Eastern Michigan Eagles vs Penn State Nittany Lions Match Player Stats On Sep 07, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 7, 2013

Penn State 45, Eastern Michigan 7: Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton ran for two touchdowns apiece, while the host Nittany Lions kept the Eagles' offense out of the end zone and held them to 44 yards in the second half.

Christian Hackenberg was 23-of-33 and set a freshman school record with 311 yards - including a 45-yard touchdown pass to Allen Robinson - as Penn State (2-0) outgained Eastern Michigan 574-183. Belton and sophomore Akeel Lynch (1 TD) rushed for 108 yards apiece while Robinson caught seven passes for 129 yards.

Matt Hunter scored on an 11-yard fumble return while Tyler Benz was 17-of-26 for 115 yards for the Eagles (1-1). Bronson Hill, who rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns in Eastern Michigan's 34-24 season-opening victory over Howard, was held to 38 yards on 12 carries by the Nittany Lions.

The Eagles scored first when Hunter forced Hackenberg to fumble while sacking him, picked up the ball and ran into the end zone. Penn State responded with a 2-yard TD run by Zwinak in the first quarter and a 5-yard score by Belton in the second en route to a 17-7 halftime lead.

Zwinak's second touchdown - a 7-yarder - came with 2:09 left in the third quarter and Hackenberg found a wide open Robinson at 12:25 in the fourth to make it 31-7. Belton (51 yards) and Lynch (18) added touchdown runs to close out the game.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Penn State outgained Eastern Michigan 242-139 in the first half despite losing the time of possession battle 17:24-10:36. ... The Nittany Lions' Sam Ficken set a school record with his 14th consecutive field goal - a 39-yarder with 17 seconds left in the first half. The previous mark was set by Craig Fayak in 1992. ... Penn State improved to 20-3 against Mid-American Conference teams after its third victory in three meetings with Eastern Michigan.