Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Penn State Nittany Lions Match Player Stats On Nov 11, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 11, 2017

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Trace McSorley passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as No. 14 Penn State drubbed Rutgers 35-6 on Saturday afternoon.

With the Scarlet Knights focusing their defensive attention on running back Saquon Barkley, McSorley hit 16 of 21 passes for 214 yards, and ran 13 times for 44 yards, as the Lions (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing streak.

His TD passes covered 22 yards to DaeSean Hamilton in the second quarter and 16 yards to Mike Gesicki in the fourth. His scoring run was a 20-yarder in the second quarter.

Barkley, who managed a season-low 35 yards on 14 carries, did run for two short TDs in the third quarter.

Andrew Harte kicked two field goals for Rutgers (4-6, 3-4), which lost its 11th straight to the Nittany Lions.

Scarlet Knights kicker Justin Davidovicz hit the opening kickoff short and high, and when no one on Penn State's return team handled the ball, it was recovered by RU's Lawrence Stevens at the 21. Four plays later Harte hit a 33-yard field goal, giving the Knights their first lead over Penn State since 2014.

The Knights also bridged the first and second quarters with a 15-play, 57-yard march that consumed 7:45 and resulted in Harte's 25-yard field goal.

Gio Rescigno converted a fourth-and-1 from the Rutgers 44 with a 3-yard sneak, and later scurried about the pocket before completing a 12-yard pass to Mohamed Jabbie on third-and-9. Edwards also ran five times for 32 yards in the march.

PSU immediately answered with a McSorley-keyed touchdown march consisting of four plays and covering 65 yards. He completed passes of 19 yards to Gesicki and 25 yards to Hamilton, setting up the quarterback's 20-yard scoring run.

McSorley struck again after a Knights punt, hitting Hamilton for a 22-yard TD to cap a seven-play, 74-yard drive to put the Lions up 14-6.

Barkley's two scoring runs, covering 1 and 4 yards, came in a third quarter that saw the Lions outgain the Knights 88-9 while extending their lead to 28-6.

His first TD run came two snaps after a gadget play. On third-and-9 from the Rutgers 15, McSorley hit Hamilton with a short pass, and he pitched to Barkley, who hurdled a tackler while advancing to the 1.

McSorley's scoring pass to Gesicki came with 6:52 left in the game.

NOTES: Penn State was without OT Ryan Bates and DE Ryan Buchholz for the second straight week. Both suffered undisclosed leg injuries in the Oct. 28 loss at Ohio State. ... PSU QB Trace McSorley has thrown a TD pass in a school-record 25 straight games. ... The game was marked by numerous special-teams misadventures. Penn State K Tyler Davis knocked two kickoffs out of bounds, and Rutgers K Justin Davidovicz did so once, setting up a PSU touchdown drive. Rutgers WR Janarion Grant also fumbled the second-half kickoff -- on a hit by Davis, no less -- but the Lions were unable to capitalize. ... The announced attendance for PSU's homecoming game was 107,531.