What they're saying about Penn State football's win over Maryland
Penn State fans and college football enthusiasts across the country were treated to the Jahan Dotson show on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions claimed a 31-14 win over Maryland in College Park.
Dotson’s school record-setting 242 receiving yards and three touchdowns helped Penn State claim control of what was a tight matchup until the Nittany Lions pulled away late in the fourth quarter.
Let’s take a look at what they’re saying about Penn State’s victory.
Nate Bauer, BWI, Ji’Ayir Brown, striking gold, delivers defensive boost in Penn State win
“As soon as Ji’Ayir Brown stepped in front of Taulia Tagovailoa’s pass, the Terrapins were finished.
Locked in a 24-14 game with Maryland threatening to score late, the Nittany Lions’ senior safety cut in front of receiver Darryl Jones at the 13-yard line to make the interception. The ball secured tightly, Brown raced the other direction to fully put away the Nittany Lions’ 31-14 win over the Terrapins.
Brown and the Penn State defense had just been waiting for the chance.
“We always go into every game looking for that moment,” Brown said. “We’re always trying to score on defense. A three-and-out, a punt, that’s the least of what we expect. We want to get a turnover. We want to score on defense. That’s how we approach every game.”
Improved into becoming one of the nation’s top programs for creating defensive takeaways this season, the Nittany Lions again seized opportunities Saturday night.
And the moments, both attained by Brown, couldn’t have been more important to the Penn State win.”
David Eckert, BWI, Jahan Dotson, Penn State wideouts take Maryland man coverage personally en route to record breaking performance
“Clifford, who finished with 363 passing yards and a touchdown, said Dotson wants the ball on every single play.
Penn State strives to get it to him as much as possible. Clifford targeted Dotson on 15 of his 46 attempts Saturday night, and who could blame him? He is Penn State’s answer to every question on the offensive side of the ball.
“I’m not surprised at all by what he did tonight,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “They were playing very aggressive man coverage, either Cover One or Cover Zero. We knew if we got the ball in his hands, he could make those type of plays. He’s really done it his entire career.”
It’s a career that is shaping up to be more and more remarkable in the context of Penn State history.
He’s up to 932 receiving yards this season, nine games in. He also surpassed the 2,500-yard threshold through the air for his career, to go along with 23 touchdowns.
Dotson told the media this offseason that he often writes to himself about being legendary. That was his goal entering this season. He has a notebook full of scribbling to prove it.
In front of a group of aunts and uncles who had never seen him play live before, Dotson wrote a new page in Penn State’s book of legends.
He didn’t even need to lift his pen.”
Greg Pickel, BWI, James Franklin explains Penn State game, time management decisions at end of first half in Maryland win
“Don’t feel bad if you, too, were questioning what exactly was going on. The game and time management didn’t make sense on a number of levels. What was the Penn State plan?
“Obviously, we weren’t playing great, and we were going to run the time off the clock,” Franklin said. “That was a discussion I had with [defensive coordinator] Brent [Pry] and [offensive coordinator] Mike [Yurcich]. Then, obviously, we got a couple plays and moved the ball a little bit, thought about taking a shot, so we called a timeout [and] had a discussion of what we wanted to do, and then decided that wasn’t the right thing, and then obviously kneeled it, and went into halftime, and made the adjustments, and the adjustments worked out well.
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“Again, I want to make sure that you guys have enough things to talk about, and argue about, and criticize during halftime. Without that what would you guys have done all halftime?”
Franklin’s end of that answer was somewhat tongue in cheek. But, it was a completely reasonable situation to critique, considering few teams decide to go about the end-of-half situation as Penn State did.”
Ben Jones, StateCollege.Com, Jahan Dotson Is the 2021 Penn State Football Story in More Ways Than One
“Dotson is so good that his performances have turn extraordinary into normal. He is silky smooth, fast, effective and lethal. Dotson has been written about so many times before that, much like Saquon Barkley, you start to run out of ways to say the same things over and over again. Dotson is a perfect storm of skill. He has DaeSean Hamilton’s feet, Allen Robinson’s hands, Chris Godwin’s craftiness and a touch of Bobby Engram’s “it” factor. He is a little bit of everything, and the result is an unassuming 6-foot-1 game changing threat. Penn State has won games simply on the merits of having an outstanding defense and Jahan Dotson.”
Alexis Yoder, The Daily Collegian, Penn State football’s slow start nearly doomed its effort at Maryland
“On a night where Jahan Dotson seemingly caught every ball within reach and broke a program record for receiving yards in a single game, you would think the scoreline would’ve been a lot different at halftime.
But it was only in the fourth quarter when the blue and white developed separation and put the game away, largely thanks to an 86-yard pass from Sean Clifford to Dotson and a pick-six by Ji’Ayir Brown with under three minutes left on the clock.”
Chip Patterson, CBS Sports, Tomorrow’s Top 25 Today: Oklahoma, Alabama to jump Cincinnati in new college football rankings
“19. Penn State (22): A strong get-right opportunity proved to be a solid get-right 31-14 win for the Nittany Lions against Maryland. “
Marty Leap, Black Shoe Diaries, Takeaways From Penn State’s Victory Over Maryland
“All season long Penn State’s defense has been one of the best in the Big Ten and the entire Power 5. While they allowed 371 passing yards to Taulia Tagovailoa the defense made stops and plays when they needed to.
The Terps had multiple drives where they advanced into Penn State territory and seemed prime to score points. Rather it was tackles for a loss, the defense drawing penalties, or stopping the Terps on 4th down, many time those drives did not result in points.”
Lauren Rosh, Testudo Times, Three takeaways from Maryland football’s loss to No. 22 Penn State
“Maryland’s defense seemed surprisingly rejuvenated after a stint of four games allowing opponents to score over 30 points.
The Terps held the Nittany Lions to just seven points in the first 30 minutes, the fewest amount since it let up just a field goal in the first half against Illinois. Penn State’s offense could not get going as quarterback Sean Clifford threw for 363 yards and the Nittany Lions picked up 95 yards on the ground, an area opposing offenses have exploited over the last few weeks.”
