UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. – Penn
State finally got its ground game going Saturday against UMass. The trio of Bill Belton, Zack Zwinak, and Akeel Lynch
combined for 185 of the teams 228 yards and 5 touchdowns. Earlier in the
week head coach James Franklin stressed the importance of getting the running
game going, the team starts Big Ten play next weekend as Northwestern comes to
town. Christian Hackenberg only had
179 yards through the air but the main focus was to run the ball, then run it
some more. When asked how he thought his team did Franklin replied, “ I think
it’s awesome. I think it's great to establish a running game and be able to
make some plays with multiple backs and multiple people.... We were able to
take some pressure off of [Christian Hackenberg], which is great”. The Nittany
Lions scored on its first eight possessions and scored a season high 48 points.
The Penn State defense hasn’t been an issue this year.
For the fourth straight week the unit didn’t allow 300 yards of total offense.
The Minutemen were held to just 3 yards rushing. The defense is allowing a
stingy 11 points a game, which ranks 6th in the country. They’ve
also been good at getting pressure on the opposing quarterback; Saturday they
added another 3 sacks to their season total of 12. “As a coach, you prepare
like crazy with your players all week long and then you want to see them go out
and execute, play well and have fun. To me, that's what it's all about.”
Franklin said.
Going into next weekend’s game with Northwestern, the team
looks to build off this win and how they were able to get the running game
going. The balanced attack is going to be key going into the Big Ten schedule.
Kickoff is set for noon.
Stat of the day: Penn State
is the only team in the country to have played 4 games and given up less than
200 yards on the ground.
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