Lions host Minutemen, look to remain unbeaten

Story posted September 19, 2014 in CommRadio, Sports by Abhar Shah

The Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0, 1-0 B1G) hope to keep their undefeated streak alive this weekend as they host the Massachusetts Minutemen (0-3).

The Nittany Lions are coming off a 13-10 win against Rutgers where they rallied from a ten-point deficit and won on a five-yard touchdown run from Bill Belton with 1:13 left to play. 

Massachusetts, on the other hand, is still looking for its first win on the season. They are coming off consecutive close losses to Vanderbilt and Colorado in which they lost each game by three points.

The Nittany Lions’ offense is still suspect. They mustered only 13 points against Rutgers, a team that surrendered 38 points to Howard and 41 to Washington State.

Sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg looks to get back on track against the Minutemen after a shaky performance in Piscataway where he completed 25 44 attempts for 309 yards and an interception.

The running game for the Nittany Lions is still a major concern. They are averaging 2.5 yards per carry and the top two running backs- Bill Belton and Zwinak- have combined for only two touchdowns this season.

On the other side, the Minutemen have scored a total of 76 points on offense this season. Senior quarterback Blake Froahnapfel has thrown for 619 yards and five touchdowns but is completing less than 50% of his passes.

The running backs –Jamal Wilson and J.T. Blyden- have each carried the ball 20 times on the season but Wilson has been more efficient averaging 4.4 yards per carry to Blyden’s 3.4 yards per carry.

Conversely, in the three games this season Penn State's defense has given up only 207 yards on the ground. Their opponents average 2.4 yards per rush and most importantly, the Nittany Lions defense has only surrendered 37 points on the season. They are ranked first in the Big Ten in scoring defense and ranked third in total defense.

The Minutemen defense has been subpar. They have allowed an average of 35 points per game. Their opponents have averaged 218 yards on the ground and about 214 yards through the air.

Even though this game looks like it could be an easy win for the Nittany Lions, don’t count the Minutemen out. They lost against Vanderbilt the same way the Nittany Lions won against Rutgers. If Penn State’s offense plays like it did last week their undefeated streak will be in trouble on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions take on the Minutemen on ComRadio on Saturday at 4 p.m. Coverage begins at 12 p.m. with ComRadio Tailgate Show live from outside the All-Sports Museum.

(Photo credit: AP Photo/PennLive.com, Joe Hermitt)

Abhar Shah is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email abs5349@psu.edu.