TEAM
- Penn State improves to 52-43-4 all-time against Pittsburgh.
- The Nittany Lions are now 152-87-10 all-time against current members of the ACC.
- Penn State has won 19-straight games against unranked teams, which is the fourth-longest active streak nationally (Alabama, Wisconsin, USC).
- Penn State has scored 20 or more points in 25 consecutive games, which is tied for the second-longest streak in Big Ten history with Michigan State (2013-15).
- The Nittany Lions have scored 30 or more points 20 times in the last 22 games.
- The Nittany Lions scored 40 points for the 13th time since 2016.
- Penn State scored 50 points for the fifth time since 2016.
- The 45-point margin of victory was the largest in the Penn State-Pitt series since 52-point win (65-9) over the Panthers in 1968.
- The 51 points are the most for the Nittany Lions against Pittsburgh since scoring 65 points in 1968.
- Penn State rushed for 200 yards for the fifth-straight game, dating back to November 18, 2017 vs. Nebraska. It's Penn State's longest 200-yard rushing game streak since a seven-game streak from 2007-08.
- Penn State has made its last 156 extra points.
- The Nittany Lions recorded a safety on a holding call in the end zone in the third quarter. It is Penn State's third safety in the last 14 games, dating back to the Pitt game in 2016.
- Tariq Castro-Fields is the 11th Nittany Lions made their first career start this season (three on offense, six on defense, two on special teams).
- Brandon Polk, Will Fries and Kevin Givens each made their first starts of 2018. For Polk, it was his fourth career start and first since 2015. The start was the 12th of Givens' career and 11th for Fries.
- Sean Clifford joined the list of Nittany Lions to make their first career appearance this season. He is the 19th Nittany Lion to debut in the Blue & White in 2018.
- Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium to host MAC foe Kent State at noon on FS1.
OFFENSE
Trace McSorley
- QB Trace McSorley has thrown a touchdown pass in 30 consecutive games, dating to the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl, extending his Penn State record. The streak is the longest active streak in the FBS.
- McSorley recorded his 18th career game with a passing and a rushing touchdown (seven in 2016, nine in 2017, two in 2018).
- With one rushing touchdown, McSorley now has 21 career rushing scores to move into a tie for 17th place on Penn State's all-time rushing touchdowns list with Blair Thomas (1985-87, 89) and Zach Zwinak (2011-14).
- McSorley now has 919 career attempts to rank third on Penn State's career list. He passed Matt McGloin (894; 2009-12) for the position against Pittsburgh.
- With two passing scores, McSorley posted his 20 career multi-touchdown game.
Miles Sanders
- RB Miles Sanders registered his first career 100-yard rushing game with 118 yards on 16 carries.
- With his effort against Pitt, Sanders surpassed the 500-yard mark for his career. He now has 584 career rushing yards.
- Sanders ripped of three runs of 20 or more yards against the Panthers.
KJ Hamler
- WR KJ Hamler took his first career rush 32 yards for a touchdown on Penn State's first possession. He is the first Penn State wideout with a rushing touchdown since DeAndre Thompkins against Rutgers in 2015.
- Hamler had his second receiving touchdown of the season with a 14-yard catch in the second quarter.
- Hamler is the first Penn State wide receiver to have a rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown in the same game since Derrick Williams accomplished the feat against Indiana in 2008.
Danny Dalton
- TE/H Danny Dalton had a career-long 9-yard reception in the first quarter. His previous high was a 2-yard catch last week against App State.
- Dalton finished with career highs of two catches and 17 yards. His previous personal best was one catch for 2 yards against App State last week.
Sean Clifford
- QB Sean Clifford connected with Brandon Polk on his first career pass attempt for a 34-yard touchdown pass.
- Clifford is the first Penn State quarterback to throw for a touchdown on his first career completion since Matt McGloin connected with Derek Moye for a 42-yard score against Minnesota in 2010.
Mac Hippenhammer
- WR Mac Hippenhammer caught a touchdown on his first career reception.
- Hippenhammer is the first Nittany Lion wide receiver to have a touchdown on his first reception since Irvin Charles had an 80-yard catch in 2016 against Minnesota.
Mark Allen
- RB Mark Allen scored his third career rushing touchdown with a 4-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Brandon Polk
- WR Brandon Polk caught his third career touchdown catch on a 34-yard pass from Sean Clifford in the fourth quarter.
DEFENSE
Amari Oruwariye
- CB Amani Oruwariye grabbed his second interception of the season in the first quarter. He has seven career picks.
- He is the first Nittany Lion with interceptions in back-to-back games since he accomplished the feat last year against Indiana and Northwestern.
Micah Parsons
- LB Micah Parsons had a career-high seven tackles, topping the mark of four he set last week against App State.
Kevin Givens
- DT Kevin Givens had a career-high seven tackles. His previous high was four stops, which he had done on three occasions, most recently against Washington in the Fiesta Bowl.
- Givens also had a career-best 2.0 tackles for loss. He had 1.0 TFLs on eight occasions previously.
Tariq Castro-Fields
- CB Tariq Castro-Fields had a career-high five tackles, topping his previous personal best of four set twice, most recently against App State last week.
Zech McPhearson
- CB Zech McPhearson had a career-best four tackles, surpassing his previous mark of two, which he had accomplished twice before.
Jabari Butler & Ayron Monroe
- CB Jabari Butler forced his first fumble of his Penn State career in the fourth quarter, which was recovered by Ayron Monroe for the first recovery of his career.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Blake Gillikin
- P Blake Gillikin dropped four punts inside the Pitt 20-yard line and three inside the 10. He now has dropped (54) punts inside the 20 and (28) inside the 10 for his career.
- Gillikin had two punts for 50 or more yards, bringing his career total to 31.
- Gillikin's four punts inside the 20 tie a career high, which he has down three times (most recently vs. Indiana in 2017)
- He also tied his personal mark with three punts inside the 10, which is the fifth time in his career he has done so.
Jake Pinegar
- PK Jake Pinegar remains perfect in extra point attempts, connecting on all seven of his kicks against Pitt. He is 13-for-13 on the year.
DeAndre Thompkins
- PR DeAndre Thompkins returned a third-quarter punt 39 yards for a touchdown. It is his second career punt return for a score. He also scored on a punt return against Akron last season.
- With two career punt returns for a touchdown, Thompkins is tied for fourth on Penn State's all-time list with 10 other players (most recently: Larry Johnson, 1998-2002).
Jarvis Miller
- LB Jarvis Miller recovered his first career fumble on a dropped snap by punter Kirk Christodoulou in the second quarter.