Penn State Football: Week 2 Studs and Duds against Pittsburgh

Running back – Miles Sanders

Miles Sanders graces the “Studs” list for the second straight week after turning in his first 100-yard rushing performance.  The Woodland Hills product rushed for 118 yards on 16 carries.  Sanders was packing quite a wallop with his helmet and pads, especially in second half as he was carrying the play and the contact to the Panthers.

In the first half Sanders rushed for 74 yards on 8 carries punctuated by two rushes of 20 or more yards.  The junior phenom waited patiently behind Saquon Barkley and these past two weeks have been his coming-out party.  This season, in only two games, Sanders has amassed a total of 209 rushing yards, leading the Nittany Lions, along with two scores.

Sanders is the unquestioned focal point for the Lions rushing attack, but he still has some things to learn, especially when the designed plays blows up.  On two occasions deep in Panthers real estate, he found himself in a situation that called for him to run north & south to make a short gain.  Instead,  when the designed point of attack blew up, Sanders tried to bounce the run outside and wound up losing significant yardage.

After the second such time, television picked up a visibly upset James Franklin.  He was telling Sanders to get up field.  Not every play can go for a touchdown, but with Sanders in the backfield, the possibility of a big play always exists.

Sanders came up a mere nine yards short a reaching the century mark against Appalachian State in Week 1, but cruised past it against Pittsburgh, and should have another good look at getting to the 100-yard plateau next week.

Penn State’s next opponent, the Kent State Golden Flashes, rank 92nd nationally in rush yards allowed per game (172).    Look for Sanders and the other Nittany Lion running backs to try and exploit this glaring weakness and put up another big stats game.