Penn State 20, Rutgers 7
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 17, 2018
Where: High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, New Jersey
Temperature:
52°
Head Official:
Michael Cannon
Attendance:
44840
By Field Level Media
Senior Trace McSorley set the Penn State record for most wins by a quarterback as his 14th-ranked Nittany Lions defeated the host Rutgers Scarlet Knights 20-7 on Saturday.
Penn State (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten) handed Rutgers (1-10, 0-8) its 10th consecutive loss.
McSorley completed 17 of 37 passes for 183 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, earning his 30th win. Both of his TD passes went to freshman tight end Pat Freiermuth. Todd Blackledge held the school record with 29 wins from 1980-82.
Rutgers, which finishes its season next week at Michigan State, is having its worst year since going 1-11 in 2002.
Knights coach Chris Ash benched freshman quarterback Art Sitkowski after a first half in which he completed just 3 of 7 passes for 18 yards with two interceptions.
Senior backup Gio Rescigno led a 15-play, 82-yard drive on Rutgers' first possession of the third quarter. But on fourth-and-goal from the Penn State 2, a trick play failed when Rescigno dropped a pass from running back Trey Sneed.
It was that kind of day for Rutgers. In fact, both offenses struggled early, and Penn State finally opened the scoring on Jake Pinegar's 22-yard field goal with 2:27 left in the first quarter. That capped a 13-play, 71-yard drive that included a pair of third-down conversions.
Penn State stretched its lead to 10-0 with 2:04 left in the half. McSorley tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Freiermuth, who faked a block and then slipped out to the end zone.
The score was set up by Garrett Taylor's interception, which he returned to the Rutgers 28.
Pinegar then added a 19-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, giving Penn State a 13-0 lead after Rutgers stopped the Nittany Lions at the 1-yard line.
Rutgers had just 63 yards of offense at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, McSorley tossed an 18-yard TD pass to Freiermuth.
Rutgers avoided the shutout with Raheem Blackshear's 2-yard run with 9:23 left in the game.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Receiving
| Penn State |
|
Rutgers |
|
KJ Hamler
|
Player |
Bo Melton
|
|
5 |
Receptions |
3 |
|
71 |
Yards |
29 |
|
14.2 |
Avg Yards |
9.7 |
|
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
|
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Penn State
|
322 |
139 |
183 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4.0 |
2 |
| Rutgers
|
234 |
188 |
46 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.0 |
1 |
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