Penn State Football: Nittany Lions overcome slow start to beat Rutgers

Penn State football got a scare to start the game, but bounced back to defeat Rutgers on Homecoming.

Following back-to-back losses at Ohio State and Michigan State, Penn State football fans were anxious to get the Nittany Lions back in Beaver Stadium. However the start of Saturday’s game with Rutgers didn’t go as planned. Fortunately, Penn State was able to overcome early mistakes and rack up its eighth win of the season.

The Nittany Lions defeated Rutgers 35-6.

Rutgers opened the game with a short kickoff in an attempt to keep the ball out of Saquon Barkley’s hands. Barkley let the ball drop short, but didn’t get the bounce he was expecting. Rutgers recovered in front of a shocked Penn State crowd.

Fortunately, the Penn State defense held the Scarlet Knights to a field goal.

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Following two Penn State punts, Rutgers again drove down in Nittany Lion territory but faltered and was held to a field goal.

That’s when the Nittany Lions woke up.

Quarterback Trace McSorley ran in the first touchdown of the game and then added another on a 22-yard pass to DaeSean Hamilton. The Nittany Lions took a 14-6 lead into the break and never looked back.

Barkley added two rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to salvage what was an otherwise quiet day by the Heisman hopeful. Barkley was once again bottled up by a defense that was clearly intent on stopping him.

He finished the day with 14 carries for 35 yards.

McSorley had a good overall day, rushing for 44 yards and throwing for 214. He accounted for three total scores.

Wide receiver Juwan Johnson led the way through the air with five receptions for 78 yards. Tight end Mike Gesicki had four catches for 45 yards and a touchdown.

Head coach James Franklin should still be concerned about the lack of a run game. Rutgers was allowing 180 yards a game on the ground, but Penn State was unable to take advantage of that and totaled just 90 rushing yards.

The Penn State defense, which was torched in the last two weeks, had a decent day, holding the Scarlet Knights to 200 total yards. The Nittany Lions didn’t allow any points in the second half. Senior linebacker Jason Cabinda had a monster day, racking up a team-high 11 tackles. Fellow linebacker Brandon Smith had 10.

Penn State didn’t commit a turnover all day.

The Nittany Lions will return to action at Beaver Stadium next week for the final home game of the year against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

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