Penn State football overcomes slow start to beat Rutgers 27-6 and clinch 10-win season
It wasn’t pretty but, in the end, Penn State still came away with a win.
Without injured starting quarterback Sean Clifford, the No. 10 Nittany Lions held on to beat Rutgers 27-6 Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium in the final game of the regular season. Backup QB Will Levis finished 8-of-14 passing for 81 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Penn State was without several starters due to injury Saturday, including CB Tariq Castro-Fields and projected first-round NFL draft pick DE Yetur Gross-Matos. But the Nittany Lions were still considered heavy 41-point favorites, and Rutgers kept it close until the final quarter. Penn State led 7-3 at halftime and 13-6 early in the final quarter.
Penn State sputtered offensively, getting outgained by a margin of 383 to 333. But behind a bend-but-don’t break defense and a strong rushing game — Levis and RB Journey Brown each had over 100 yards apiece — Penn State was able to survive the upset scare.
With the win, the Nittany Lions (10-2) will await their bowl fate Dec. 8 while the Scarlet Knights (2-10) will have to wait until next season. Rutgers is currently riding a 21-game Big Ten losing streak.
Player of the game
RB Journey Brown: LB Micah Parsons deserves a shoutout here, too, but 100-plus rushing yards and a hat-trick of touchdowns is hard to overlook. Brown finished Saturday’s game with 103 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
He played an especially important role in the second half, when Penn State needed it most. Brown had 61 yards and two scores in the final two quarters, and he averaged more than 6 yards per carry. It wasn’t Penn State’ best performance of the year, but Brown helped make sure it got the job done.
Play of the game
QB Will Levis’ 44-yard TD pass to WR Jahan Dotson: We wouldn’t fault you if you wanted to switch up the “Play of the game” with the “Turning point.” Both plays were incredibly important to the team, but this was such an odd play in the end that we needed to put it here.
On third-and-15 in the final quarter, with a 13-6 Penn State lead, Levis handled a low snap that was nearly fumbled. He picked it up, scrambled to his left and let it go around midfield to a wide-open Dotson, who had to wait for the ball. Dotson caught it around the 4, stutter-stepped one defender and started sprinting east-west, out-running about three Rutgers defenders into the end zone.
That 44-yard touchdown increased Penn State’s lead to 20-6. Rutgers wasn’t coming back from that.
Turning point
Penn State QB Will Levis’ 49-yard run in the third quarter: Penn State came out of halftime nursing a measly 7-3 lead against one of the nation’s worst Power 5 teams. After Rutgers opened the second half with a three-and-out, the Nittany Lions’ offense needed to make a statement.
And Levis stepped up in a big way.
With 13:03 left in the third quarter, on the first PSU offensive play of the second half, Levis opted to keep the ball, bounced outside and took off running. He even carried some defenders a couple of yards for a game-changing 49-yard run. Two plays later, Journey Brown scored from 18 yards out to extend the lead to 13-3. (The PAT was blocked.)
Levis’ play helped spark that score, which essentially put the game out of reach for the Scarlet Knights, who were struggling offensively.
Stat of the game
81: Those were the number of passing yards Saturday by the Penn State offense, the first time the Nittany Lions threw for less than 100 yards collectively since passing for 93 yards against Illinois on Nov. 22, 2014.
Penn State clearly emphasized the run Saturday, rushing about three times for every time it passed, but fans don’t get to see that kind of ratio very often.
Up next
Bowl TBD: A New Year’s Six Bowl, like the Rose Bowl, still isn’t out of the question for Penn State (10-2). But the Nittany Lions still need some help, and the easiest path here is simply an Ohio State win in the conference championship.
Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings should let us know exactly where Penn State stands. And the bowls will be announced Dec. 8, a day after the conference championships take place.
For Rutgers (2-10), the season is over. But it should be favored to win its next game, the 2020 season opener, against the Monmouth Hawks on Sept. 5, 2020.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 6:39 PM.
