On a rainy, cold night in Beaver Stadium, the vibes were (for the most part) anything but that. The Nittany Lions raced out to a massive lead, and while they fooled around a bit during the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, they still ended up with an impressive 42-14 victory.
The Nittany Lion defense brought the juice from the beginning of the game, with Kooper Ebel jumping on a botched snap on Minnesota’s first drive to set the offense up with great field position. Penn State needed just
5 plays to go 44 yards — all on the ground, 43 of them courtesy of Carson Hansen — to open up the scoring. Really, that first drive was a foreshadowing of what was to come, as the Nittany Lions dominated on the ground in the first half. As a team they ran for 173 yards before the first intermission, but it was Hansen in particular who looked like Larry Johnson Jr. out there.
12 carries for 126 yards, all before halftime. I say this half-jokingly, but it looked absolutely plausible that if he got the carries, he could potentially go for 300 yards. Again, half-joking because realistically he would have needed 30+ carries to get there, but he was finding hole after hole. He had explosive runs of 46, 34, and 22 yards, which was a welcomed sight after an up-and-down start to his Penn State career.
Unfortunately for Hansen, he went down with an injury at the end of the second quarter. While he was able to limp off for a sub, he never returned to the game.
While the running game got much of the shine, Rocco Becht and the passing game weren’t too shabby either in the first 30 minutes. There were some drops and tipped passes, but Rocco was 5-of-9 for 41 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first two quarters. This strike to Benjamin Brahmer to make it 14-0 was particularly impressive.
The second half appeared to be more of the same. The Penn State offense came out and put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive for a touchdown, which put the Nittany Lions up 35-0. All good, right? Well, not exactly. Minnesota answered with a 4-play, 74-yard TD drive of their own, the Penn State offense went three-and-out, and the Golden Gophers had another quick touchdown drive to make it 35-14 heading into the 4th quarter.
Fortunately, that’s where much of the worry ended. Minnesota’s offense did get the ball back with a chance to make it a two-possession game early in the 4th quarter but (thanks to some penalties) they stalled out. Penn State and backup QB Alex Manske were able to tack on another touchdown late in the 4th, to give the Nittany Lions a 42-14 victory.
Was it the prettiest 42-14 game of all time? Nope. Especially after last week, when it was 35-14 I am sure many Penn State fans thought “Here we go again.” But they held strong, got a stop, and sealed the game. At the end of the day, 42-14 is 42-14.
The Nittany Lions are now officially bowl eligible, and have won three straight games. Here’s to an 8-4 finish.
