Penn State wins road game against Rutgers 55-10 on back of defense, special teams
Penn State earned its ninth win of the season Saturday evening in Piscataway, taking down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on the road, 55-10.
The game started out poorly for both offenses, as neither proved capable of moving the ball the length of the field.
Rutgers got on the board first with a field goal, but the Nittany Lions answered immediately with a 100-yard kick return touchdown by freshman running back Nick Singleton.
The Scarlet Knights were able to score a touchdown shortly thereafter on a brief 21-yard drive in the first quarter after a big kickoff return by Aron Cruickshank that he nearly took to the house.
The poor offense continued after that with a Rutgers fumble getting returned for a touchdown by linebacker Kobe King to make it 14-10 Penn State at the end of the first quarter.
The Nittany Lions opened the second quarter by getting a stop, but a Singleton fumble put Rutgers in position to score again. However, the defense held firm and forced a Rutgers field goal attempt that was missed from 41 yards out.
Penn State’s defense set its offense up to succeed not long after, with Johnny Dixon hauling in an interception and the offense paying it off with a short touchdown drive that concluded with Sean Clifford finding a wide open Tyler Warren for a touchdown. The Nittany Lions put together one more scoring drive before the half was over, this time punctuating it with a Clifford run up the middle for a score to get it to the half at 28-10.
The Penn State defense started the second half by giving up a big play on a pass from Gavin Wimsatt to Sean Ryan for 55 yards. The Nittany Lions took back control shortly thereafter on a strip-sack by Curtis Jacobs that Ji’Ayir Brown returned for a 70-yard touchdown to make it 35-10.
That was more than enough for the win as the Nittany Lions closed out the game, 55-10.
Player of the game
Penn State linebacker Curtis Jacobs: Penn State’s defense as a whole would be deserving of this, but we’ll isolate Jacobs, who was all over the field against the Scarlet Knights. He was also responsible for the play that turned a potential 11-point game into a 25-point game and essentially sealed Rutgers’ fate in the matchup. He blew up Wimsatt on a sack, knocking the ball out in the process. That allowed Brown to scoop it up and run 70 yards for a touchdown after it looked like the Scarlet Knights were threatening to score. Instead, the game was 35-10 and out of reach.
What the win means
Penn State continues to inch closer to a New Year’s Six bowl with its ninth win of the season now in the bag. The Nittany Lions were heavy favorites for a reason against the Scarlet Knights but still had to take care of business against a program that isn’t on their level. They did that against Rutgers and are now one win away from their first 10-win season as a program since 2019. That was Clifford’s first year as a starter and ended with the team winning the Cotton Bowl. It remains to be seen where the program will end up this year but it will have a chance to make a New Year’s Six game if it beats Michigan State next week.
This story was originally published November 19, 2022 at 7:04 PM.
