Penn State 66, Maryland 3
The Nittany Lions closed out the regular season with the third straight high-scoring win, only this time the defense showed up, too. It can be said that they played a pretty complete game.
Understand that this was against Maryland, whose perineally (sic) smiling coach, D. J. Durkin, has guided the Terps to a 4-8 record this year. The competition now gets tougher, as bowl season is upon us.
Mike Gesicki made a memorable, highlight reel catch that thrilled not only us but also Matt Millen, who praised Gesicki (who still can’t block). However, Saquon Barkley didn’t have his anticipated field day, gaining only 77 yards, but scoring two touchdowns in the process.
Trace McSorley had a decent day 22-33 for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Tommy Stevens came in to show his stuff in the second half. Stevens was 3-7 passing, including one touchdown, but he also had 113 yards and three touchdowns rushing.
Penn State dominated that increasingly irrelevant statistic, Time of Poonssession, 37:31 to 22:29. Maryland, as usual, couldn’t convert third downs and were stuffed on three fourth-down attempts by the mighty Penn State defense. Even the PSU offensive line looked competent against the lesser foe, as the Lions racked up 534 yards to Maryland’s 303. They also out first-downed the Terps 28-11.
So, very nice, and with the shake-up at the top of the rankings plus the thrills and chills of the conference championships next week, the playoff and bowl picture is still muddled. I guess instead of speculating on a bowl venue for Penn State and being wrong, I’ll wait until the bids go out.
Thanks for hanging in here after the two losses! I’ll be posting some more when we find out who our bowl opponent will be.
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Lawrence says
Oh well, you didn’t cause the losses and I like the way you put things so I hang in there. Random thoughts: If only PSU had not lost 1 of those 2 games they might still be in the CFP playoff mix at this time. I like the way DJD smiled throughout the whole game. He knew what he was in for and kept it all together…better than some hypertensive, overweight coach ripping off his headphones and throwing his clipboard everytime his team messes up or a call goes against his team. Also, beautiful to watch ND and Bama do gown…Saturday was a good day.
The Nittany Turkey says
Yeah, Durkin was into a different plane of existence with that beatific smile of his — indeed, a change from the likes of Harbaugh.
We have one more weekend of thrills, chills, and spills. Will tOSU beat Wisconsin? Will Georgia beat Auburn? Will TCU beat Oklahoma? Will Miami beat Clemson? Will anyone care about what happens in the PAC-12?
Everything is still up in the air leading into championship weekend. That’s a lot better than some of the anticlimaxes of years past.
—TNT
psudrozz says
welp, the over on wins (9.5) hit. So i got that going for me. Which is nice.
Any thoughts on potential bowl foe? I’d like to see a PSU/Notre Dame bowl.
The Nittany Turkey says
The picture is so confused at the moment and so dependent on the coming weekend’s results that I dare not speculate on who goes to what bowl. I can only offer some what-ifs.
Would you rather see a three-loss ND as a foe than an undefeated UCF? (Of course, they have to get by one-loss Memphis to remain undefeated, and Sports Illustrated predicts a Peach Bowl matchup between UCF and tOSU, while ND is off of the New Years Six slate).
What about a one-loss Alabama who won’t have to play this weekend? (SI is predicting the Orange Bowl vs. Miami).
We hate Miami, so how about kicking their asses in another bowl game?
And have we ever played TCU? Sports Illustrated projects PSU vs. TCU in the Cotton Bowl.
I’m not only confused about the picture after next weekend; I’m also confused about New Years Six bowl tie-ins and possible deviations. I’m thinking that the Orange Bowl is the only one that has some restrictions, like to the ACC for one, but I’m too lazy to research all that, too. So, that’s why I said I wouldn’t speculate, and would wait until next weekend to get serious about it.
I’m just happy that Penn State is in the running for a New Years Six bowl. Any potential opponent who qualifies similarly will work for me!
—TNT
Big Al says
“Have we ever played TCU” Yes, we’re 3 and 1 against them. I vividly remember the 1971 game because they had the worst college defense I ever saw in person and their uniforms were a hideous shade of purple. The final score was 66-14 but, IIRC, State had scored 66 points by the middle of the 3rd quarter and Paterno had the scrubs run up the middle for the rest of the game. I think State could have scored 100 points against them if they had wanted to.
I’d like to see State play Miami in the Orange Bowl but I don’t think that can happen if tO$U beats Wisconsin. No B1G team will be selected for the playoffs if that happens. tO$U will be the highest rated B1G team and get the Orange Bowl bid. Rumor is that the Homophobic Chikin bowl wants an SEC team to play UCF, so that leaves just the Fiesta Bowl or Cotton Bowl. Or the Hall of Fame bowl if we get screwed out of a bid to a New Year’s 6 bowl.
The Nittany Turkey says
So I got unlazy and looked up the history. The first two games with TCU, in 1953 and 1954, were prior to my time as a PSU fan. In fact, I was only seven or eight years old at the time. Thus, no recollection.
In 1971, I was living in New York. My time was eaten up by work, and I didn’t pay much attention to football. However, right around that time, I found that one of our regional directors was a Penn State man, so I got back into it a bit. Not enough, though, to have remembered that game.
In 1978, I was living in Orlando but traveling most of the time, so I don’t remember that TCU game, either.
I guess my crummy memory and my laziness prompted the question!
—TNT
Big Al says
It looked like Maryland was just what State needed to get out of their post Moo U funk. However, I’m not sure State’s “issues” have been magically solved. Maryland has some decent skill position players but both of the their lines suck – the worst B1G lines State has played against this year. Their OL rarely gave Bortenshlager time to throw and their DL couldn’t generate any pass rush – McSorely had as much time to throw as Chuck Fusina did “back in the day.”
Despite the crappiness of their DL and JoMo deemphasizing his “insipid zone read RPO” in favor of direct runs, our OL still wasn’t generating much push or opening up holes between the tackles. But being unable to run inside probably doesn’t matter when you have that time to throw.
The Nittany Turkey says
The Maryland game was spiritually uplifting for the fans and the team, but I’ll agree that it did nothing more than camouflage the weaknesses on the team. I hope those weaknesses don’t make us look ridiculous in whichever bowl game Penn State lands.
The mighty Penn State offense provided enough of a showcase for Moorhead that he is a strong contender for the Mississippi State head coaching job. Perhaps he’ll have a reliable offensive line there. He’s also said to be in the running for UCF if Scott Frost moves on to Nebraska.
The weird one was Schiano, though, who got drummed out of Rocky Top because of his association with the Sandusky affair. The crap will never end!
—TNT