Nittany Lions shut out Terrapins, 30-0
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – The No. 14/15/14 Penn State football team (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) shutout Maryland (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten), 30-0, Saturday at Beaver Stadium in front of a crowd of 108,796.
Sean Clifford had a record-breaking afternoon as he took over the top spot on Penn State’s career passing yardage list, passing Trace McSorley for the top spot. Clifford then became the seventh player in Big Ten history to surpass 10,000 career passing yards. He finished the day with 10,023 career yards.
Nicholas Singleton broke a tie with his teammate Kaytron Allen for Penn State’s freshman season record for rushing touchdown runs, recording his ninth and 10th scores this year. Jake Pinegar also made moves in the Penn State record books, moving up to second in career scoring (323) and fourth in field goals made (48), while Brenton Strange took over third place in Penn State history in touchdown receptions by a tight end (11).
The Penn State defense shut out the Terrapins in the first half, yielding just 27 total yards. The Nittany Lions posted seven tackles for loss, including five sacks in the opening half. Maryland gained just 134 yards of total offense, which is the fourth lowest total allowed by a Penn State defense in Big Ten games.
Penn State’s defensive unit was led by Abdul Carter with seven tackles (3 solo). Carter stuffed the stat sheet against the Terps, recording a sack, two quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. Chop Robinson picked up two sacks of his own, as the Nittany Lion defense finished with seven on the day. Penn State had six or more sacks in back-to-back games (6, at Indiana; 7, Maryland) for the first time since 2007 when it had two consecutive games with six or more sacks (7, Florida International, 9/1; 6, Notre Dame, 9/8).
Offensively, Penn State featured its freshman running back duo as Singleton posted 122 yards and two scores on 11 carries in the game. Allen’s day included 16 carries for 73 yards.
Maryland began the game with the ball, but the Nittany Lions’ defense pushed them back six yards and forced a three-and-out on the opening possession. Zane Durant picked up his first career sack on third down to force the Maryland punt.
Penn State started its first drive on the Maryland 47-yard line and constructed a 9-play drive that resulted in a 3-yard touchdown reception for Brenton Strange. On the first drive, Clifford hit Strange for a 16-yard strike to Brenton Strange on a third-and-8 to surpassed Trace McSorley for first place on Penn State’s career passing yards list.
The Nittany Lions increased their lead to 14-0 on a 45-yard touchdown run by Singleton on fourth-and-1. Penn State extended its lead to 21-0 on another explosive touchdown run on fourth-and-1 by Singleton. This time, a 27-yard scamper for the score concluded a seven-play, 72-yard drive.
Maryland’s most productive drive of the half, a nine-play 43-yard effort, was stifled by the Nittany Lion defense when it forced an incomplete pass on fourth down. The Nittany Lions tacked on three more points with 1:34 remaining in the half when Jake Pinegar tied his career high with a 50-yard field goal.
Pinegar knocked a 46-yard field goal through as time expired to put the Nittany Lions up 27-0 at halftime.
The first (and final) score of the second half came from Pinegar once again, as he drilled a 21-yard field goal with 8:15 remaining in the third quarter to put the Nittany Lions up 30-0.
