Volume 79, Issue 1 Sept. 3, 2016 The Letter 1 2 3 4 Score KSU 3 10 0 0 13 The start of each football season is accompanied by PSU 6 10 10 7 33 new hopes and anxious anticipation for Penn State fans. This fall, that was heightened by the pre­season hype surrounding the 2016 Nittany Lions. For the first time since the imposition of sanctions The Letter against Penn State by the NCAA in 2012, the Lions have Notes From The Cuff a full complement of 85 scholarship players. Other Sports After the graduation and early departure of three­year News Of Note starting quarterback Christian Hackenberg to the NFL, a Game Photos new offensive coordinator installed an up­tempo, no­ huddle offense with a read­and­react system that Statistics promised more scoring. The offensive line, which had great difficulty protecting Hackenberg the last two years, has another year of experience and an infusion of some young talent under a new position coach. No one expects new QB Trace McSorley to challenge the multitude of records set by the big, strong­armed Hackenberg. But the 6­4, 225­pounder, who now toils for the New York Jets, was on the sideline encouraging his 6­0, 200­pound successor, who is fleeter of foot but weaker of arm. But McSorley still has a top­flight cadre of receivers to throw to and a 1,000­yard runner leading a stable Update Your Info of swift and shifty backs to hand off to. And with a veteran secondary and linebackers, the defense should be stronger than last year’s, if Join/Renew adequate replacements can be developed to fill the holes left up front by Carl Nassib, Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel, who are now displaying their All­American talents in the professional ranks. FAN ZONE Penn State fans among the 94,378 announced attendance in Beaver Stadium, plus those watching the Radio/TV Listings game on the Big Ten Television Network, were excited to witness the system installed by new offensive Football Schedule coordinator Joe Moorhead and the aggressive play dialed up by new defensive coordinator Brent Pry. Team Roster What they witnessed was a slightly ragged but nonetheless effective 33­13 victory over Mid­American GoPSUSports.com Conference­foe Kent State in the opener of Penn State’s 130th gridiron season. Big Ten Football TV Operating out of the shotgun, redshirt sophomore McSorley was a composed game manager, completing Schedule 16 of 31 pass attempts for 209 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions, while running himself 14 Big Ten Standings times for 47 yards or handing off to super sophomore Saquon Barkley, who quietly rushed for 105 yards Big Ten Schedule and and one TD on 22 carries. Results Place­kicker Tyler Davis booted two field goals to Penn Staters in the Pros extend his perfect career mark to 10 for 10. The For advertising info, defense added a touchdown on a pick­six by sophomore contact: backup cornerback Amani Oruwariye and set up a short Angelo Scialfa two­play touchdown drive for the offense, when safety 609­259­1910 [email protected] Marcus Allen forced, then recovered, a fumble on the KS­13. State’s defense sacked two Golden Flash QBs seven times for 54 yards in losses, picked off two interceptions and surrendered only 129 passing yards and 150 rushing yards by the visitors. Freshman punter Blake Gillikin lived up to his advance billing by averaging 47 yards on six punts (with a long of 58). He booted two out­of­bounds inside the Kent State 20­yard line. Only two were returned for a total of two yards. Some fans gave him a standing ovation, when his first punt sailed high and traveled 49 yards, before being fair­caught by Golden Flash Nick Holley. Sophomore Joey Julius put six kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks and demonstrated the value of a 260­pound kicker, when he followed his boot downfield and personally leveled the returner the only time he dared to run the ball back. But there were also the usual first­game mistakes, as the Lions’ performance was a little rough around the edges. Penn State’s offense sputtered at the outset, going three­and­out on its first two possessions. On its first third­down situation, McSorley completed a five­yard pass to tight end Mike Gesicki – but that was two yards short of the first­down marker. A 3­yard rush and two pass incompletions ended the second possession. A McSorley rush was squashed on a two­point conversion attempt after Penn State’s first touchdown. On a third­and­one, a Golden Flash linebacker smashed through and nailed Andre Robinson for a 2­yard loss, as soon as he got the handoff from McSorley. Personal foul penalties by PS defenders jump­started KS scoring drives in the first half. The only sack allowed by the offensive line resulted in a fumble by McSorley that was returned 20 yards for Kent State’s only touchdown. Penn State’s longest punt return by John Reid was limited by a holding penalty on the runback. Saquon Barkley’s second touchdown run was nullified by a holding penalty on Andrew Nelson, and State had to settle for a 28­yard field goal by Davis. Previous Issues The Lions failed to convert a fourth­and­one from the KS­8, when McSorley fumbled and recovered for a loss of two yards, and Penn State turned the ball over on the KS­10. The Lion defense gave up six long rushes between 14 and 28 yards and five passes between 11 and 37 yards. Penn State could manage only two rushes of more than nine yards—a 28­yarder and a 14­yarder by Barkley. But McSorley did connect on five passes between 17 and 43 yards, including a 30­yard TD toss to Gesicki. Kent State actually got on the scoreboard first, driving 64 yards on 11 plays, before settling for a 26­yard field goal by Shane Hynes. A personal foul by Marcus Allen, a 16­yard run by QB Justin Agner and two pass completions for 23 yards powered the drive. The home team countered with a nine­play 79­yard march, highlighted by a 26­yard sideline pass hauled in by Chris Godwin. Barkley gained 25 yards on four carries, McSorley picked up 17 on two keepers and hit DaeSean Hamilton on a four­yard slant from the right slot for the Lions’ first touchdown of the season. State’s surprising attempt at a two­pointer backfired, and the visitors tied the score with a 10­play 49­ yard drive climaxed by Hynes’ second field goal – this time from 43 yards. Three minutes later, Golden Flash tailback Miles Washington caught a short pass on the KS­19. Lion safety Marcus Allen nailed Washington and forced a fumble, which he recovered and returned to the KS­13. Barkley blasted for six yards then swept right end for seven to the end zone and his first TD of the year. But the 13­6 lead was short­lived. On Penn State’s next offensive play, Kent State’s premier pass rusher, Terence Waugh, stormed around left tackle Brendan Mahon to record the day’s only sack of McSorley. Before he could release his planned pass, the ball fell out of his hands, linebacker Kent Refuge picked it up and scampered to Kent State’s only touchdown of the day with just 6:12 left in the first half. Undaunted, McSorley marched his troops 49 yards in 12 plays, climaxed by Tyler Davis’ 29­yard field goal, which gave the homeboys a 16­13 halftime lead. The second half was all Penn State, as the Lion defense shut out the Golden Flashes and scored a TD itself, when Oruwariye grabbed a perfectly timed interception on Kent State’s third play after intermission. Four seconds and 30 yards later, Penn State suddenly had a 10­point lead. Midway through the third quarter, wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins made a backpedaling catch of McSorley’s underthrown pass down the right sideline for a 43­yard gain—the longest of the game. That set up Davis’ second three­pointer—a 28­yarder—for a 26­13 Penn State lead. Kent State was stymied by five more QB sacks and an interception by Brandon Bell, while the Lions finished the game with a fourth­quarter scoring drive highlighted by Barkley’s 14­yard run and capped by McSorley’s 30­ yard touchdown toss to Gesicki and a final score of 33­ 13. Coach James Franklin told the media, “We’re definitely happy with a win . (even though) we didn’t play as clean as we would have liked.” He said Kent State’s defense overloaded the box to try to stop Barkley and forced the Lions “to run verticals, take shots up the field and run crossing routes.” Franklin said, “We need to sustain and finish our blocks on the offensive line. .but overall those guys did a good job battling and I’m pleased with them.” New offensive line coach, Matt Limegrover, started redshirt junior Brendan Mahon at left tackle, redshirt freshman Ryan Bates at left guard, senior Brian Gaia at center, senior Derek Dowrey at right guard, redshirt junior Andrew Nelson at right tackle and junior Mike Gesicki at tight end. Senior Wendy Laurent and true freshman Connor McGovern provided some relief to the starters. Returning starter Garrett Sickels, a redshirt junior, was at one end on the defensive line.