Friday night the Nittany Lions didn’t flinch or give an inch as the steamrolled the Terrapins 59-0. Quarterback Sean Clifford was nearly lights out for Penn State completing 26 of 31 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns, but throwing a lone pick, keeping him at human status. It could be debatable though since he also led the team in rushing yards.
Maryland, on the other hand, might want to forget about this one altogether. Other than receiving the football to start the game, they didn’t have much to celebrate. Their first drive ended on the fifth play as Virginia Tech transfer, now Terps QB, Josh Jackson was intercepted by Jan Johnson at the Maryland 39 and returned 17 yards to the 22.
To add salt onto the wound, penalties pushed the ball to the 8-yard line for Penn State. Then four-seconds later, Clifford ran it in himself for the score. The transcript for this one is much more of the same. With 9:36 left in the 1st quarter, it was already 14-0 Penn State, and they had only ran 4 total plays on the offensive side of the ball.
“I thought Sean [Clifford] was on fire. Really handled being on the road for the first time, and a Big Ten environment. Thought the environment there to start the game was challenging as well and I thought we handled it really well.” said Penn State head coach James Franklin.
They handled it well and continued to beat the drum. At the half, State was up 38-0. All the 3 touchdowns were already thrown by Clifford and his one pick. Jackson on the other hand for the Terps has no TDs and two first-half picks.
To say Jackson struggled would be a severe understatement. Just 10 for 21, he passed for a game total of 65 yards and needed with a QBR of 3.8.
The Maryland backfield was unable to get anything going in the running game with their leading rusher Anthony McFarland Jr. having 9 carries for a total of 27 yards. As a team the Terps had eight different people carry the ball a cumulative 41 times and were only able to suffice 60 yards the whole game.
Penn State was lights out on defense, no question about it. They won the turnover battle 3-1, allowed the Terps just 10 first downs the whole game, with five of those coming on Maryland’s 3rd drive and longest go the game when Jackson was picked off in the end zone on a 1st and 10 at the PSU 11 by Tariq Castro-Fields.
To put it all into perspective, Penn State has shaken off all the dust and wants to be considered a real deal contender for the College Football Playoff. The 128 total yards of offense allowed, is the least of the season for PSU.
Coach Franklin summed it up like this, “Thought it was probably one of the more complete games that we have played in our six years really kind of in all three phases.”
Next week they have a noon kick at home against Purdue, who opens play Saturday against Minnesota in West Lafayette. Meanwhile, the Terps will head on the road to face Rutgers as they look the rebound.
Written by Adrian Beecher
