Although Hackenberg completed only 13 passes, many of them were big-gainers.
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Penn State’s defense, which allowed 19 first downs and 405 yards of offense through three quarters, began the fourth with a proclamation from linebacker Jason Cabinda: “We are not leaving this stadium without a W”, the sophomore said. They squeaked by a bad Army team with a big second half and had to survive San Diego State and Buffalo to a degree.
One week after starting guards Brendan Mahon and Brian Gaia were pushed around and subsequently benched during the loss to Ohio State, Franklin and offensive line coach Herb Hand restructured the inside of the line.
The men’s baseball team will make history when they travel to Cuba and become the first American baseball team to play teams from the Cuban National Series in November.
On the season, Maryland averages 163.7 yards in passing and 177.7 yards in rushing.
The Penn State receiver needed just 30 minutes to figure out how to balance and glide on his red motorized scooter with no handles, which moves him forward, backward or sideways in response to the slightest weight shifts.
Following his first game as Maryland’s interim coach, Mike Locksley lamented his team’s five turnovers and its inability to win a tight contest. The Nittany Lions are undefeated at Beaver Stadium this year and are favored once again this week. But the Penn State now, that’s not so great – but often goes to great efforts (vs. Temple notwithstanding). The punting game has been a problem at times for Penn State – the Terps could turn the game around with one play.
A win is a win, is what Franklin essentially said twice on Saturday. The turnover gave Maryland, still trailing by a point, a critical chance to get ahead. “That’s the goal every week”. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press worldwide from 1976-84.
And the Michigan and Ohio State numbers were lower because those were blowout games – the Buckeyes rushed for five touchdowns – where the opponents stopped running a real offense later on.
You would have a hard time finding a sloppier game than the one played this weekend between Penn State and Maryland.
Hackenberg was erratic, but he had great success going deep against a Maryland defense that began the day ranked 104th in the nation against the pass (260.8). We know the talent that we have.
“They push him around, he’s right back out there pursuing the football at all times”. “We don’t know how many carries you’re going to get”.
“We have to understand”, Franklin said Saturday, talking about his team but also to the media and the Penn State fan base.
Against Maryland, Hackenberg made the plays when he had to, completing just 45% of his passes. So did Bob Shoop’s defense, keeping Maryland from scoring on just 60% of their possessions.
Jake Funk had been developing through his entire career at Damascus, putting up eye-catching numbers at running back as the Swarmin’ Hornets racked up wins and marched through the playoffs, but the attention he was receiving from colleges didn’t match the level he thought he was capable of playing.
For many reasons, that early September afternoon in College Park was a memorable one.
“I wish I had the magic answer for that”, Dudzinski said last week about finishing games.
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He ain’t the only one.
