The Sports Xchange
Oct 3, 2015
Junior quarterback Christian Hackenburg passed for 156 yards and one touchdown as Penn State escaped with a 20-14 victory over Army on Saturday at State College, Pa.
Redshirt freshman running back Nick Scott rushed for a touchdown and junior tight end Mike Gesicki had a receiving score for the Nittany Lions (4-1).
Penn State had only 12 first downs but was opportunistic and scored 10 points thanks to recovering three Army fumbles.
Backup senior quarterback A.J. Schurr rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns for the Black Knights (1-4).
Schurr started in place of injured sophomore Ahmad Bradshaw and passed the ball only one time for a 32-yard completion to junior wide receiver Edgar Poe.
Army trailed 13-0 when Schurr scored on a three-yard run with 5:36 left in the third quarter.
Penn State answered at the end of the quarter, when sophomore receiver Chris Godwin made a diving 49-yard catch and Hackenberg followed with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Gesicki to make it 20-7 heading into the fourth.
Schurr got the Black Knights back in the game with a 56-yard scoring burst to make it a six-point margin with 11:04 remaining.
Army had a chance for a go-ahead score and faced fourth-and-5 from the Penn State 43-yard line when Schurr was sacked by Nittany Lions sophomore linebacker Jason Cabinda with 1:26 remaining.
Penn State opened the scoring on Scott's 11-yard run with 9:57 left in the first quarter. Redshirt freshman kicker Joey Julius booted a 37-yard field goal 25 seconds before halftime to make it 10-0.