Penn State Routs Maryland on a Rainy Senior Day

Story posted November 24, 2018 in CommRadio, Sports by Ben Ferree

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa -- As sideways freezing rain fell over Beaver Stadium, 21 Penn State seniors said goodbye to Beaver Stadium and made sure their last game at home was a memorable one.

The Nittany Lions routed Maryland 38-3 in their final regular season game of the season to improve to 9-3 on the season.

Penn State needed just four plays on its opening drive of the game to find the end zone as senior quarterback Trace McSorley scored on a three-yard rush and the offense never slowed down from there totaling 565 yards in the game.

After the teams traded punts, a 48-yard pass on third and 10 propelled Maryland into the red zone but the Terps were held to a field goal with 4:53 left in the first quarter.

The Nittany Lions responded quickly on the next drive as McSorley scrambled up the middle for 20 yards to give Penn State a 14-3 lead. This was McSorley’s second rushing touchdown of the first quarter.

Later in the second quarter, McSorley broke the record for career completions in Penn State history.

Penn State’s defense impressed all game holding Maryland to only 259 yards.

“I think our defense probably as much as any unit just kept getting better,” coach James Franklin said. “We came into this season with a lot of questions marks on that side of the ball at linebacker and defensive tackle and we just kind of kept getting better. I think tonight was a really good example of that.”

The Nittany Lions aided by a Maryland penalty advanced the ball into the red zone once again near the end of the second quarter but after two unsuccessful fade routes to the back of the end zone, Penn State settled for a 25-yard field goal to gain a 17-3 lead.

At the end of the first half, Penn State completed a 46-yard hook and ladder play all the way down to the Maryland 20-yard line as the clock expired. The Nittany Lions took a two-touchdown lead into the locker room on senior day.

The Penn State defense continued to impress in the second half as Kevin Givens sacked Tyrrell Pigrome on the first play of the second half.

The Nittany Lions offense started the second half running the ball down Maryland’s throats rushing for 58 yards on the drive and ultimately finishing off the 86-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run by Ricky Slade to give Penn State a commanding 24-3 lead.

Penn State rushed for 310 yards in the game.

As Penn State was moving the ball once again on its next drive, Miles Sanders broke free for 20 yards running into Maryland territory but fumbled and it was recovered by Maryland. The run did put Sanders over 100 yards for the fifth time this season though.

Maryland seized the opportunity after the fumble and drove the ball down the field but once again the Penn State defense stood strong forcing Maryland to attempt a field goal. The 31-yard field goal by Joseph Petrino was missed.

Penn State seized momentum and only needed six plays to go 80 yards to increase its lead to 31-3. McSorley found Pat Freiermuth in the end zone giving McSorley his third touchdown in his last game in Beaver Stadium.

On the ensuing drive, McSorley handed the ball off to Slade, which was McSorley’s last play in Beaver Stadium. McSorley left the field to a standing ovation.

“Trace McSorley is the same guy every day,” Franklin said. “The guy hasn’t had a bad day in five years. He’s the same guy from the day he stepped on campus, then the recruiting process, to now."

“You know what you are getting with him,” Franklin continued. “He is going to be a great teammate, always a class act, he’s going to be unbelievable in the community, he’s going to compete like hell on Saturday’s and he is going to prepare like nobody else.”

Penn State finished off the drive with another touchdown as Slade found the end zone for the second time in the game giving Penn State a 38-3 lead.

“Wherever they tell us we are going we’ll be very appreciative of the opportunity,” Franklin said on what bowl game his team ends up in. “We’ll go enjoy ourselves and try to be 1-0.”

 

 

Ben Ferree is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email ferreebenjaminc@gmail.com.