On their very first play from scrimmage, Paul James cut back and eluded tacklers for a fifteen yard pick up. He picked up 4 yards on the following play, looking strong out of the gate, but the drive was then derailed by a holding penalty. Kaleb Johnson was flagged for the infraction, bear hugging Anthony Zettel on a quick hitting pass, forcing the Knights to punt after two incompletions. Rutgers looked to be in business on their second possession as well, with Gary Nova hitting Leonte Carroo for 16 yards on a comebacker off play action, but Janarion Grant let a quick bubble screen bounce off his facemask into the waiting arms of Trevor Williams for an interception. That one was not his fault, but Nova threw another interception on the offense's very next play, throwing to James too early with a safety barreling down on him with a blitz. If he stepped up in the pocket he would have been fine.
Nova was able to shake those two interceptions off, and put together two very impressive scoring drives in the second quarter. He hit Carroo again off play action on a square in for a 17 yard gain, to open the drive, before giving Penn State fits with his....legs? Nova scrambled for a bunch of yards on the ground during Rutgers only touchdown drive, and also converted a 3rd and 1 on a sneak. He punched the ball in himself on a 14 yard scramble up the middle against a blitz, after being set up by Desmon Peoples' 21 yard scamper off tackle. After not being able to take advantage of great field position following a punt, the Knights went on a long, methodical drive after starting on their own seven to get a field goal just before the half. Carroo hauled in another long reception over the middle and Tyler Kroft's presence was finally felt with two catches on the drive to set it up. Grant also somewhat redeemed himself with two big third down conversions, but the Knights had to settle 32 yard kick from Kyle Federico because they were out of time outs and spiked the ball instead of throwing to the endzone with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
It's easy to criticize a coach for wasting time outs, but it's hard to tell if they don't have the right personnel on the field at a given time or what ever. I don't know why Flood used his first two time outs of the half when he did, but using them may have cost the team four points. They also never went uptempo despite the quickly evaporating clock, and again, that cost them. The clock management on this last drive before the half really hurt the Knights in hindsight.
The offense in the second half was a complete disaster. They went three and out to open the third quarter, and only converted one first down on their next possession Following a turn over, Ralph Friedgen called for the home run ball on the first play after a sudden change (as you should, you can usually catch the defense disorganized) and Nova promptly forced the ball deep to a double teamed Carroo and was picked off for the third time. Penalties besieged their final possession of the third period, and Nova again turned the ball over while forcing it to Carroo to open the fourth. With a four point lead and 5:33 left on the clock, Rutgers kept throwing and gave the ball back to Penn State with 3 minutes and a chance to win it. After falling behind for the first time, Nova was unable to move the ball and then threw his fifth interception of the day because he --you guessed it!-- forced the ball to a double teamed Carroo.
Paul James only carried the ball six times in the second half, and that can not happen. They are a running football team and he is an outstanding back, put the ball in his hands 30 times! Especially when you are trying to drain the clock! Flood's post game comments indicated that he shied away from the run in the second half because of Penn State defensive tackle Anthony Zettel and while Zettel did have a monster game, you should not change your game plan out of fear! Run to the other side or cut block* him down to the ground, he can't make plays there. Nova was struggling and they decided to keep putting the ball in his hands. I just do not get it. The boxscore says they ran the same amount as they threw, but Nova scrambled or was sacked seven times. 61% of their play calls were passes.
*Cut blocks have a bad reputation, especially after those idiots at The Citadel admitted they were intentionally trying to injure Florida State players with them. but they are 100% legal and do not injure defenders if you are doing it correctly. Get Zettel down on the ground, run to the outside and let James do his thing. Jeez.
The defense was outstanding in this game and Joe Rossi deserves a ton of credit. This unit looked all out of sorts and undisciplined in the first two games, but they played vintage Rutgers defense all night, and held the high powered Penn State passing attack to just 13 points on the night. Rossi kept dialing up the blitz (I think they blitzed for the first time since 2012 in this game /sarcasm) and Penn State's offensive line was completely overwhelmed. Rutgers stayed in base personnel through out the evening against the Nittany Lions' mostly three wide sets, and were able to dominate the Lions up front to stop the run.
Penn state moved the ball to Rutgers 30 yard line on their first possession of the game, but Darius Hamilton was able to sneak into the back field to bring Bill Belton down for a two yard loss, leading to a third down incompletion and a punt. The crowd --which was great through out the contest-- forced Penn State to jump offsides on their second drive, leading to a three and out. Gareef Glashen and Dave Milewski met in the back field for a tackle behind the line on a 2nd and 1 run, and Quentin Gause and Djwany Mera combined to sack Christian Hackenberg and force another punt. The Nittany Lions were then given great field position following an interception late in the opening quarter, but a strong pass rush led by Hamilton forced a holding penalty and Hackenberg to throw a ball away and then scramble for a minimal gain. They had to settle for a 34 yard attempt from Sam Ficken, but Kemoko Turay showed off his vertical and blocked the kick. Early in the second quarter Nadir Barnwell stepped up to make a play against the run in the backfield and a blitzing Kevin Snyder sacked Hackenberg on third down, thwarted Penn State's drive to force another punt. This one, however, was blocked by Leonte Carroo. Huge props to him for being willing to play special teams.
The Nittany Lions again punted after Hackenberg scrambled away from heavy third down pressure and ended the half with a kneel down. The Scarlet Knights had a 10-0 lead going into the locker room, but this felt a lot like the 2012 Louisville game where they dominated the first half, and lo and behold, they once again fell apart in the second half, despite the defense's best efforts.
Rutgers' defense continued to dominate early in the third quarter, forcing a punt the first time they took the field in the second half, before Lorenzo Waters picked Hackenberg off over the middle. But following another Nova interception, the defense started to bend a little bit, albeit it with out breaking. Hackenberg was finally able to move the ball down field, but the Lions once again had to settle for a field goal after Darius Hamilton sacked him twice in the redzone (Snyder got in there for half a sack too). Ficken actually made this attempt from 32 yards out to make it 10-3. The Knights blitzing finally backfired on the next Penn state drive when DaeSeasn Hamilton broke free for a 47 yard gain on third down. Turay was able to get a big pressure though, forcing the Lions to settle for another Ficken field goal. A Waters sack led in part to two more punts, and Rutgers was one stop away from winning the game. The defense came up big all night, but they were unable to do so one last time.
Hackenberg completed a 15 yard pass to Geno Lewis, but Gareef Glashen went for the strip instead of the tackle--a big no-no in this situation (KNOW THE SITUATION, YOU PRACTICE THIS STUFF!)-- and let Lewis escape for a big 53 yard gainer. Penn State appeared to score the go ahead touchdown on a pass to Jesse James, but Hamilton forced a hold and it was called back. James scoring would have been much easier to sallow than the eventual seven yard Big Time Football Bill Belton score, because that one play allowed him to talk shit despite a very poor game overall from him. The defense didn't get it done here, but they should have never been in this situation. The offense had to do more. The defense should hold its' head high and feel great after this one, despite not getting the ultimate result they desired.
Three players, one at all three levels, deserve special recognition for their performance. Hamilton ran ravage through a terrible Penn State line and was in the backfield all day recording sacks and forcing penalties. Kevin Snyder also did a great job inside against the run and was a monster on blitzes. Nadir Barnwell made a few big plays in the secondary as well, against both the run and the pass. It was quite a performance by the entire defense as a whole, but these three players were outstanding in particular.
Rutgers once again came up small on a big stage despite a dominant defensive performance because their offense made too many mistakes and was flat out was not good enough. Clock management and the odd (bad) decision to abandon the run game did not help either. It is getting extremely frustrating watching this program repeatedly fail when given big opportunities to take a step forward and gain some national respect for the same reasons over and over again. Not to go all Maddog on you, but ALL I WANT IS ONE BIG WIN! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR? ONE!? They will once again get the opportunity in a few weeks against a struggling Michigan team, after hopefully picking up the pieces of this one against Navy and Tulane. Beat a blue blood, make the Big 10 notice you.
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