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POSTGAME NOTES: Penn State at Michigan

TEAM

  • Michigan now leads the series with Penn State 14-8, including an 8-4 record in Ann Arbor.
  • WR Mac Hippenhammer and K Justin Tobin made their first career starts against the Wolverines. They are one of 15 players to make their first career start this season. Tobin also made his first career appearance, making him the 34th Nittany Lion to make their collegiate debut this season.
  • Penn State was shutout in the first half for the first time since the 2016 game at Michigan, a string of 31 games.
  • Penn State trailed 14-0 at the half, the first time since Sept. 23, 2017 against Iowa (17 straight games).

 
 
OFFENSE
 
Trace McSorley

  • QB Trace McSorley surpassed 9,000 yards passing for his career on a 25-yard completion to TE Pat Freiermuth on the first drive of the game. He is the 14th player in Big Ten history to have 9,000 career passing yards.
  • McSorley now has 9,080 career passing yards to move into 13th place on the Big Ten's all-time list, passing John Navarre of Michigan (9,014; 2000-03) for the position.

 
Tommy Stevens

  • QB Tommy Stevens scored his eighth career rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
  • With eight career rushing touchdowns, Steven moved into a tie for eighth all-time at Penn State in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, matching Doug Strang (1981-84).

 
KJ Hamler

  • WR KJ Hamler has catch in every game of his career (9).
  • Hamler has eight catches of 20+ yards this season.

 
Pat Freiermuth

  • TE Pat Freiermuth had a career-high 51 receiving yards, passing his previous best of 44 yards against Ohio State earlier this season.
  • Freiermuth tied a career best with three receptions. It marks Freiermuth's third game this year with three catches with the last coming against Michigan State.
  • Freiermuth hauled in a 25-yard catch in the first quarter, his fifth reception of 20+ yards this year.

 
Jahan Dotson

  • WR Jahan Dotson had a career-high 29 receiving yards, including a career-long 19-yard catch.
  • He also tied his personal mark with two receptions.

 
Journey Brown

  • RB Journey Brown caught his first career pass, a 9-yard toss from Tommy Stevens in the fourth quarter.
  • Brown had an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter. That is the longest rush of his career, bettering a 6-yard rush against Illinois.

 
 
DEFENSE
 
Jan Johnson

  • LB Jan Johnson had his second career double-digit tackle performance with 10 stops, including seven solo. His career high is 11 tackles against App State earlier this year.
  • Johnson tied a career-best with 1.0 tackles for loss. He also had a full tackle for loss against Maryland in 2017.
  • Johnson broke up a pass in the first quarter, his first career pass breakup.

 
Micah Parsons

  • LB Micah Parsons tied his career high with eight tackles. He also had eight stops against Indiana this season.

 
Yetur Gross-Matos

  • DE Yetur Gross-Matos had the lone sack of the game for the Nittany Lions to extend his streak of games with at least a half-sack to four games. He has 5.5 sacks in that span.

 
Cam Brown

  • LB Cam Brown broke up a pass in the third quarter. Brown now has six career games with a pass breakup with the last coming against Indiana.

 
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
Nick Scott

  • Nick Scott blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter. It was the first blocked field goal for the Nittany Lions since Troy Apke blocked an attempt against Iowa in 2017.

 
Blake Gillikin

  • P Blake Gillikin had a career-high 370 punt yards on eight kicks, which also ties his career mark. Gillikin's previous high was 364 yards on eight punts against Michigan State earlier this year.
  • Gillikin boomed a 74-yard punt in the third quarter, the longest punt of his career. His previous long was 69 yards at Pittsburgh in 2016.
  • Gillikin's 74-yard punt is tied for the fourth-longest punt in program history, tied with Anthony Fera at Iowa in 2010.