Sept. 2, 2017
TEAM
- Penn State is now 108-21-2 in season openers.
- The Nittany Lions are 117-13-1 in home openers and 49-9 in Beaver Stadium.
- Today's win was the 50th victory for Coach James Franklin in his career. His career mark is now 50-30, including a 26-15 mark at Penn State.
- The 52 points by Penn State are the most since scoring 62 last year at Purdue.
- Penn State scored more than 35 points for the eighth-straight game, a school record. It is the longest active 35-point streak among Power 5 teams. The previous longest such streak for the Nittany Lions was seven games in 1973.
- The Nittany Lions scored 50 or more points in a game at home for the first time since scoring 52 vs. Eastern Illinois in 2009. It is the first time scoring 50 or more at home vs. an FBS team since a 59-0 win over FIU in the 2007 season opener.
- Penn State scored 35 points in the first half of a game for the first time since scoring 38 against Eastern Illinois on the way to a 52-3 victory in 2009. It is the first time that the Nittany Lions scored 35 in a first half against an FBS team since scoring 38 at Syracuse in 2008, a game that Penn State won 55-13.
- The 35 points scored by the Nittany Lions in the first half are the most in the first half of a season opener since scoring 38 vs. Coastal Carolina in 2008. It is the most by Penn State in a season-opening first half since scoring 41 against Akron in 2004 on the way to a 48-10 win.
- Penn State's 14 points in the opening stanza of the first game are the most by the Nittany Lions in the first quarter of the opening game since scoring 14 against Indiana State in 2011, on the way to a 41-7 victory.
- The 52-point margin of victory was the most for the Nittany Lions since defeating Coastal Carolina 66-10 (56 points) in 2008.
- True freshmen played for Penn State today were CB Tariq Castro-Fields, CB Lamont Wade, DE Yetur Gross-Matos.
- Redshirt freshmen who played for Penn State today were CB Zech McPhearson, DE Shane Simmons, OL Will Fries, OL Alex Gellerstedt, DE Shaka Toney, DT Ellison Jordan, K Alex Barbir, DT Antonio Shelton, OL Michael Menet, DT Daniel Joseph.
- Juniors LB Jason Vranic and LS Kyle Vasey and sophomore S John Petrishen also saw their first collegiate action today.
OFFENSE
- The Nittany Lions' 569 yards of total offense (322 passing, 247 rushing) are the most for Penn State since recording 599 yards total offense last season vs. Iowa.
- The 569 yards of total offense by Penn State are the most in a season opener since the Nittany Lions gained 594 yards againt Coastal Caroina in 2008.
- QB Trace McSorley has now thrown a touchdown pass in 16 consecutive games, dating to the TaxSlayer Bowl after the 2015 season, extending his Penn State record.
- McSorley tossed two touchdown passes today, giving him 33 for his career, good enough for sole possession of ninth place at Penn State. He trails Chuck Fusina for eighth place. Fusina had 37 career touchdown passes.
- McSorley had his eighth career game with both a touchdown pass and a touchdown rush, the first time since the Rose Bowl last season.
- McSorley's 280 passing yards give him 12 200-yard passing games for his career, which is good for sole possession of sixth place at Penn State. He trails Daryll Clark, who had 14 200-yard passing games.
- McSorley had 328 yards of total offense today (280 passing, 48 rushing) which gives him 4,535 for his career (4,079 passing and 456 rushing). This is good for 11th place at Penn State, trailing Todd Blackledge (4,911 - 4,812 passing, 99 rushing) for 10th place.
- RB Saquon Barkley's 80-yard rush in the second quarter was the second-longest of his career and tied for the 10th-longest in program history. His career long is an 81-yard dash in 2016 at Purdue.
- The 80-yard scamper by Barkley is tied with eight others for the 10th-longest rush in school history.
- Barkley and Ki-Jana Carter are the only players in program history to have multiple 80-yard rushes in their career. Barkley has two career 80+ yard rushes and Carter had three.
- Barkley's two rushing touchdowns today give him 27 rushing touchdowns for his career, which is good for eighth place in the Penn State annals. He trails three players (John Cappelletti, Richie Anderson and Evan Royster) for fifth place with 29 career rushing touchdowns.
- Barkley's two rushing touchdowns mark his seventh multiple-rushing touchdown game (2 as a freshman, 4 as a sophomore, 1 this season as a junior).
- Barkley had the ninth multi-touchdown game of his career with his two scores today.
- Barkley's 172 rushing yards today marked the 11th 100-yard rushing game of his career, which is tied for 10th place at Penn State with D.J. Dozier and Zach Zwinak.
- Barkley boosted his career rushing yardage to 2,744 yards, moving him into 11th place at Penn State. He trails Matt Suhey (2,818 yards) for 10th place.
- TE Mike Gesicki had two touchdown receptions today, which is a career high. He had one touchdown reception in six previous games.
- Gesicki had a career-high six catches today. His previous highs was five on four occasions, the last against Rutgers in 2016.
- Gesicki has a touchdown catch in four consecutive games, dating back to the regular season finale vs. Michigan State last season.
- With 976 career receiving yard, Gesicki moved into 25th on Penn State's chart, passing Gregg Garritty (952; 1980-82).
- WR DaeSean Hamilton's three catches today give him 164 for his career, which is good for sole possession of fourth place at Penn State. He trails Bobby Engram's 167 grabs for third place.
- Hamilton's 74 yards receiving today give him 2,059 for his career and move him into sixth place at Penn State. He trails Derek Moye (2,395 receiving yards) for fifth place.
- Hamilton is the ninth player in program history with 2,000 career receiving yards.
- WR Juwan Johnson had a career-best four catches for a career high of 84 yards. His previous career highs were one on two occasions last season and 43 yards vs. Michigan State.
- QB Tommy Stevens had career highs for completions, attempts and passing yards with three completions on six attempts for 42 yards. His previous highs were one completion on two occasions, two attempts at Purdue and 26 yards at Purdue.
- Stevens had a 26-yard pass in the fourth quarter, tying a career-long completion of 26 yards last year at Purdue.
- Stevens had his first career catch in the third quarter for seven yards while lined up as a running back.
- TE Tom Pancoast had his first career catch in the fourth quarter.
DEFENSE
- The shutout by Penn State today marked the first shutout by the Nittany Lions in a season opener since a 59-0 win against FIU in 2007.
- The shutout is the first at home for Penn State since a 39-0 shutout of Illinois in 2015.
- This is the third straight year that Penn State has shut out an opponent (39-0 vs. Illinois in 2015; 39-0 at Rutgers in 2016; 52-0 vs. Akron in 2017). It is the longest such streak since a three-year stretch from 1989-91 (17-0 at Rutgers in 1989; 28-0 vs. Rutgers and 9-0 at Alabama in 1990; and 81-0 vs. Cincinnati in 1991).
- Penn State had 14 tackles-for-loss today, the most by Penn State since recording 15 at Temple in 2015.
- DE Ryan Buchholz forced the first fumble of his career in the first quarter.
- Buchholz had a career-best four tackles, besting his previous high of three last year against Ohio State.
- Buchholz notched 1.5 tackles-for-loss, which is a career high. He had one TFL on four previous occasions, last vs. Michigan State last year.
- CB Amani Oruwariye grabbed the second interception of his career in the first quarter.
- DT Tyrell Chavis notched a sack in the first quarter, which was the first of his career.
- Chavis had a career-high five tackles, which bests his previous career high of two, which was set on three previous plays.
- Chavis also had a career-best three tackles-for-loss. He had one last season vs Maryland.
- LB Jarvis Miller had the first sack of his career in the fourth quarter.
- Miller had a career-best five tackles. His previous high was two at Rutgers last season.
- DT Robert Windsor tied a career high with four tackles. He previously had four at Pittsburgh last year.
- LB Jan Johnson tied a career high with two tackles. Johnson had two last season at Michigan.
- RB Josh McPhearson had a career-best two tackles today on special teams.
- DE Shaka Toney had the first two tackles of his career today.
- DE Yetur Gross-Matos also notched the first two tackles of his career.
- The following players had one tackle, the first of their careers, today: Zech McPherson, John Petrishen, Shane Simmons, Lamont Wade, Ellison Jordan, Ryan Monk, Tyler Davis, Immanuel Iyke.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- WR DeAndre Thompkins' 61-yard punt return for a touchdown was the first by Penn State since Derrick Williams had a 63-yard return in 2008 at Wisconsin. It was the first by the Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium since Williams returned a punt 78 yards for a score against Notre Dame in 2007.
- Thompkins averaged 31.8 yards on four returns, which is a school record. The previous record was 31.7 yards per return by Derrick Williams vs. Temple in 2006.
- K Tyler Davis booted a career-long 47-yard field goal in the third quarter. His previous best was a 42-yard kick against Illinois in 2015.
NEXT GAME
- Penn State will return to Beaver Stadium next week to take on Pittsburgh in a 3:30 p.m. start. The game will be televised on ABC.