn State fans were almost the only ones left in the stadium. The Nittany Lion defense smothered Maryland’s vaunted rushing attack, which had averaged 277.3 yards per game, and picked off two early Terrapin passes that led to Penn State touchdowns. Meanwhile, State’s sophomore Sean Clifford ran for a touchdown on the Lions’ first play from scrimmage and completed his first nine passes – two of which went for touchdowns—as the Lions jumped to a 28–0 lead in the first 21 minutes of the contest. By halftime Clifford had set a Penn State record with 287 passing yards and three touchdowns on 19 completions in 23 attempts. His touchdown aerials were grabbed by KJ Hamler (58 yards), Nick Bowers (15 yards) and Journey Brown (37 yards). In addition, Clifford had rushed for a touchdown, as did sophomore running back Ricky Slade, while sophomore Jake Pinegar kicked a 21-yard field goal to give State a 38- point lead, as the first half expired. At the same time the Lions’ crushing defense had allowed the Terps to gain only 57 yards on 21 rushes, and only 37 yards on six pass completions in 14 attempts. Unfortunately for the loyal home fans remaining in the stands, it didn’t get any better after halftime. Clifford completed seven of nine passes for 111 yards in the first five minutes of the second half, and Penn State scored another touchdown by Journey Brown for a 45–0 lead, before most of State’s starters retired from the game, allowing the reserves to get a lot of playing time. Freshman QB Will Levis took over the reins from Clifford and scored two rushing touchdowns, while directing the Lion offense for the last 25 minutes. The Lion defense continued to tame the Terrapins, allowing only two first downs and 34 yards (three on the ground and 31 through the air) but no points in the second half. Coach James Franklin called the Lions’ performance “one of the more complete games that we have played in our six years in all three phases (offense, defense and special teams).” Offensively, he said, “Sean Clifford was on fire and really handled being on the road for the first time in a Big Ten environment.” He noted the challenging environment of the Blackout, and the noise created by the Maryland fans. Defensively, Franklin pointed out that the Lions have not allowed a point in the first quarter all season and haven’t given up a touchdown to Maryland through 14 quarters—dating back to the second half of the 2016 meeting. He said his team won the field position battle, the turnover battle, the penalty battle and the explosive play battle. “I’m proud of the progress that we’ve made,” he said. “Our guys did a really good job of preparation. . .Our chemistry in the locker room is really good …The developmental squad really helped us get ready for this game.” He noted that a “bunch of local guys were able to get into the game.” (Cam Brown, Tariq Castro-Fields, Shane Simmons, Rahseed Walker, Daniel George, PJ Mustipher, Cam Sullivan-Brown, Anthony Whigan and Dvon Ellies are all from Maryland hometowns and played Friday.) “Our defense,” Franklin said, “is playing with a lot of confidence right now.” He noted, “We played seconds and we played thirds and we played fourths, and they went in and executed the defense at a really high level.” Offensively, Franklin observed, “We were able to run the ball. We were able to protect … The offensive line played really well.” He said the extra time of the bye week was valuable for the young . “They’re preparing at a really high level,” he said. He pointed out that communication takes two or three seconds longer on the road, and they were confident because of the amount of preparation they put in. “A young team and the maturation process is always challenging. It’s one thing to do it at home, and it’s a different thing to do it on the road,” Franklin said. Maryland’s new gave credit to Penn State for the way they played, but was disappointed in his team’s effort and discipline. “We were out-coached and we were out-played, and that’s on me as the head coach,” Locksley said. “Our fans came out and created a hell of an environment for us today, and we went out and didn’t do our job as a team, and that’s disappointing.” Penn State’s 619 yards of total offense were its third most in a Big Ten game all-time. The 128 yards surrendered to Maryland were the second least allowed in a Big Ten game behind the 87 by Rutgers in 2016. Thirteen Lions caught at least one pass from Clifford or Levis, as the 421 yards through the air ranked as the second-most in program history, behind Christian Hackenberg’s 454 passing yards against UCF in the 2014 game played in Ireland—Franklin’s first as the Lions’ head coach. KJ Hamler led all Lion receivers with six catches for 108 yards, including a season-long of 58 yards. Nick Bowers gained 70 yards on just two catches—a 55-yarder and a 15-yard touchdown. Running back Journey Brown had two catches for 41 yards, including a 37-yard TD. Dan Chisena only caught one—which drew an interference call on a defender—but it was a 40-yarder that he cradled while on his back. (He appeared to have another long catch before falling out of bounds, but the officials ruled otherwise.) Cam Sullivan-Brown reeled in a career-high five aerials for 35 yards. Clifford was the team’s leading rusher, netting 54 yards and a TD, while also setting his career-high with 398 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also broke Trace McSorley’s record of 258 passing yards in one half set against Georgia State in 2017. Clifford’s streak of 91 consecutive pass attempts without an interception was snapped by the Terrapins’ best play of the day, when freshman defensive back Nick Cross made a spectacular flying sideline-grab just before Daniel George could catch another Penn State touchdown aerial. Sophomore Ellis Brooks led all Lion tacklers with six stops, including 2.5 QB sacks for 17 yards in losses. Yetur Gross-Matos’ five tackles, included two for seven yards in losses. Soph linebacker Jesse Luketa had five stops and safety Garrett Taylor had four. Freshman defensive end Adisa Isaac had 1.5 sacks for eight yards in losses and another tackle for a four-yard loss among his four stops. Overall the Lions had four sacks, eight tackles for 38 yards in losses, two interceptions with 22 yards in returns, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, six passes broken up and three QB hurries. The Terps had no sacks, six tackles for 10 yards in losses, one interception, three pass breakups and one QB hurry. For the second year in a row, the Penn State defense controlled Maryland’s leading runner Anthony McFarland. The speedster last year set Maryland records for a freshman with 1,034 yards in rushing, most yards in a single game (298 against Ohio State) and led all freshmen in the FBS with 7.9-yard average per carry. The Lions stuffed him for just 24 net yards on nine carries Friday. Last year he only gained 12 yards on six carries in Beaver Stadium. The Terrapins entered the game leading the Big Ten in rushing with 277.3 yards per game. The Lions limited them to a net of 60. Meanwhile, six Lion rushers gained 198 yards against a Maryland defense that had surrendered an average of just 73.7 yards this fall. And State’s 59 points were more than four times the average allowed by the Terps in their first three games. Maryland has a chance to rebound next Saturday at Rutgers, which just fired Coach Chris Ash, after this week’s 52–0 loss at Michigan. Penn Staters can look forward to celebrating Homecoming Weekend with the gathering at the Hintz Alumni Center Friday afternoon, the Homecoming Parade across campus at 6 p.m., Guard the Lion Shrine at 8 p.m. and the various other activities and sports following the football game, kicking off at noon Saturday against Purdue and being televised on ABC/ESPN. For the Glory,

Notes from the Cuff

Penn State now has a 40–2–1 record against Maryland, including a 14-1 mark on the road … The Nittany Lions are 14–13 in Big Ten openers and 10-8 in Big Ten road openers. They are 18–15 in games coming after a bye week, since joining the Big Ten in 1993… State is 16–9–1 in Friday regular-season games, including an 8–4 record on the road on regular-season Fridays. Before last year’s Friday night game at Illinois, Penn State last played a regular-season game on a Friday on Nov. 26, 1982. No. 2 Penn State beat No. 5 Pitt that day in Beaver Stadium and secured the Nittany Lions berth in the Sugar Bowl, where they defeated No. 1 Georgia for State’s first National Championship… Most of Penn State’s previous regular-season Friday games came during Thanksgiving Weekend. State’s first Friday night game was on Friday, Oct. 31, 1941 in the Polo Grounds against NYU. The Lions are now 6-1 in Friday night games with all seven taking place on the road or at neutral sites… The Nittany Lions have opened the Big Ten season on the road 18 times in their 27 seasons in the conference. They opened against Maryland for the first time in history… The Terps’ new head coach Michael Locksley is in his third stint at Maryland. He was the Terrapins’ running backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 1997–2002 and their and quarterbacks coach from 2012–15. He spent the final six games of the 2015 season as Maryland’s interim head coach, after the firing of . He then spent three years at Alabama, where he was offensive coordinator in 2018… James Franklin spent eight seasons on the coaching staff at Maryland. During his first stint as recruiting coordinator/wide receivers coach from 2000–04, he coached along with Michael Locksley for two years. From 2008-10 Franklin was the Terrapins’ assistant head coach/offensive coordinator under . Friedgen was honored by Maryland at Saturday’s game… Penn State’s safeties coach was on the Maryland staff from 2003–06. The Lions’ tight ends coach played for the Terps for three seasons and was Maryland’s offensive line coach in 2017. State’s assistant athletic director of performance enhancement Dwight Galt is a Maryland grad and spent 22 years with their strength and conditioning staff… The Nittany Lions have outscored the Terrapins, 159–10, in their last three meetings in College Park… The Penn State offense converted its first seven third down attempts Friday and finished nine of 13 for the game… Sean Clifford posted his first 300-yard passing game and scored his first rushing TD with an 8-yard blast up the middle on State’s first play Friday. He has passed for more than 200 yards in every game this season… KJ Hamler has made at least one-catch in every one of his 17 games as a Nittany Lion and became the 33rd Penn Stater to reach the 1,000-yard career receiving mark. He now ranks 28th on State’s career-receiving chart with 1,107 yards… RB Ricky Slade rushed for his second touchdown of the season and had a career-best three receptions… TE Pat Freiermuth caught two passes to extend his consecutive catch streak to 16 games… Freshman QB Will Levis rushed for a career-high 38 yards and two TDs on six carries… LB Jan Johnson and CB Tariq Castro-Fields each made their second career interceptions… LB Ellis Brooks recorded a career-high 2.5 QB sacks and equaled his career-best six tackles, while LB Jesse Luketa set a career mark with five tackles and got his third career pass breakup… Freshman DE Adisa Isaac had career-highs with four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 QB sacks… Sophomore place-kicker Jake Pinegar extended to 36 his consecutive extra-point conversions. His 79 career conversions moved him into 11th place on Penn State’s career chart, passing Matt Bahr, who hit 74 from 1976- 78 and Nick Gancitano, who had 76 from 1981-84… Kicker Jordan Stout had his streak of 26-straight touchbacks stopped, when Maryland returner Javon Leake carried two of Stout’s kick-offs out of the end zone for 20- and 28-yard gains.

For additional game day photos, visit us at: http://alumni.psu.edu/fbl (Login required to access Football Letter content) Want to receive your Football Letter faster? The Football Letter can be delivered to your inbox every Monday during the season! To update your email preferences, contact us by phone at 800-548-LION (5466) option 2 or by email at [email protected].