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Centre Daily Times, Sunday, September 20, 2015 B9

Offense comes alive in Nittany Lions win

UNIVERSITY PARK
The hole was so big, the
Blue Band could have
marched through it.
Akeel Lynch took the
handoff from Christian
Hackenberg, took a few
strides, made a slight cut to
his right and didnt stop until it was time to celebrate in
the end zone.
It was a 75-yard burst, and
there wasnt
a Rutgers
defender
who
got
within five
yards of the
senior running back.
The last
time Lynch
Gordon saw a hole
big?
Brunskill thatMaybe
Pop Warner, Lynch joked
Saturday night after Penn
States 28-3 throttling of the
Scarlet Knights. We
caught them in a good play
call against a pass defense.
We gashed them on that. It
was a great play call, great
execution by the guys up
front.
The offensive line, the
play-calling and the offense
in general got hammered
for its lack of execution in a
season-opening loss to Temple, and it didnt look much
better until the fourth quarter last weekend in a win over Buffalo.
On Saturday night at a
packed Beaver Stadium, the
Penn State offense showed
the kind of life fans had been
aching to see.
While watching Lynch
gallop down the field with
room to run was the highlight, thanks to some stout
blocking from the offensive
line, there were so many
other reasons to like what
the Nittany Lions had to offer.
The offense rolled up 471
yards in the game, including
330 on the ground. In the
first half alone they racked
up 311 yards, with 175 on the
ground. Lynch had 120
yards, and Saquon Barkley
rolled up 195.
It wasnt bad, since Rutgers entered the game giving
up an average of 39 yards
rushing in its first two
games, tops in the Big Ten
and fourth-best in the nation.
Even better, the offensive
play calling showed imagination and variety.
There were toss sweeps
and dives, but also misdirec-

CDT photo/Abby Drey

Penn States Akeel Lynch darts down the field with the ball around Rutgers Anthony Cioffi (31) during the Nittany Lions 28-3 victory over the Scarlet
Knights on Saturday. Lynch finished the game with 120 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown.

tion plays, running jet

sweeps and draw plays out
of the same formations.
Knight defenders were running one way, the Lions
were going the other.
Plus, Hackenberg didnt
end up on his back once
for the second straight
game.
For them to have backto-back weeks of success
like that is huge for their
confidence and our team,
Hackenberg said of the line.
Im super excited for where
were at right now.
But Hackenberg also got
credit for making the running game a success, changing plays when he read the
defense looking for a pass.
That was the case on
Lynchs long dash, when

Hackenberg made the presnap read and the running

back could see how the seas
would part for him.
I was psyched, Lynch
said. I knew it was going to
be a big play.
Hackenberg
thought
there were more play
changes at the line Saturday
than before, not only this
season but last year as well,
and most worked in the Nittany Lions favor.
It was so important to
our game plan, Hackenberg said. Because of what
we were doing, we were
able to go out and execute
it.
Lynch wasnt alone with
the ground success.
Barkley, after not seeing
much game action until the

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fourth quarter against Buffalo, when he blazed to over

100 yards in that frame
alone, was used a lot more
consistently this time.
He also had his own collection of highlights, with
big holes from the line and a
few broken tackles to tack
on the yards.
It had been five years
since Penn State had a pair
of backs break the 100-yard
mark in a Big Ten game, and

six years since two backs

broke the century mark in
consecutive games.
The offensive line knew
there was some pride on the
line.
We went through a lot of
turmoil, guard Brendan
Mahon said. It all just kind
of fit together, pieced together and worked out.
The Nittany Lions may
have benefited from facing a
team in turmoil, with Rutg-

ers players having trouble

with the law and the team
losing its head coach to a
suspension a few days ago,
but it was the kind of night
Penn State needed.
We can run the ball,
Lynch said. I think thats
evidenced today. I think we
ran for the most yards in the
last six years. It gives the
guys up front confidence.
They played real well today.

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