UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 12 Penn State put together a balanced effort on offense and defense to earn a dominant 27-6 win over Rutgers on Senior Day. The Nittany Lions improve to 9-2, 6-2 Big Ten. All of Penn State's touchdowns came on the ground as the offense combined for a total of 234 rushing yards. The defense limited the Scarlet Knights to no touchdowns and just two field goals in the game, the Nittany Lions lowest opponent total since blanking UMass earlier this season. The running back combination of Kaytron Allen, Nicholas Singleton and Trey Potts, as well as quarterbacks Drew Allar and Beau Pribula combined for the total yardage on the ground including three touchdowns lifting the Nittany Lions to victory.
Pribula led the charge on the ground for Penn State securing the final touchdown of the game and running for a total of 71-yards on eight carries. In a game of career milestones for the sophomore quarterback, he also notched his longest rush of his career at 39-yards and scored his fourth touchdown. Allen complemented Pribula in the backfield posting 69-yards on 16 carries to average 4.3 yards per carry. He also picked up two rushing touchdowns for Penn State. From the starting quarterback position, Allar rushed for 28-yards on just three carries averaging a team high 9.3-yards per carry. Singleton rounded out the group with 61-yards on 11 carries.
Allar threw for 79 yards on six completions for the Nittany Lions before Pribula came in at quarterback and threw one complete pass for nine yards. Tight ends Tyler Warren and Theo Johnson led the way in receptions with two each.
On defense, the Nittany Lions continued to dominate their opponents holding the Scarlet Knights to just six points. Penn State produced three sacks and seven tackles for loss. Rutgers was unable to surpass 100 rushing yards and 150 passing yards in the game.
Penn State won the turnover battle as well. Defensive end Deni Dennis-Sutton recovered a Scarlet Knights handoff in the second quarter to set the Nittany Lions up in Rutgers territory and tack on a field goal. In the third quarter, Penn State defensive end Chop Robinson stripped Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt, then recovered the ball to turn the momentum in the Nittany Lions favor. The final takeaway was a Kevin Winston Jr. interception to stall a Rutgers fourth quarter drive. In total, the Nittany Lions scored 17 points off of three Scarlet Knights turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Scarlet Knights forced a punt on Penn State's opening drive of the game after the Nittany Lions were unable to convert after three plays. The proceeding Rutgers drive elapsed nine minutes with 14 plays before the Scarlet Knights were charged with a 10-yard holding penalty accepted from the Penn State seven-yard line to make it second and goal from the 17-yard line. The Nittany Lions defense forced the kicking team to come on the field to attempt a field goal. Rutgers' 34-yard kick gave them a 3-0 lead at the 4:33 mark in the first quarter.
The Nittany Lions offense returned to the field at the 25-yard line to begin the next push. With time running out on the clock in the first quarter of play, Allar completed a 15-yard pass to Liam Clifford to set Penn State up at the Rutgers 32-yard line as the game moved into the second period. The eight-minute drive was capped off with a two-yard rush from Kayton Allen into the end zone to put the Nittany Lions on top 7-3 with 11:36 to go in the half.
Penn State claimed its first take away of the game on an unforced fumble recovered by Dennis-Sutton, his first career fumble recovery, to position the Nittany Lions on the Rutgers 32-yard line. A 23-yard connection to Tyler Warren on the first play following the fumble, put the offense in position to inch towards the end zone. The Rutgers defense managed a stop on third and four at the Scarlet Knights four-yard line. The ball was spotted at the 11-yard line, making Alex Felkin's first field goal of the game, a successful 21-yard attempt. Penn State owned a 10-3 lead following the two-minute scoring drive with 8:44 on the clock.
The atmosphere in Beaver Stadium combined with the pressure of the Penn State defense contributed to a false start on the Scarlet Knights offense on fourth and one at their own 34-yard line, forcing the punt team on the field. The punt went 36-yards out of bounds to give the Nittany Lions field position at their 35-yard with just under seven minutes remaining in the half. Amari Evans caught his third pass of the season from Allar for a 25-yard reception. Rutgers forced a fumble attributed to Nick Singleton on the proceeding snap. The Scarlet Knights took over on their 36-yard line but didn't make it very far before the Penn State defense forced another punt. That stop was answered by the Rutgers' defense forcing a Nittany Lions punt on the proceeding drive. Rutgers managed a field goal on the final drive of the half to keep a 10-6 lead in favor of Penn State after 30 minutes of work.
Rutgers' opened the second stanza unable to convert on three plays and forced to punt for the third time. Penn State took over on the 34-yard line after a 15-yard catch interference penalty was charged to Rutgers. Pribula came in at quarterback on the fourth play of the drive to rush for 39-yards into the red zone. The offense came up short on fourth and one at the Rutgers four-yard line to force a turnover on downs. Another strong defensive effort from the Nittany Lions forced a punt for the second of two tries in the half for the Scarlet Knights. Felkin's extended the Penn State lead to 13-6 resulting from a 48-yard field goal with 5:32 remaining in the third quarter.
The Penn State defense came up with its fifth stop of the day as Robinson earned his fourth sack of the season and first fumble recovery to set the offense with tremendous field position at the Rutgers 42-yard line. The Nittany Lions converted on five plays in two minutes of work to increase their lead to 20-6 into the fourth quarter using a three-yard rush from Allen to score his sixth touchdown of the season and second of the game.
Multiple contributors on the Penn State defensive line created its sixth stop of the afternoon with a sack from Coziah Izzard and Abdul Carter as well as an eventual interception by Winston, marking the first of his career. The Nittany Lions took over at their own 27-yard line with 8:27 remaining in the game.
Penn State pulled away with an eight-play drive for 73-yards that concluded with Pribula carrying the ball into the end zone to take a 27-6 lead with under four minutes to play. The game closed out with Rutgers unable to convert on its last drive, making the final score 27-6, sending Penn State to its ninth win of the season.
The 2023 Penn State football season is presented by PSECU.