Penn State head coach Matt Campbell has done an excellent job of getting his team back on track. The blue and white were on a brutal four-game losing streak that took the air out of the season, but Campbell has responded with an impressive three-game winning streak.
The defense has been excellent this entire year, with the exception of a couple of games in early October against Northwestern and USC, and now the offense is finally catching up to them.
They had another good performance on Saturday against Minnesota, marking the first time since conference play began that the offense put together back-to-back solid showings.
Let’s look at a few stats on both sides of the ball that show how Penn State pulled off this dominant 42-14 win.
Rushing yards
Running back
Carson Hansen had the best game of his Penn State career last week against Washington. Well, he immediately outdid himself this week against Minnesota, going for 126 yards and a touchdown.
The most impressive part of Hansen’s day is he got all of his production in the first half. He came up hobbled at the end of the second quarter and never returned, so hopefully it was just a precautionary measure since the team was winning 21-0 when he exited.
Third-down conversions
The Nittany Lions went into Saturday’s game as one of the best third-down defenses in the entire nation, and they certainly lived up to the billing. Minnesota was just 3-for-13 on third downs, and it was even wors in the first half when the offense was 1-for-7.
The futility on money downs made it impossible for the offense to gain a rhythm. The unit was disjointed and inefficient the entire night, and it was largely because of Penn State’s exceptionality on third down.
Drives starting in opponent’s territory
This is a fairly unconventional stat, but it was one of the biggest reasons for the blue and white’s dominant win. They had three drives start in Minnesota’s territory, and they scored touchdowns on each of them. Conversely, the Golden Gophers never started a drive on Penn State’s end of the field.
The Nittany Lions just continue to find unique advantages to win games. They possessed the ball for nearly 75% of game time against Purdue, and this week they had uncommonly favorable field position.
You know what they say — good teams find ways to win games.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Key Stats that defined Penn State’s blowout victory over Minnesota
