Penn State Blanks Rutgers in Second Half, Wins 13-10

Penn State blanks Rutgers in second half, wins 13-10
By Mark Dent / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/p...s/201409130307

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Penalties, a practically nonexistent rushing game, trouble scoring touchdowns in the red zone – Penn State has had the same problems all season and did again Saturday night against Rutgers.
And just like the first two games, none of it mattered. Penn State defeated Rutgers 13-10, slowly and aggravatingly but somehow erasing a 10-0 deficit in the second half with a thrilling final drive.
This game probably should have been over. Rutgers (2-1, 0-1) should have won its inaugural Big Ten game.
With 3:02 left in the game, Penn State (3-0, 1-0) needed to go 80 yards for a touchdown if the Nittany Lions wanted the opportunity to win. And going 80 yards had been difficult for the offense the entire game. Penn State gained a total of 102 yards in the first half.
But on the first play of the drive quarterback Christian Hackenberg connected with Geno Lewis who then shed multiple tacklers for a 53-yard gain. Penn State was in business.
Then the penalty problem struck. Hackenberg found tight end Jesse James for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Just like on crucial play on Penn State’s previous possession, an offensive lineman, this time Angelo Mangiro, was called for holding.
Unlike the last time, Penn State recovered. Lewis caught a 23-yard pass from Hackenberg. On second-and-goal from the 5, Bill Belton rushed in for the touchdown and the game-winner.
“A lot of teams would just crumble there or they’d point fingers and start complaining,” Franklin said. “They didn’t.”
Said center Angelo Mangiro: “We told ourselves we were going to score the ball.”
This was the first Big Ten game between East Coast schools. The energy was palpable and hummed with a New York-New Jersey vibe.
Fans of Penn State and Rutgers piled aboard the 45-minute train ride from Manhattan toward Piscataway. Several Penn State fans talked loudly of blowing out Rutgers and how the larger concentration of Penn State fans coming from Manhattan rather than the New Jersey suburbs spoke of better success for Penn State alumni.
Outside the stadium, Rutgers fans chanted for their school and against Penn State – often using profanities. When the team bus pulled up to the game, coach James Franklin remembers being greeted by plenty of middle fingers and loud music.
“It was kind of like a New York club scene,” he said.
The noise would quickly die down once the game began. Neither team could develop much of a flow offensively, particularly Penn State. The referees couldn’t develop flow, either. They sounded like helium-infused Charlie Brown teachers the entire game talking into microphones that didn’t work.
Penn State’s first half drives looked like this: seven plays for 33 yards, three plays for negative-4 yards, three plays for 5 yards, seven plays for 12 yards, six plays for 6 yards, seven plays for 32 yards and one play for negative-2 yards.
Rutgers’ defensive front blitzed often, picking up three sacks in the first half, holding Penn State to 23 rushing yards on 16 carries and pestering quarterback Christian Hackenberg.
It would almost be superfluous to say the Nittany Lions didn’t score any points. But for the sake of those who had turned off their TV sets in frustration: They didn’t score any points.
The closest they came was late in the first quarter. After Adrian Amos secured Penn State’s second interception of the game, the Nittany Lions started with the ball on Rutgers’ side of the field. Three straight pass completions brought Penn State to the Rutgers 12. A holding penalty, an incomplete pass and two short rushes followed, and Sam Ficken attempted 34-yard field goal.
It was blocked by Kemoko Turay. Rutgers’ Leonte Caroo blocked a Chris Gulla punt in the second quarter, too.
Penn State got a non-blocked field goal off in the third quarter. Ficken made a 32-yarder with 3:45 left that cut Rutgers’ lead 10-3. But at this point Penn State had three interceptions for the game and only three points.
Rutgers first scored with 11:32 left in the second quarter. On a third and three from the 14, quarterback Gary Nova ran 14 yards for the touchdown, breaking a few would-be tackles near the goal line. The Scarlet Knights’ Kyle Federico made a 32-yard field goal with 12 seconds left in the half. Rutgers wouldn’t score again.
The Nittany Lions ended with just 66 yards rushing on 32 carries, had five penalties for 40 yards and did little with the five interceptions they had against Rutgers. It all contributed to an ugly game worthy of any Big Ten joke you’d want to insert – and another victory for Penn State despite all the issues.
“I’m just so proud of these kids, the whole organization, because they persevered,” Franklin said.