COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Led by a career day for wide receiver Jahan Dotson, the Penn State football team defeated Big Ten foe Maryland, 31-14, on Saturday.
Dotson set the Penn State single-game receiving record with 242 yards, breaking Deon Butler's record of 216 set in 2006 vs. Northwestern. Dotson also tied career highs with 11 receptions and three touchdowns.
Quarterback Sean Clifford tallied his third 300-yard game of the season, completing 27-of-47 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns. Clifford and Dotson connected for Penn State's longest pass of the season early in the fourth quarter when Clifford hit Dotson for an 86-yard touchdown to give Penn State the lead.
The Penn State defense also recorded a score when Ji'Ayir Brown intercepted a Taulia Tagovailoa pass and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown. It marked Brown's first career touchdown and fourth interception of the season. He also recovered a fumble in the game and tied for the team lead with nine tackles.
Penn State will return home next week for a Big Ten showdown with No. 7 Michigan at Beaver Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Nittany Lions struck first midway through the first quarter when Clifford found Dotson deep for a 38-yard score to put Penn State up 7-0.
Maryland would get on the board in the closing minutes of the half on a 2-yard run by Challen Faamatau. Penn State remain in front at the half as Maryland missed the extra point.
Dotson paced the Nittany Lion offense with 5 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
Dotson and Clifford would connect for another score on PSU's opening drive of the second half, capping of a 95-yard scoring drive with a 21-yard touchdown.
With Maryland threatening in the red zone on the ensuing drive, the Penn State defense would collect the game's first turnover when Ji'Ayir Brown recovered a mishandled snap at the Penn State 15-yard line.
The Terrapins would strike back on the first play of the fourth quarter when Taulia Tagovailoa hit Corey Dyches for a 13-yard touchdown. Tagovailoa then connected with Chigoziem Okonkwo on a successful two-point conversion attempt to tie the game 14-14.
Penn State would regain the league less than a minute later when Clifford and Dotson connected again, this time on a season-long 86-yard touchdown pass to give Penn State a 21-14 lead.
Dotson would break free for another long gain to set up another scoring drive for Penn State, as his 42-yard catch in the fourth quarter set up a 24-yard field goal by Jordan Stout. Dotson set the Penn State single-game receiving yardage record on the play.
The Penn State defense would extend the lead late in the fourth when Brown jumped in front of a Tagovailoa pass and returned it 87 yards for the touchdown to extend Penn State's lead to 31-14.
