James' Two Touchdowns Leads Nittany Lions Past Akron, 21-3

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21

3

Beaver Stadium | University Park, Pa. | 97,354

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FINAL STATISTICS

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Junior tight end Jesse James (Glassport, Pa.) corralled two touchdown catches and the Nittany Lion defense swarmed for seven tackles for a loss, including four sacks, as Penn State improved to 2-0 with a 21-3 victory over Akron Saturday.

James finished with 57 yards on two catches, both of which went for touchdowns. This is the first time in James' career that he has two touchdown catches in a game and brings his career total to 10. Sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg (Palmyra, Va.) passed for 319 yards and three touchdowns. With his performance, Hackenberg broke the Penn State record for most passing yards in consecutive games. His 773 passing yards in the first two games of the season surpass the mark of 686 set by Zach Mills in back-to-back contests in 2002.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Geno Lewis (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) had another solid outing with six catches for 98 yards, while redshirt freshman wideout DaeSean Hamilton (Fredericksburg, Va.) pulled in seven throws for 69 yards. Akeel Lynch (Toronto, Ontario) paced the ground game with 45 yards. Bill Belton (Sicklerville, N.J.) added 36 rushing yards and four catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Nittany Lions held the Zips to 69 rushing yards and 208 of total offense. Redshirt senior linebacker Mike Hull (Canonsburg, Pa.) was the heartbeat of the Penn State defense with 11 tackles, including a sack, for his second-straight double-digit tackle performance. Junior cornerback Jordan Lucas (New Rochelle, N.Y.) notched seven tackles and had his second career sack.

The Zips sprinted out of the gates needing just seven plays to move into a first-and-goal situation at the Penn State 7. However, a quarterback pressure by Anthony Zettel (West Branch, Mich.) forced an incomplete pass and back-to-back sacks by Zettel and Lucas forced Akron into a 31-yard field goal attempt by Tom O'Leary, which sailed wide left to keep the game scoreless. Penn State collected a pair of first downs in its first four plays of the drive, but were unable to capitalize on the Zips' miscue.

After forcing a three-and-out, the Nittany Lions quickly went on the attack as they put together a four-play, 58-yard drive. Hackenberg opened the drive by finding Lewis for 20 yards. After a one-yard run by Zack Zwinak (Frederick, Md.), Hamilton pulled in a 15-yard toss from Hackenberg. The Lions got on the scoreboard as Hackenberg found Belton for a 22-yard touchdown completion to give Penn State a 7-0 lead with less than three minutes left in the first quarter.

Neither team could sustain any offensive momentum for the remainder of the first half as the Nittany Lions went into the break with a 7-0 lead.

In its first possession of the second half, Akron took advantage of a drive start from the Penn State 41. The Zips moved the ball into field goal range and connected on a 28-yard field goal to cut the Nittany Lions' lead to 7-3 with 11:11 left in the third quarter.

The Nittany Lions found an offensive rhythm with a 10-play, 79-yard drive over a 5:26 span to extend their lead with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Hackenberg to James for the 14-3 lead with 2:38 remaining in the third. Hackenberg was stellar on the drive, connecting on all six of his passes for a total of 81 yards.

The Penn State defense held strong and forced an Akron punt on the ensuing possession. The Nittany Lions took over at their own 20 and moved the ball well on the ground to the Akron 16. However, Hackenberg was intercepted by Bre' Ford at the two-yard line. Ford then returned it 51 yards to the Penn State 45 with 10:58 remaining. The Lion D held strong again, forcing a turnover on downs that included a stop for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-one by C.J. Olyanian (Warren, Mich.) and Brandon Bell (Mays Landing, N.J.).

On the ensuing possession, Penn State started the drive with a one-yard rush by Zwinak and added a 15-yard facemask penalty on the end of the run. Hackenberg then found James for the score for the second time today with a 44-yard pitch-and-catch to give the Nittany Lions the 21-3 lead with 8:58 remaining.

The Nittany Lions are back in action next Saturday for the primetime Big Ten opener at Rutgers at 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network and the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.

Nearly 6,000 new Penn State football season tickets and more than 50,000 single game tickets have been sold for the 2014 campaign. Alumni and fans are able to purchase Penn State football season tickets and make their Nittany Lion Club donation online at GoPSUsports.com/seasontickets, while choosing their own seats by utilizing Virtual Venue. New season tickets, the four-game partial ticket plan and single game also are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.