The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State’s dominant 59-0 win over Maryland

KJ Hamler had an inkling that a performance like this was coming.

The Penn State wideout heard his head coach tell reporters earlier in the week that he needed the ball in his hands more. And the redshirt sophomore wasn’t disappointed Friday night in the result — a six-catch, 108-yard, one-touchdown showing during the utter dismantling of Maryland.

“I think I’m just an electric player,” Hamler said after the 59-0 victory at Maryland Stadium. “Giving me space is dangerous for teams.”

Coach Mike Locksley and the Terrapins learned that the hard way. But Hamler’s teammates still hesitated to label this a “breakout” game, even if it was Hamler’s first 100-yard receiving game against an FBS opponent this season.

Count running back Journey Brown among those teammates. “I feel like he hasn’t really reached his potential yet,” Brown said.

So what would constitute a breakout game in Brown’s eyes?

“Lord knows,” he said, smiling. “I’m going to wait and see just like y’all do. When I know, y’all will know, too.”

Hamler is among the Big Ten’s top playmakers, and Friday went a long way in showing that Penn State can find ways to get the ball in his hands. The 5-foot-9 speedster was averaging less than four offensive touches per game prior to Friday, so the Maryland contest appeared to be a step in the right direction.

“Every chance I get,” Hamler added, “I got to make a play out of it.”

Good

Umm ... everything: Let’s just start with the one overarching message here — this was as close to perfection as the Nittany Lions have gotten, in years.

Head coach James Franklin told reporters right after the game, shortly before midnight, that it was maybe the most complete game that Penn State has had since he first arrived in Happy Valley in 2014.

The coaching staff was on. The offense was unstoppable. The defense shut down Maryland, whether the starters were on the field or the third-string was subbed in. Everything went right for PSU. On Friday night, Penn State looked like a College Football Playoff contender.

But let’s get a little more specific ...

Third-down offense: This was a glaring weak spot for Penn State ahead of the matchup with Maryland. Entering Friday night’s game, Penn State was ranked No. 127 nationally — out of 130 FBS teams — in third-down conversion rate.

But on Friday? The Nittany Lions were nearly — well, we said it was a theme — perfect.

Penn State converted more third downs Friday (9-of-13) than it had in the three previous games combined (7-of-30). It entered the game converting 23.3 percent of its third downs and went on Friday to convert 69 percent.

Offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne hasn’t exactly been a staple on the “Good” list this season. But he deserves credit for Friday’s offensive game plan and execution. It was a solid night all around.

QB Sean Clifford stepping up: By halftime, Clifford had already racked up 287 passing yards — the most in a first half in Penn State history.

By the end of the game, the redshirt sophomore finished with 398 passing yards — the third-most in school history — three passing touchdowns and one interception. On top of that, he led the team in rushing with 54 yards and another score. Oh, and did we mention that he did all this by the middle of the third quarter, because he was pulled shortly after?

“Offensively,” James Franklin said, “I thought Sean was on fire.”

Clifford has a reputation for being a film-room junkie, and he said he spent an inordinate amount of time in the film room during the bye week. He plotted virtually every pass he made this season and diagnosed his issues.

And, most importantly of all, he proved Friday that he can fix his issues. Good quarterbacks diagnose issues; elite quarterbacks fix issues.

Clifford’s expectations just got a little higher.

Offensive line has best game of season: Penn State didn’t permit a single sack, allowing Sean Clifford to have a career day.

When it came to run-blocking, the Nittany Lions were nearly just as good. Although the first-team did allow four tackles-for-loss, three were for just a loss of 1 yard — and the offensive line opened plenty of holes to make up for it.

By halftime, Penn State was averaging 5.3 yards per rush. And the Nittany Lions’ running backs couldn’t have been happier.

“Fantastic,” Journey Brown said, when asked about the OL’s performance. “They came out, and they played as well as I’ve seen them in a long time.”

Tariq Castro-Fields’ homecoming/defensive turnovers: Penn State cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields hails from Maryland and was happy to see a lot of familiar faces on the Terrapins. Odds are, though, they wish they hadn’t seen him.

Linebacker Jan Johnson started the first momentum swing with an interception on Maryland’s first drive. But, just as the Terps were about to rebound with a score — the Terps faced second-and-10 at the PSU 11 — Castro-Fields stepped in front of a Josh Jackson pass and grabbed the defense’s second interception in a span of 10 minutes.

Penn State scored on the next drive to earn the 21-0 advantage. And the blowout was on. Castro-Fields played a critical role, earning two other pass breakups and some love from Twitter.

Defensive depth and dominance: No, we couldn’t get an exact count on just how many defensive players saw time in Friday night’s game ... but it was a lot. And it didn’t matter if the starters were in, the backups saw time or the third-string was on the field — Penn State dominated.

Twenty-five different defensive players recorded a defensive stat. True freshman Adisa Isaac had 2.5 tackles-for-loss, backup LB Ellis Brooks finished with 2.5 sacks, and reserve LB Charlie Katshir had a QB hurry. LB Jesse Luketa also impressed in Micah Parsons’ absence, finishing with five solo stops and a pass breakup.

Maryland just didn’t have an answer for Penn State’s defense, no matter the personnel. In fact, once the starters were pulled midway through the third quarter, the defense got stronger on paper. (The Terps sort of giving up played a role, too.) Maryland was averaging 2.7 yards per play in the first half — but finished the game with 2.2 yards per play.

The Terps ended the game with 11-of-24 passing for 68 yards and two picks. And they had 60 rushing yards on 34 carries. It was absolute dominance.

Bad

Sean Clifford’s lone interception: OK, OK, we get it. The redshirt sophomore had an 84 percent completion rate and, overall, was incredible. One interception isn’t a huge deal.

But that one play wasn’t good. In fact, the pick was bad — which is why it merits a mention here. Although Maryland DB Nick Cross made a great play on the ball, Clifford shouldn’t have thrown it.

Help us out here, James Franklin.

“That’s the one thing I’d be critical of — the interception was not a good interception,” Franklin said. “The guy made a heck of a play, but it was not a good play on our behalf. That’d be the one critique I’d probably give Sean in the game.”

LB Micah Parsons’ ejection: Midway through the first quarter, Parsons sprinted toward the quarterback for a sack — but hit Maryland’s Josh Jackson after he threw the ball.

Although he didn’t appear to lead with his head, Parsons still went high and left his feet. Upon review, officials ruled the hit was targeting and Parsons was forced to miss the rest of the game.

He watched from the locker room, even tweeting his support for the road team, but the hit wasn’t a good look.

“I didn’t think it was a smart play,” James Franklin said. “I mean, we all know you better tackle from the chest down in football now. And it wasn’t a big hit, but he didn’t even try to go down from the chest or lower.”

On the plus side, because Parsons was ejected in the first half, he’ll be available for the entirety of the next game. But, unless he wants to find himself on the “bad” list again, he better learn from Friday’s mistake.

Ugly

Maryland student section/fans: Memo to Maryland — maybe don’t try that “Blackout” again.

Terps fans were told to wear all black to Friday night’s much-hyped matchup, although the stadium definitely took on more of a “salt-and-pepper” look. By the middle of the second quarter, fed-up Maryland fans started heading for the exits. And, by the start of the third quarter, more than 80 percent of the student section had already left.

At that point, most of the stadium was clad in white. It was an ugly look for Maryland.

In the final quarter, from the field, it was difficult to hear Maryland’s band over “We are ... Penn State!” chants. And, in the stands, Penn State’s students began to take over Maryland’s student section — until security moved them out.

For a hyped game where Maryland canceled afternoon classes, and brought in extra bleachers to hold more fans, it just about the university’s worst-case scenario. Maryland’s football team was embarrassed on national TV, and their fan base’s disgust was impossible to miss.

That kind of sting takes a while to go away. And this “while” isn’t measured in days or weeks, either.

This story was originally published September 28, 2019 at 8:38 PM.