Week 8 Wrap Up

In football, when something negative happens to a team (say, firing your head coach mid-season), things can really only go one of two ways.  Either chaos reigns and things completely unravel, or the players rally around each other and play inspired football.  Maryland chose the latter on Saturday.  There is honor in that, as there was in every post-sanction Penn State team.  Couple it with actually shaking our hands to start the game, and I think the Terps are on the road to winning me back.  In the end, the Nittany Lions traveled to a very Penn State friendly M&T Bank Stadium and pulled out a 31-30 squeaker.  They improve to 6-2 and are officially bowl eligible!!!

The big news came mid-way through the game that Christian Hackenberg had surpassed Zach Mills in Penn State's record books as the all-time yardage, and later completions leader.  Mix in what he’ll add on in the final four games (and bowl game!) and those records should stand the test of time.

As for the game, remember how I said having a new coach means your opponent can’t anticipate the game plan?  Well that is exactly what happened in this one.  Maryland came out with a nothing-to-lose mentality and forced Penn State to adjust on the fly.  Post-game, Hackenberg encapsulated the experience saying, “Our receiving corps, our line, they battled through a lot of stuff today.  A lot of different looks that we hadn’t really seen or expected them to do as much of, they came out and threw the kitchen sink at us and we were able to react and make plays and do what we needed to do to get the job done.”

Maryland started with the ball and began a vicious cycle that would play out all game long.  They drove down the field with surprising ease against an outstanding defense, only to turn the ball over at the last minute.  On the opening drive QB Perry Hills was picked off by CB Grant Halley.  Penn State would prevent the score but start their opening drive on their own 4 yd line.  A typical 3-and-out brought out today's punter, Danny Pasquariello.  For the most part he wouldn’t shank any punts this game.  More importantly, an extremely dangerous Will Likely was held to an average of only 8 yds per return and kept largely in check.

Back on defense, I was reminded how much fun these guys are to watch.  LB Brandon Bell burst through an interesting WR diamond formation and destroyed the ball carrier for a loss.  On the next play, S Marcus Allen came flying in from the backfield to nail the QB before he knew what was coming.  Their electric play made for an easy punt.  The offense was not having as much luck.

It became clear that Maryland’s defensive strategy was to focus solely on shutting down the rushing attack, pass coverage be damned.  Speaking after the game, James Franklin said, “Usually, when you play someone like that and you burn them a couple times deep, they stop.  And they didn’t.  Good for them.”  As he alluded to, the Terps would pay for their gamble… over and over and over again.  It didn't start out well, though.  Despite the soft coverage Hackenberg began 0-4 and fumbled a handoff to Barkley that was thankfully recovered by Brian Gaia.  Result: punt.  In the red zone, Perry Hills fumbled as well and Marcus Allen recovered.  Hack finally decided to take a shot, 38 yds to Daesean Hamilton!  Then he tried again, this time 40 yds to Chris Godwin who got the ball inside the 5 yd line.  An inevitable walk-in TD by Barkley gave Penn State their first of many leads.

Behind a 48 yd completion, Hills bowled over Marcus Allen to tie things up.  Penn State punted and this time with the help of Will Likely, now playing offense, the Terps were immediately back in PSU territory.  It would luckily end in a missed 51 yarder by the usually automatic Brad Craddock.  Barkley fumbled it back to Maryland who gave Craddock another shot.  He wouldn't miss this time and his team had their first lead of the day.  This continued with another awful offensive series by the Lions, followed by a FG to make it 13-7.

Now down by 6, Hackenberg decided to see if those earlier deep balls were just a fluke… spoiler alert: they weren’t.  This time, Saeed Blacknall was the recipient of a 38 yarder.  To that point in the game, Hack had only completed three passes, but none was shorter than 38 yds, and all three were to different WRs.  So what did they decide to do next?  Bomb it 37 yds to Chris Godwin for the score of course!  The Penn State offense was starting to look like Babe Ruth - either they hit the long ball, or they struck out.  And just like the Great Bambino, it sure was fun to watch!

A scary moment happened on the next PSU drive.  Hackenberg came up limping after taking a shot to the leg he injured last week.  Trace McSorely entered the game for one play, and was fittingly sacked.  Hack came back in on 3rd and 15 to promptly find Daesean Hamilton for 25 yds.  A 40 yd FG by Joey Julius would give Penn State a 17-13 lead into halftime.  Following the break, another scary moment as RT Andrew Nelson went down.  He was emotional, but walking under his own power as he went to the locker room.  He would not return.  I’ll keep you updated on his status.

It has become clear this season that Penn State’s stellar defense does not play well against mobile QBs.  Almost entirely on the back of Perry Hills running and throwing, the Terps got into the red zone where their RB changed things up and took it in to regain the lead, 20-17.  With the running game still finding their feet Hackenberg again went to the air, hitting Chris Godwin on a cut back for 31 yds.  Hamilton followed that up with a 20 yd TD dive to give the lead right back to Penn State!  Maryland answered with another Perry Hills-fueled drive down the field, finishing it off with a dart to the side of the endzone.  Heading into the 4th quarter, they were in command 27-24.

Brandon Polk's jet sweep got a 1st down and set up a 27 yd bomb to Geno Lewis, over a defender’s head, for a TD and arguably the best catch of the day.  Another fragile lead would continue to be tested.  The defense held Maryland to a FG, but a roughing penalty gave them a fresh set of downs.  No matter, they simply did it again.  The score now stood at 31-30, but the craziness was just beginning.

Clinging to the slimmest of leads, Nick Scott fumbled the return and things looked desperate.  As luck would have it, Perry Hills was hit as he threw and fumbled too.  Even better, DE Garrett Sickels picked up the loose ball and took it down to the Maryland 28.  However, Joey Julius missed his FG attempt wide left.  On 4th and 2, Hills heaved it up only to have it fall into the waiting arms of CB Trevor Williams.  That was followed up by a Hackenberg fumble giving Maryland the ball inside PSU territory.  A sack by Carl Nassib inspired a defensive stand, but there was still too much time left on the clock.  Inexplicably, Hack threw it on 3rd down, stopping the clock with a minute and a half left.  Maryland still had hope, but it was gashed when a tipped pass was snatched up by S Malik Golden, sealing the victory for Penn State!

Big Ten Network called this game “a fun back-and-forth affair.”  For fans of either team, it was a heart attack-inducing stressfest that featured 7 lead changes and 8 turnovers.  Still, in some ways the karma was almost worth it.  After losing at home by one point last year to a classless Randy Edsall squad, Penn State turned the tables and won by a single point this year to a team that was fittingly rendered Randy Edsall-less just a week ago.  Interim head coach Mike Locksley and James Franklin worked together at Maryland back in the day, and the respect shone through on Saturday.  In the end, I’m ALMOST willing to start calling this a *gulp* rivalry… but not quite yet.

How'd I do?  I thought we would win easily, so I was way wrong there.  Barkley surprisingly struggled.  But what matters is we got the win and we're going to a bowl game!

Alright, that will do it.  Check back on Wednesday for the grades.  In the meantime, head on over to my Facebook page and give it a like or even a share.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!