No. 4 Penn State hosts Maryland Saturday
UNIVERSITY PARK – No. 4 Penn State welcomes Maryland to Beaver Stadium on Saturday, November 30. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
SERIES HISTORY: Penn State meets Maryland for the 48th time in program history. The Nittany Lions own a 43-3-1 advantage in the series. Penn State has won seven of the last eight games in the series and is 24-2 in home games against the Terrapins. Last season in College Park, PSU earned a 51-15 win. Drew Allar threw for 240 yards and four touchdowns, while Kaytron Allen rushed for 91 yards and a score. Penn State held Maryland to -49 rushing yards and recorded three takeaways.
THREE-STRAIGHT 10-WIN SEASONS: Penn State has won 10 games in three-straight seasons for the fourth time in program history, the first time as a member of the Big Ten, and first time since 1980-82. PSU joins Oregon and Ohio State as the only FBS teams with 10+ wins in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Among Penn State’s 10 wins are five road wins, marking the ninth time in program history PSU has earned 10+ wins and five road wins in a season. The Nittany Lions have won seven games over teams with winning records, including six over Power Four teams with winning records.
WARREN BREAKS MORE RECORDS: On an 8-yard catch in the third quarter at Minnesota, Warren broke the Penn State tight end career receiving yards record, surpassing Mike Gesicki’s 1,481 yards in 2014-17. Warren has 1,516 receiving yards. He also posted his fifth career 100-yard receiving game, breaking a tie with Ted Kwalick (4; 1966-68) for the most among PSU tight ends. Warren is also tied for the PSU tight end career receiving touchdowns record (16) with Pat Freiermuth (2018-20), while holding PSU tight end season records for receptions (75) and receiving yards (910) and tying Wisconsin’s Travis Beckum (75; 2007) for the Big Ten tight end season record for receptions.
THE OPPOSITION: Maryland is 4-7 overall and 1-7 in Big Ten play. The Terrapins fell 29-13 against Iowa last Saturday. MJ Morris threw for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Tai Felton hauled in six receptions for 57 yards and two scores, Dante Trader Jr. led the defense with 10 tackles, including eight solo. Maryland tallied five tackles for loss.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,516 – After recording 102 receiving yards at Minnesota, Tyler Warren owns the Penn State tight end career receiving yards record with 1,516.
32 – Luke Reynolds gained 32 yards to convert on a fake punt on fourth-and-1 on PSU’s game-sealing drive at Minnesota.
27th – Penn State reached 10 wins in a season for the 27th time in program history and has 10 regular-season wins for the 21st time.
8.5 – Zane Durant is fourth among Power Four defensive tackles (1st among B1G defensive tackles) with 8.5 tackles for loss this season.
MARYLAND SCOUTING REPORT
Michael Locksley is in his sixth season as Maryland’s head coach.
Locksley arrived at Maryland following a three-year stint at Alabama. He served as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator in 2018 after being co-offensive coordinator during Alabama’s 2017 National Championship season.
This is Lockley’s third stint at Maryland. He most recently served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2012-15, and was the Terrapins’ running backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 1997-2002. Locksley was Maryland’s interim head coach for the final six games of the 2015 season.
Maryland is 4-7 overall and 1-7 in Big Ten play.
The Terrapins fell 29-13 against Iowa last Saturday.
MJ Morris threw for 103 yards and two touchdowns, while Tai Felton had six receptions for 57 yards and two scores.
On offense, Maryland sits 10th in the Big Ten in scoring offense (25.2), sixth in total offense (403.5), first in pass offense (289.6) and 15th in rushing offense (113.9).
QB Billy Edwards is seventh in the country in completions per game (24.82) and second in the Big Ten in passing yards (2,881), while adding 15 passing touchdowns and five rushing scores.
RB Roman Hemby leads the rushing attack with 543 yards and six touchdowns.
WR Tai Felton ranks second in the nation in receptions per game (8.4), fourth in receiving yards (1,097), fifth in receiving yards per game (99.7) and 11th in receiving touchdowns (9).
On defense, the Terrapins hold 17th in the Big Ten in scoring defense (29.2), 16th in total defense (375.0), 17th in pass defense (245.7) and 12th in rushing defense (129.3).
LB Ruben Hyppolite II paces Maryland with 55 tackles to go with 5.5 tackles for loss. LB Caleb Wheatland and LB Kellan Wyatt each have seven tackles for loss.
P Bryce McFerson ranks 10th in the country in punt average (45.5).
MINNESOTA NOTES
The Nittany Lions have won their five road games in a season for the first time since 1994 and went 4-0 on the road in Big Ten games for the third time in program history, joining the 1994 and 2009. In 1994, PSU had a road win at Temple that was played at Franklin Field on the campus of Penn.
PSU won five true road games in a season for the first time since 1985.
Penn State reached 10 wins in a season for the 27th time in program history and 10 regular season wins for the 21st time.
The Nittany Lions have won at least 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the 13th time in program history.
Penn State won 10 games in three-straight seasons for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 1980-82 (10 wins in 1980; 10 in 1981; 11 in 1982).
On an 8-yard catch in the third quarter, TE Tyler Warren broke the Penn State tight end career receiving yards record. He surpassed Mike Gesicki (1,481; 2014-17). Warren has 1,516 career receiving yards.
Warren has 75 receptions this season, tying the Big Ten season tight end receptions record, matching Wisconsin’s Travis Beckum (75 receptions in 2007).
The Nittany Lions gave up 22 rushing yards on 15 attempts in the second half.
TE Luke Reynolds gained 32 rushing yards on a fake punt in the fourth quarter.
THREE-STRAIGHT 10-WIN SEASONS
In 2024, Penn State has reached 10 wins in a season for the 27th time in program history and 10 regular season wins for the 21st time in program history.
In 2024, PSU earned 10 wins and five road wins in a season for the ninth time in program history.
The Nittany Lions won at least 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the 13th time in program history and won at least 10 games in three-straight seasons for the fourth time in program history and first time since 1980-82.
Penn State joins Oregon and Ohio State as the only FBS teams who posted 10+ win seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Tulane all won 10+ games in 2022 and 2023 and could join the list in 2024.
The Nittany Lions reached 10 wins for the sixth time since 2016.
Penn State is one of nine FBS teams with at least 10 wins in at least six of the last nine seasons, joining Alabama (8), Boise State (6), Clemson (7), Georgia (6), Michigan (6), Notre Dame (7), Ohio State (8) and Oklahoma (6).
