Greg Pickel & Nate Bauer recap 28-0 victory for Penn State
For those of you who watched the first quarter of the Penn State – Rutgers game on Saturday, we don’t need to tell you that it wasn’t pretty.
Penn State totaled just 34 yards of offense over the first 15 minutes. Quarterback Sean Clifford completed 2 of 8 passes for 23 yards, and they added just 11 yards rushing. On top of that, the Lions committed three of the team’s four penalties in the first 15 minutes. Not good.
Fortunately for Penn State, the defense was its normal self, holding Rutgers to just 19 yards in the first quarter.
It didn’t become clear until after the game why that like was. In his postgame press conference, James Franklin informed the media that 35 players were impacted by the flu.
“I’m very proud of that locker room,” Franklin said. “We faced as much adversity in this game as I’ve been around. We had 35 guys out for one reason or another. 21 guys because of the flu. 14 guys who had the flu and played through it. Thursday, it looked like a hospital ward in there. There was IVs everywhere. Friday was the same way – we didn’t have a scholarship quarterback at Friday’s practice.”
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Franklin added that the Penn State defense was largely impacted by the flu early in the week, while the offense took a hit closer to the game. As of Thursday evening, walk-on Mason Stahl was projected to be the starting quarterback. It wasn’t until Friday morning that freshman quarterback Christian Veilleux was cleared to play, and it’s a good thing he was, as the Canadian got his first opportunity to really showcase his skills to Penn State fans.
He performed about as well as expected, completing 15 of 24 pass attempts for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He started off as most freshman do during his first two drives, completing a few easy throws but unable to lead much of a drive. Then, at the end of the first half, he led Penn State on a 10-play, 67-yard drive that finished with an 8-yard touchdown from Jahan Dotson.
The Nittany Lions went on to dominate the second half. They outgained Rutgers 172 to 93, while tacking on three more scores to win 28-0. That included a 67-yard touchdown to Malick Meiga.
If you missed anything on Saturday, BWI’s Nate Bauer and Greg Pickel recap it all above.
Additional Penn State Coverage
Penn State-Rutgers takeaways: Christian Veilleux leads Lions to win
Highs and Lows: Penn State vs. Rutgers
Penn State coach James Franklin speaks after Rutgers win
What we learned about Christian Veilleux in a 28-0 Penn State win
