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By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - One bad quarter and poor game-long field position were Rutgers' undoing tonight.

Able to keep Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg in check, but unable to get its own offense started because of a long field almost every time they set up shop, the Scarlet Knights wound up losing 28-3 to the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten opener for both teams before a crowd of 103,322 at rainy Beaver Stadium.

Of Rutgers' first 12 starting field positions, only one began beyond the Scarlet Knights' 25 yard line (with five starting from the 10 yard line on in). Penn State (2-1, 1-0), meanwhile, erupted for 21 second quarter points largely on the strength of its running game and the Nittany Lions' defense kept Rutgers under wraps.

Rutgers (1-2, 0-1) managed its deepest penetration of the game through the first three quarters by reaching the Penn State 26 yard line, but quarterback Chris Laviano suffered his second interception of the game a play later.

The Scarlet Knights rebounded from that a series later despite starting from their 12 yard line. Laviano was able to get Rutgers to the Penn State 11 yard line, setting up Kyle Federico's 34-yard field goal with 10:35 to play to make it 21-3.

Saquon Barkley, one of two Nittany Lions running back to top 100 rushing yards, scored on a 16-yard run with 4:28 to play to make it 28-3. That capped a 195-yard, two-touchdown performance for Barkley.

Penn State's ability to build its 21-0 halftime lead was as much a byproduct of a suddenly-revived offense as it was that nightmarish starting field position for Rutgers, which never had a chance to get untracked because of it.

Of the Scarlet Knights' six first-half drives, two started at the 25 yard line, one at the 20, two at the 10 and one at the 2.

That made it almost impossible to get any early traction against a Penn State defense that has been stout all season, especially against the run, and resulted in some sub-par offensive numbers for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights managed only 115 yards of offense in the first half, getting just 23 rushing yards on 12 carries, while reaching Nittany Lions' territory on just one drive then.

And that put added stress on a Rutgers defense that was able to pitch a first-quarter shutout but couldn't hold out in the second quarter. That's when the Nittany Lions scored three touchdowns in a span of 11:06, going 80 yards on one scoring drive, 90 on the next and then adding a 75-yard touchdown run by Akeel Lynch, who busted up the middle just 1:04 before halftime.

Penn State's offense had been averaging just 254 yards of total offense and 138.5 rushing per game coming in, but exceeded both totals in the first half, going for 311 yards overall and 175 on the ground.

Rutgers captain Darius Hamilton made his season debut on defense in the game. Chris Laviano finished 27-of-42 passing for 251 yards. Carlton Agudosi led the offense with six catches for 80 yards.

NOTES
The crowd of 103,323 marked the third-largest crowd Rutgers football has played in front of in its history ... wide receiver Carlton Agudosi set new career-highs with six receptions and 80 yards ... free safety Anthony Cioffi recorded his second interception of the year and fourth of his career ... placekicker Kyle Federico converted his 37th career field goal to move into fifth all-time in the program record books ... punter Joey Roth averaged 41.9 yards per punt attempt ... the offense operated a 16-play drive that spanned seven minutes, 13 seconds in the fourth quarter that resulted in a field goal, the longest drive by plays and time this season.