COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Penn State secured a 66-3 win at Maryland Stadium Saturday evening, knocking off the host Terrapins to improve to 10-2 and close out the 2017 regular season.
And Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin made a point to let a cramped postgame media room know just how happy he was with the program for doing it.
Recording back-to-back double-digit wins in the regular season for the first time since 2008-09, 11-1 and 10-2, respectively, the Nittany Lions continue to make strides to Franklin’s satisfaction. Maybe more important, he added, they’re also still able to make further improvements as they move forward.
“I think we're trending in the right direction right now. We're getting better,” he said, anxious to load up the team bus and travel back to State College Saturday night. “I’m very just pleased the program overall and the progress we're making… There's some progress being made. We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm happy with kind of where we're at.”
To do that work, Franklin intends to put his young players in positions to develop through the next month as the program prepares for whichever bowl scenario presents itself for the Nittany Lions next Sunday once the College Football Playoff is selected and the bowls make their picks. Determined to have a developmental scrimmage at Beaver Stadium to allow for that improvement, it’s all part of a process that Franklin envisioned as a possibility for quite some time.
“I felt like this was a possibility,” he said. “How long was it going to take us to get back to this situation? I'm not sure. Obviously, it didn't happen fast enough for a lot of people, but through us looking back at it and having perspective, I'm very pleased with where we're at. The exciting thing for me is I think we're getting better. I think we're just going to continue to get better.”
Though falling short of a second consecutive trip to the Big Ten Championship Game and Big Ten East Division title, where the Nittany Lions are at deserves some historic context. Let’s take a look at where this group stands among its predecessors at Penn State as well as the other news and notes items to emerge from the team’s postgame media availability.
1) Other records are bound to fall before the season ends but Penn State’s regular season showing, bolstered by a whopping 66 points and 534 yards of total offense Saturday, is already cemented among the best in the program’s history.
Scoring 499 total points for the season in 12 games, the Nittany Lions have the third-highest points per game scoring average in program history behind only 1994 (47.8 ppg) and 1971 (45.4). Coming from the lowly position of the No. 101-ranked scoring offense in college football just two seasons ago at just 23.2 points per game, the turnaround has been complete and dramatic.
In fact, since a 49-10 blowout at Michigan in the fourth week of the 2016 season, Penn State has scored 20-or-more points in 22 consecutive games.
The offensive dominance pairs with an elite defensive effort as well. Allowing just 186 total points for the season, the Nittany Lions finished the regular season with an average scoring margin of +26.1 points per game, a number that is the best at Penn State for a regular season since 2008.
All of it, Franklin reiterated Saturday night, can continue to improve as the program strives to move forward.
“We've got to keep scraping, and clawing and scratching for every little inch that we can find, because to be honest with you to get where we want to go it's still going to be a slow, steady crawl to get where we want to go,” said Franklin. “I'd make the argument that it's going to be harder, these next steps, than what we've already done. So it should be an interesting ride. I look forward to taking it with you guys.”
2) Though Penn State running back Saquon Barkley exited the game with 20:46 still remaining in the game, his impact on the night bolstered a season that in fact improved statistically on his sophomore effort.
For the regular season, Barkley finished with 199 carries for 1,134 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground, good for a 5.7 yards per carry average. Given his success in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis and the Rose Bowl performance against Southern Cal, his numbers are actually an improvement on his output through the 2016 season. There, he finished with 228 carries for 1,219 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground, good for a 5.35 ypc average.
The biggest transformation, however, came due to Barkley’s production in the passing game and via kickoff return.
In his 12 regular season games last year, Barkley finished with 21 receptions for 327 yards and two scores. For the 2017 regular season including his single catch for four yards Saturday night, Barkley has 47 receptions for 594 yards and three touchdowns.
In addition to his 429 yards and two touchdowns on 16 kickoff returns, Barkley’s all-purpose yards per game average for the regular season caps at 179.75 ypg.
3) Penn State had some personnel notes worthy of mention Saturday night in all phases of the game.
The first and most critical return came when defensive lineman Ryan Buchholz appeared at tackle on the third offensive play from scrimmage for Maryland. Coming off an injury that sidelined him on the very first play of Penn State’s loss at Ohio State, then prevented him from playing at Michigan State, at home against Rutgers and again last week against Nebraska, the redshirt sophomore was held without a recorded defensive statistic but returned to action nonetheless.
Starting left tackle Ryan Bates appeared with the team in pregame warmups, his left ankle wrapped, and returned to action briefly at right tackle in the game Saturday. Additionally, on the offensive line, starting center Connor McGovern left the game in the first quarter but would return to action in the third quarter, while redshirt freshman Michal Menet appeared at right guard at the end of the first quarter as well. Menet finished the season appearing in 11 of the Nittany Lions’ 12 games.
At wide receiver, redshirt sophomore Irvin Charles saw action after missing Penn State’s game against Nebraska due to an unspecified violation of team rules. Charles’ tough season continued Saturday, dropping a well-placed pass from an on-the-run quarterback Trace McSorley midway through the second quarter, as well as another in the fourth quarter.
4) Penn State’s defensive front found some redemption Saturday night.
At one point among the nation’s leaders in sacks, the Nittany Lions produced just five combined quarterback sacks in games against Ohio State, Michigan State, and Rutgers. Saturday evening at Maryland, tackle Kevin Givens and company brought down Maryland quarterback Max Bortenschlager five times for 13 yards in losses.
“I just felt like we still had something to prove. This being the last game, I felt like the last couple of games we didn't get to the quarterback that much and I felt like we wanted to make a statement this game,” said Givens. “I just felt like this game, it was the last game for our seniors and we just wanted to make a statement for them and play a good game for them.”
Allowing fewer than 20 points for the ninth time on the year, the Nittany Lions also produced three fourth-down stops of Maryland’s offense which Franklin considered to be turnovers in addition to the Terrapins’ two fumbles on the game.
“I felt like we matched up really well against Maryland on offense and defense up front and I thought we played well. But I thought the fourth down stops, I don't know if even seen three fourth-down stops in short-yardage situations. You kind of put them into the turnover category in some ways,” said Franklin.
5) A breakout for Penn State’s offense in the second half of the season, redshirt sophomore receiver Juwan Johnson continued his impressive play against the Terrapins.
First on the team in receiving yards with six catches for 63 yards, Johnson considered the team’s 66 point explosion to be a nice cap on the regular season.
“It kind of is a cherry on top to the regular season. It's been a wonderful season but it was a hard season,” said Johnson. “It’s sort of been up and down, so it's good that we came out today and put up the numbers that we did to end off the season.”
Fellow redshirt sophomore quarterback Tommy Stevens also finished with a big evening, rushing 12 times for 113 yards and three touchdowns to go along with a 3 of 7 passing performance for 11 yards and a score.
Asked about his coaching staff’s usage of Stevens through the course of the season, Stevens has been absent in Penn State’s games against Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan State, Franklin cited his confidence in both of the team’s quarterbacks while suggesting future implementations.
“We have packages for him in certain field zones and certain down and distances. We have something in each game and depending on how the game is going, Joe feels comfortable putting him,” said Franklin. “Obviously when you're in control like we were tonight that helps. It's typically a high red zone package for him as well and it's down and distance situations that make sense.
“We've got a pretty good quarterback in Trace McSorley. We've got a damn good quarterback as well in our backup in Tommy Stevens, but you have to be careful. Sometimes when you get into a two-quarterback system it can mess up the flow. I think we handled it pretty well this year and I can see this package continuing to grow for us.”
*****
An earlier version of this incorrectly stated that Ohio State had a 46-game streak of 22-or-more points scored spanning eight years.
And Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin made a point to let a cramped postgame media room know just how happy he was with the program for doing it.
Recording back-to-back double-digit wins in the regular season for the first time since 2008-09, 11-1 and 10-2, respectively, the Nittany Lions continue to make strides to Franklin’s satisfaction. Maybe more important, he added, they’re also still able to make further improvements as they move forward.
“I think we're trending in the right direction right now. We're getting better,” he said, anxious to load up the team bus and travel back to State College Saturday night. “I’m very just pleased the program overall and the progress we're making… There's some progress being made. We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm happy with kind of where we're at.”
To do that work, Franklin intends to put his young players in positions to develop through the next month as the program prepares for whichever bowl scenario presents itself for the Nittany Lions next Sunday once the College Football Playoff is selected and the bowls make their picks. Determined to have a developmental scrimmage at Beaver Stadium to allow for that improvement, it’s all part of a process that Franklin envisioned as a possibility for quite some time.
“I felt like this was a possibility,” he said. “How long was it going to take us to get back to this situation? I'm not sure. Obviously, it didn't happen fast enough for a lot of people, but through us looking back at it and having perspective, I'm very pleased with where we're at. The exciting thing for me is I think we're getting better. I think we're just going to continue to get better.”
Though falling short of a second consecutive trip to the Big Ten Championship Game and Big Ten East Division title, where the Nittany Lions are at deserves some historic context. Let’s take a look at where this group stands among its predecessors at Penn State as well as the other news and notes items to emerge from the team’s postgame media availability.
1) Other records are bound to fall before the season ends but Penn State’s regular season showing, bolstered by a whopping 66 points and 534 yards of total offense Saturday, is already cemented among the best in the program’s history.
Scoring 499 total points for the season in 12 games, the Nittany Lions have the third-highest points per game scoring average in program history behind only 1994 (47.8 ppg) and 1971 (45.4). Coming from the lowly position of the No. 101-ranked scoring offense in college football just two seasons ago at just 23.2 points per game, the turnaround has been complete and dramatic.
In fact, since a 49-10 blowout at Michigan in the fourth week of the 2016 season, Penn State has scored 20-or-more points in 22 consecutive games.
The offensive dominance pairs with an elite defensive effort as well. Allowing just 186 total points for the season, the Nittany Lions finished the regular season with an average scoring margin of +26.1 points per game, a number that is the best at Penn State for a regular season since 2008.
All of it, Franklin reiterated Saturday night, can continue to improve as the program strives to move forward.
“We've got to keep scraping, and clawing and scratching for every little inch that we can find, because to be honest with you to get where we want to go it's still going to be a slow, steady crawl to get where we want to go,” said Franklin. “I'd make the argument that it's going to be harder, these next steps, than what we've already done. So it should be an interesting ride. I look forward to taking it with you guys.”
2) Though Penn State running back Saquon Barkley exited the game with 20:46 still remaining in the game, his impact on the night bolstered a season that in fact improved statistically on his sophomore effort.
For the regular season, Barkley finished with 199 carries for 1,134 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground, good for a 5.7 yards per carry average. Given his success in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis and the Rose Bowl performance against Southern Cal, his numbers are actually an improvement on his output through the 2016 season. There, he finished with 228 carries for 1,219 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground, good for a 5.35 ypc average.
The biggest transformation, however, came due to Barkley’s production in the passing game and via kickoff return.
In his 12 regular season games last year, Barkley finished with 21 receptions for 327 yards and two scores. For the 2017 regular season including his single catch for four yards Saturday night, Barkley has 47 receptions for 594 yards and three touchdowns.
In addition to his 429 yards and two touchdowns on 16 kickoff returns, Barkley’s all-purpose yards per game average for the regular season caps at 179.75 ypg.
3) Penn State had some personnel notes worthy of mention Saturday night in all phases of the game.
The first and most critical return came when defensive lineman Ryan Buchholz appeared at tackle on the third offensive play from scrimmage for Maryland. Coming off an injury that sidelined him on the very first play of Penn State’s loss at Ohio State, then prevented him from playing at Michigan State, at home against Rutgers and again last week against Nebraska, the redshirt sophomore was held without a recorded defensive statistic but returned to action nonetheless.
Starting left tackle Ryan Bates appeared with the team in pregame warmups, his left ankle wrapped, and returned to action briefly at right tackle in the game Saturday. Additionally, on the offensive line, starting center Connor McGovern left the game in the first quarter but would return to action in the third quarter, while redshirt freshman Michal Menet appeared at right guard at the end of the first quarter as well. Menet finished the season appearing in 11 of the Nittany Lions’ 12 games.
At wide receiver, redshirt sophomore Irvin Charles saw action after missing Penn State’s game against Nebraska due to an unspecified violation of team rules. Charles’ tough season continued Saturday, dropping a well-placed pass from an on-the-run quarterback Trace McSorley midway through the second quarter, as well as another in the fourth quarter.
4) Penn State’s defensive front found some redemption Saturday night.
At one point among the nation’s leaders in sacks, the Nittany Lions produced just five combined quarterback sacks in games against Ohio State, Michigan State, and Rutgers. Saturday evening at Maryland, tackle Kevin Givens and company brought down Maryland quarterback Max Bortenschlager five times for 13 yards in losses.
“I just felt like we still had something to prove. This being the last game, I felt like the last couple of games we didn't get to the quarterback that much and I felt like we wanted to make a statement this game,” said Givens. “I just felt like this game, it was the last game for our seniors and we just wanted to make a statement for them and play a good game for them.”
Allowing fewer than 20 points for the ninth time on the year, the Nittany Lions also produced three fourth-down stops of Maryland’s offense which Franklin considered to be turnovers in addition to the Terrapins’ two fumbles on the game.
“I felt like we matched up really well against Maryland on offense and defense up front and I thought we played well. But I thought the fourth down stops, I don't know if even seen three fourth-down stops in short-yardage situations. You kind of put them into the turnover category in some ways,” said Franklin.
5) A breakout for Penn State’s offense in the second half of the season, redshirt sophomore receiver Juwan Johnson continued his impressive play against the Terrapins.
First on the team in receiving yards with six catches for 63 yards, Johnson considered the team’s 66 point explosion to be a nice cap on the regular season.
“It kind of is a cherry on top to the regular season. It's been a wonderful season but it was a hard season,” said Johnson. “It’s sort of been up and down, so it's good that we came out today and put up the numbers that we did to end off the season.”
Fellow redshirt sophomore quarterback Tommy Stevens also finished with a big evening, rushing 12 times for 113 yards and three touchdowns to go along with a 3 of 7 passing performance for 11 yards and a score.
Asked about his coaching staff’s usage of Stevens through the course of the season, Stevens has been absent in Penn State’s games against Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan State, Franklin cited his confidence in both of the team’s quarterbacks while suggesting future implementations.
“We have packages for him in certain field zones and certain down and distances. We have something in each game and depending on how the game is going, Joe feels comfortable putting him,” said Franklin. “Obviously when you're in control like we were tonight that helps. It's typically a high red zone package for him as well and it's down and distance situations that make sense.
“We've got a pretty good quarterback in Trace McSorley. We've got a damn good quarterback as well in our backup in Tommy Stevens, but you have to be careful. Sometimes when you get into a two-quarterback system it can mess up the flow. I think we handled it pretty well this year and I can see this package continuing to grow for us.”
*****
An earlier version of this incorrectly stated that Ohio State had a 46-game streak of 22-or-more points scored spanning eight years.
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