PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The No. 11/12/11 Penn State football team (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) defeated Rutgers, 55-10, Saturday at SHI Stadium. The win marks the 100th career victory (76 at Penn State) for head coach James Franklin.
Penn State dominated in every facet of the game, scoring touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams. A 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Nicholas Singleton and two fumble returns for touchdowns, marked the first time Penn State recorded three non-offensive touchdowns in a game since 1998 against Bowling Green (1 punt return, 2 interception returns).
Additionally, Kaytron Allen's 117-yard rushing effort gave him more than 700 rushing yards on the season (748). With this effort, Allen and Nicholas Singleton (863) became the first true freshman teammates in Big Ten history to each record 700-plus rushing yards in the same season.
The Nittany Lion offense was led by 192 total yards (157 passing, 35 rushing) and two scores (1 passing, 1 rushing) from Sean Clifford. Allen's 117 yards on the ground led the running backs, while five grabs for 63 yards from Mitchell Tinsley topped Penn State's receivers in the game.
Penn State amassed 436 yards of offense, including 237 on the ground. The rushing attack averaged 6.4 yards per carry and accounted for three of the Nittany Lions' four offensive touchdowns in the game.
Defensively, two scoop-and-score fumble return touchdowns highlighted a dominant day for Penn State. The Nittany Lions racked up 15 tackles for loss, including four sacks, in a game where the defensive unit limited Rutgers to just 167 total yards of offense and just 32 yards on the ground.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Scarlet Knights got on the board first at the 8:06 mark in the first quarter on a 42-yard field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Nicholas Singleton took it the distance for a 100-yard kick return touchdown to put the Nittany Lions up, 7-3. It was just the third 100-yard kickoff return touchdown for Penn State since 1975.
On the next kickoff, the Scarlet Knights burst for a 67-yard return to set themselves up inside Penn State territory. Rutgers took four plays to find the end zone on a touchdown pass to Shameen Jones that put the Scarlet Knights up, 10-7.
With less than a minute to play in the opening quarter, Marquis Wilson forced a fumble that was scooped up and taken 14 yards into the end zone by Kobe King to give the Nittany Lions a 14-10 lead.
Following a Johnny Dixon interception, Sean Clifford found Tyler Warren for a 10-yard touchdown to put the Nittany Lions up 21-10 with 6:11 to play in the opening half. Penn State constructed a second consecutive scoring drive when it marched 67 yards in 59 seconds to take a 28-10 lead over the Scarlet Knights. Sean Clifford scored on a quarterback keeper from the 14-yard line to cap the drive.
The Nittany Lions' first score in the third quarter came on their second defensive touchdown of the game. Curtis Jacobs strip-sacked Gavin Wimsatt and Ji'Ayir Brown returned the loose ball 70 yards to put the Nittany Lions up 35-10 just one minute into the third quarter.
Penn State added 20 more points through the course of the second half, with rushing touchdowns from Kaytron Allen and Drew Allar and two field goals, one from Jake Pinegar and the first career field goal from Sander Sahaydak for the 55-10 win.
The 2022 Penn State football season is presented by PSECU.
