NCAAF Game Recap - Penn State at Rutgers
Sat Nov 17, 2018 12:00 PM EST

Cit
17
Bama
50
F
Duke
6
Clem
35
F
Syr
3
ND
36
F
Ind
20
Mich
31
F
UMass
27
UGA
66
F
Kans
40
Okla
55
F
WVU
41
OkSt
45
F
Ariz
28
WaSt
69
F
OSU
52
MD
51
F OT
Rice
10
LSU
42
F
Cin
13
UCF
38
F
IASt
10
Tex
24
F
UtSt
29
ColSt
24
F
Idaho
10
Fla
63
F
PSU
20
Rut
7
F
OreSt
23
Wash
42
F
MidTN
23
KY
34
F
Utah
30
Colo
7
F
BC
21
FlaSt
22
F
Boise
45
NM
14
F
NW
24
MIN
14
F
Ark
6
MissSt
52
F
WestMI
41
Ball
42
F OT
Buff
17
Ohio
52
F
MiaOH
13
NIU
7
F
Toled
56
Kent
34
F
Tul
17
Hou
48
F
FlAtl
38
NorTx
41
F
Mem
28
SMU
18
F
MSU
6
Neb
9
F
TCU
16
Bayl
9
F
Pitt
34
Wake
13
F
SoFL
17
Temp
27
F
Colg
14
Army
28
F
NCSt
52
Lou
10
F
JMU
38
Tows
17
F
VMI
14
OD
77
F
FLInt
42
UNCC
35
F
GASt
17
App
45
F
UTSA
0
Marsh
23
F
SamHu
42
HBU
20
F
NEV
21
SJSU
12
F
ULMon
17
ArkSt
31
F
WCU
26
UNC
49
F
JacSt
52
(N/A)
60
F(4OT)
TxSt
7
Troy
12
F
USC
27
UCLA
34
F
LT
20
SMiss
21
F
TxTch
6
K St
21
F
Iowa
63
Ill
0
F
MiaFL
38
VaTec
14
F
MIZ
50
Tenn
17
F
Wisc
47
Purd
44
F(2OT)
Tuls
29
Navy
37
F
UVA
27
GATec
30
F OT
BGSU
21
Akr
6
F
AF
27
Wyo
35
F
Lib
0
Aub
53
F
SoAl
38
ULLaf
48
F
GaSo
41
CoCar
17
F
UAB
20
TxAM
41
F
UConn
21
ECU
55
F
UTEP
16
W Ky
40
F
Miss
29
Vand
36
F OT
Chat
9
SCar
49
F
NMS
10
BYU
45
F
SDSU
14
Fres
23
F
AzSt
29
Oreg
31
F
UNLV
28
Hawaii
35
F
NIU
21
WestMI
28
F
Ball
21
MiaOH
42
F
Stan
Cal
PPD

Nov 17, 2018, 12:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

(16) Penn State (8-3)

3

10

0

7

20

Rutgers (1-10)

0

0

0

7

7

McSorley becomes winningest QB at Penn State as D dominates
Sat Nov 17, 2018 5:37 PM

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) Trace McSorley became the winningest quarterback in Penn State history with a lot of help from his friends.

McSorley threw two touchdown passes to tight end Pat Freiermuth and No. 16 Penn State's defense set up two touchdowns with turnovers in a 20-7 victory over Rutgers on Saturday, sending the Scarlet Knights to their 10th straight loss.

"Kind of like today by no means was my best performance, but the team gutted out a win," said McSorley, who hit two milestones in the game. "The defense played great, the special teams contributed when they needed to and our offense was able to put up enough points to get a win, so a lot of that is on the rest of the team, and in my eyes wins go to the team, not the person."

The win was No. 30 for McSorley as a starter, moving him into the top spot in school history ahead of Todd Blackledge (1980-82) and Tony Sacca (1988-91). The two touchdowns increased his total - running and passing - to 101, making him the third in Big Ten history to crack the century mark. Drew Brees of Purdue and J.T Barrett of Ohio State were the others.

"Being all-time leader in terms of wins is the most important stat you can have at the quarterback position," Penn State coach James Franklin said.

McSorley's touchdown passes covered 6 yards in the second quarter and 18 in the fourth as the Nittany Lions (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten, No. 14 CFP) beat Rutgers (1-10, 0-7) for the 12th straight time. Jake Pinegar added field goals of 22 and 19 yards.

Raheem Blackshear, who ran for 102 yards on 22 carries, scored on a 2-yard fourth-quarter run for Rutgers to deny Penn State its first shutout in more than a season.

The dominant group for Penn State was its defense, which forced three turnovers, had four sacks and 11 tackles for losses and held Rutgers to 46 yards passing.

"We (are) one of the better defensive lines in the country and I believe we're one of the best in the Big Ten," said defensive end Shareef Miller, who had seven tackles, including a sack and 2 1/2 for losses.

Safety Garrett Taylor intercepted a horrible pass by freshman Art Sitkowski late in the second quarter to give the Nittany Lions the ball at the Rutgers 28. Four plays later, McSorley (17 of 37 for 183 yards) found Freiermuth for a 10-3 lead with 2:04 left in the half.

Senior Gio Rescigno replaced Sitkowski (3 of 7 for 18 yards and two interceptions) after the bad decision on the screen pass Penn State read from the start.

A Daniel Joseph recovery of an Isaih Pacheco fumble at the Rutgers 46 late in the third quarter set up the second TD pass early in the fourth for a 20-0 lead.

"Our players played with a lot of fight and effort and toughness today," Rutgers coach Chris Ash said. "It's what we needed to do to continue to try to close the gap, and our players did that. The game is about taking care of the football, and some missed opportunities. That was the difference in the game."

The Scarlet Knights should have scored in the third quarter. After moving 82 yards on 14 running plays, they ran a fourth-down flea flicker from the 2-yard line and a wide-open Rescigno dropped a soft pass from Trey Sneed, who had lined up outside and took a toss from Blackshear.

"I told the guys you give me a day to sulk to sulk about it and then you can grill me about it for the rest of the week," said Rescigno, who sparked the offense running for 36 yards on seven carries. "It is what it is. It happened. I have to move on."

THE TAKEAWAY

This was not an impressive performance by the Nittany Lions, who were hoping to move into a position for a possible New Year's Day bowl game. The offense never got going and the only reason it was no contest was the Penn State defense.

The Scarlet Knights are now facing the prospect of their first one-win season since going 1-11 in Greg Schiano's second season, in 2002. Rutgers was 0-11 in 1997, so this isn't rock bottom. The 10-game losing streak is the longest since losing 11 in a row over the end of the 1998-99 season.

DISCIPLINE

Penn State starting linebacker Cam Brown sat out first half for a "small violation of team rules," Franklin said.

HOT MIC

Referee Mike Cannon left his microphone open after overturning a ruling on the field that gave Penn State a first down at the Rutgers 23 in the fourth quarter. The review moved the spot up a yard after a pass from McSorley to KJ Hamler. "That was a tight one, Bruce," Cannon said to linesman Bruce Keeling.

UP NEXT

Penn State: Plays host to Maryland next Saturday and then waits for a bowl bid.

Rutgers: Finishes season at Michigan State next Saturday.

---

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

PSU Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
T. McSorley 37 17 45.9 2 183 35 1 67.7
Rut Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
G. Rescigno 8 2 25.0 0 28 17 0 41.7
A. Sitkowski 7 3 42.9 0 18 12 2 10.7

Rushing

PSU Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
M. Sanders 27 88 3.3 9 0
T. McSorley 7 39 5.6 9 0
Rut Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
R. Blackshear 22 102 4.6 24 1
I. Pacheco 18 53 2.9 11 0

Receiving

PSU Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
K. Hamler 5 71 14.2 26 0
J. Dotson 4 58 14.5 35 0
Rut Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
B. Melton 3 29 9.7 17 0
S. Jones 1 11 11.0 11 0

Fumbles

PSU F FL
M. Sanders 1 1
K. Hamler 1 0
Rut F FL
A. Sitkowski 1 0
I. Pacheco 1 1

Returning

PSU KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
K. Hamler 1 10.0 0 10 2 5.0 0 15
Rut KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
I. Pacheco 1 13.0 0 13 0 0 0
R. Blackshear 1 18.0 0 18 0 0 0

Punting

PSU Punt Yds Avg LgPu
B. Gillikin 6 292 48.7 70
Rut Punt Yds Avg LgPu
A. Korsak 5 232 46.4 64

Takeaways

PSU Int Yds InTD
J. Reid 1 0 0
G. Taylor 1 2 0
Rut Int Yds InTD
I. Wharton 1 0 0

Team Stats Comparison

PSU Rut
Points For 20 7
Total Yards 322 234
Rushing Yards 139 188
Passing Yards 183 46
Passing Completions / Attempts 17/37 5/16
Turnovers 2 3
Interceptions Thrown 1 2
Fumbles - Lost 2/1 2/1
First Downs 19 17
Penalties - Yards 3/43 5/62
Time Of Possession 42:42 18:18
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 11/19 5/14
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 0/0 1/4
Punts - Average Yards 6/49 5/46

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter PSU Rut
PSU 12:33 FG Jake Pinegar 22 yd FG 3 0
2nd Quarter PSU Rut
PSU 12:56 TD Pat Freiermuth 6 yd pass from Trace McSorley (Jake Pinegar kick) 10 0
PSU 15:00 FG Jake Pinegar 19 yd FG 13 0
3rd Quarter PSU Rut
No scores this quarter
4th Quarter PSU Rut
PSU 01:54 TD Pat Freiermuth 18 yd pass from Trace McSorley (Jake Pinegar kick) 20 0
Rut 05:37 TD Raheem Blackshear 2 yd run (Justin Davidovicz kick) 20 7

Game Information

Stadium: HighPoint.com Stadium, Piscataway, New Jersey
Attendance: 44,840
Game Time:
Weather: