While there’s much star power to talk about on Penn State’s offense, it’s been the Nittany Lions defense that came through in a big way last weekend in the team’s first Big Ten matchup, a 13-10 win over host Rutgers.
Facing one of the nation’s most veteran quarterbacks in Gary Nova, the Penn State defense played to near perfection in the second half to turn things around and give their offense a chance to win it at the end.
“Overall, I say it was a great team victory, and by that I mean that’s the offense, that’s the defense, that’s special teams, that’s the coaches, that’s the trainers, doctors, that’s the administration; that’s everybody that has a part, academic support, great team victory, really proud of the guys for that,” Penn State coach James Franklin said to media the other day. “Really pleased with how they persevered in a really difficult, hostile environment.”
Many times in the post-game press conference, Franklin used the term “persevere” to characterize his team.
“I think this team exemplifies that,” he said. “They’re gritty; they never stopped believing in themselves. They never stopped believing in Penn State. They never stopped believing in each other.”
If you want gritty, you don’t need to look much farther than Penn State’s second half on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
Trailing 10-0 at the half, Penn State’s defense allowed Rutgers to get just three first downs and only 95 total yards of offense in the second half. On the other hand, PSU tallied 13 first downs and 198 yards of offense, capped off with Bill Benton’s 5-yard touchdown run with just over a minute left to play.
Though it was Christian Hackenberg who again stayed cool under pressure by throwing for 309 yards on 25-of-44 passing, the QB gave much of the credit to the other side of the ball.
“The defense played a near-perfect second half, taking the ball away, giving us great field position to be able to drive,” he told the team’s website following the win.
Gritty? Just look at the defensive stats.
Junior cornerback had five tackles and two interceptions en route to earning Big Ten defensive player of the week honors. Linebacker Mike Hull posted nine tackles. Anthony Zettel stopped ball carriers in the backfield three times. Overall the defense had three sacks, seven tackles for losses and five interceptions in the Big Ten opener.
In the game’s final quarter, the PSU forced a punt which led to Benton’s eventual game-winning TD. While Nova and Rutgers took the ball with just over a minute left, Penn State’s Ryan Keiser shut the door with the team’s fifth interception.
“That’s been a trademark since I’ve been here: fighting it out until the end. We’ve got a bunch of hard-nosed guys that love to compete and I really think that’s the staple of this team,” Hull told the team’s website. “We knew after the first half that we had to tighten up and we couldn’t give up any more points or big plays and it kind of worked out for us in that way. We were fortunate that Hack was able to drive it down for us at the end and win.”
Following the win and heading into Week 4, Penn State boasts a 3-0 record for the first time since 2009. Its defense ranks seventh in the country in rushing defense (68.3 yards per game), 11th in scoring defense (12.3 ppg) and 13th in total defense (275.7 yards per game).
It certainly helps playmakers like Hackenberg, Benton and a plethora of receivers when the defense makes plays like it has been doing.
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