Penn State ran the football just 17 times for 136 yards against Temple with a 42-yard TD run from Akeel Lynch on Penn State's second offensive series of the game, not counting the times Christian Hackenberg was sacked 10 times for 59 yards in losing. That's an average of 8 yards per carry [ypc].
Lynch ran the ball 10 times for 78 yards averaging 7.8 ypc with a 42-yard TD run. Lynch had two runs of 15 or more yards [42 and 17 yards] and Penn State was able to produce four chunk plays with the running game of 15 or more yards. Brandon Polk has runs of 33 and 17 yards in addition to Lynch's 42 and 17 yard scampers.That's a high percentage of 23.5 percent of chunk plays produced by Penn State's running game.
It is surprising to me that Penn State's coaching staff decided to run the football just 10 times after Lynch's 42-yard TD run.
The other interesting Penn State statistic that emerged from Saturday's game against Temple was the fact Penn State's defense actually led the nation in tackles for loss [TFL]. PSU's defense totaled 15 TFL for 49 yards. DE Carl Nassib and OLB Brandon Bell led the way with a combined 5 TFL for 22 yards, with both Bell and Nassib being the only Penn State players on defense to sack Temple's QB P.J. Walker [1 apiece for both Bell and Nassib] for a total of 17 yards.
Both of those sacks by Bell and Nassib came in the first half of the game, before Nyeem Wartman-White's injury. It just goes to show you how valuable Bell's and Wartman-White's presence on the field was and how much Penn State's defense missed the presence of Bell and Wartman-White in the second half when Temple was able to amass 273 yards of total offense .
Lynch ran the ball 10 times for 78 yards averaging 7.8 ypc with a 42-yard TD run. Lynch had two runs of 15 or more yards [42 and 17 yards] and Penn State was able to produce four chunk plays with the running game of 15 or more yards. Brandon Polk has runs of 33 and 17 yards in addition to Lynch's 42 and 17 yard scampers.That's a high percentage of 23.5 percent of chunk plays produced by Penn State's running game.
It is surprising to me that Penn State's coaching staff decided to run the football just 10 times after Lynch's 42-yard TD run.
The other interesting Penn State statistic that emerged from Saturday's game against Temple was the fact Penn State's defense actually led the nation in tackles for loss [TFL]. PSU's defense totaled 15 TFL for 49 yards. DE Carl Nassib and OLB Brandon Bell led the way with a combined 5 TFL for 22 yards, with both Bell and Nassib being the only Penn State players on defense to sack Temple's QB P.J. Walker [1 apiece for both Bell and Nassib] for a total of 17 yards.
Both of those sacks by Bell and Nassib came in the first half of the game, before Nyeem Wartman-White's injury. It just goes to show you how valuable Bell's and Wartman-White's presence on the field was and how much Penn State's defense missed the presence of Bell and Wartman-White in the second half when Temple was able to amass 273 yards of total offense .
