Penn State’s senior class turned in a strong performance in their final game at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions blew out Nebraska 37-10 to pick up their second straight win. Kaytron Allen set the career rushing record, and Nicholas Singleton tied Saquon Barkley’s career touchdowns record in the win.
Emmett Johnson broke a big run to move Nebraska into the red zone on its first drive, but Zane Durant and Amare Campbell teamed up to make a fourth down stop.
Penn State’s offense was the story of the first
half, scoring on all four of its possessions and controlling the game at the line of scrimmage. A 30-yard pass from Ethan Grunkemeyer to Trebor Peña and a 51-yard run by Kaytron Allen set up Andrew Rappleyea for his first career touchdown on the opening possession:
After the two teams exchanged field goals, Penn State embarked on a 7-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Nicholas Singleton’s 4-yard touchdown run:
Penn State flipped field position in its favor with excellent kick return coverage, a sack by Yvan Kemajou, and a great punt return by Trebor Peña. Singleton scored his 43rd career rushing touchdown, tying Saquon Barkley for the most in Penn State history, with a 10-yard run to put Penn State ahead 23-3:
Penn State’s run game continued to bully Nebraska on the opening drive of the second half, and it opened play action for Grunkemeyer to find Trebor Peña for 29 yards. Kaytron Allen finished off the drive with a 3-yard plunge:
Nebraska moved into Penn State territory trailing 30-3, but Zane Durant came up with a sack on 4th and 9 at the 38-yard line to snuff out the possession. After a Penn State three-and-out, Nebraska finally found the end zone, with TJ Lateef running it in from 11 yards out to cut the Lions’ lead to 30-10 near the end of the third quarter.
Kaytron Allen broke Evan Royster’s 15 year-old career rushing record on the ensuing drive, and after Luke Reynolds perfectly executed a fake punt, Allen rushed in for his second touchdown of the night to extend the lead to 37-10:
Nebraska mounted a drive into the red zone, but a sack by Dani Dennis-Sutton on first and goal (with a holding penalty on Nebraska) got the Huskers off their rhythm. TJ Lateef could not find a receiver in the end zone on fourth and goal, and Penn State took over on downs. The Nittany Lions finished off the 37-10 win to move to 5-6 on the season.
As rough a season as this has been, Penn State is poised to finish it on a good note. One game remains on the regular season schedule, a trip east to New Jersey to take on Rutgers next Saturday. The kickoff time and TV network for Saturday’s game is TBA at this time.
