Football Loses Season Finale at No. 10 Penn State

Saturday, November 30

University Park, Pa.

3:30 PM

Rutgers University

2-10 , 0-9

Penn State

10-2 , 7-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Rutgers

Penn State

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

Football Loses Season Finale at No. 10 Penn State

Nov 30 | Football

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No. 10 PENN STATE 27 (10-2, 7-2), RUTGERS 6 (2-10, 0-9)
BEAVER STADIUM • UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.
NOVEMBER 30, 2019 • ATTENDANCE: 98,895

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Despite outgaining its opponent, Rutgers football (2-10, 0-9) closed out its 2019 season with a 27-6 road loss to No. 10 Penn State (10-2, 7-2) on Saturday in front of 98,895 fans at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

The Scarlet Knights rushed for 184 yards against the Nittany Lions, who entered Saturday with the fourth-best rushing defense in the country with just 89 yards allowed per game. Sophomore running back Isaih Pacheco led the RU rushing attack with 18 carries for 102 yards, while redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Langan added 58 rushing yards. It was the fifth career 100-yard rushing game for Pacheco and third of the season, as he also eclipsed the mark against Liberty and UMass in 2019.

Langan finished the day with 222 yards of total offense, which included 12 completions for 164 yards. Freshman wide receiver Isaiah Washington hauled in four catches for 63 yards to lead the receiving corp. Rutgers outgained Penn State, 383-333, the most total yards against and a ranked opponent since Oct. 29, 2011 against No. 25 West Virginia.

On defense, the Scarlet Knights recorded a season-high four sacks, as junior linebacker Tyshon Fogg led the unit with 1.5 sacks to go along with his 100^th tackle of the season. Redshirt freshman defensive back Christian Izien matched Fogg with with eight tackles, while junior defensive back Tre Avery recorded his second career interception. Junior defensive lineman Julius Turner added a blocked extra point in the loss.

Junior placekicker Justin Davidovicz went 2-of-3 on field goal attempts, as he connected on 29 and 38-yard tries to account for all of the RU scoring in Happy Valley. Junior punter Adam Korsak totaled 227 punting yards and pinned his opponent inside the 20-yard line for the 31^st time this season.

FIRST QUARTER
Rutgers outgained Penn State, 108-105, in the opening 15 minutes, highlighted by a 39-yard reception by freshman running back Aaron Young on a reverse flea flicker from Langan to get the ball in Nittany Lion territory. Davidovicz then nailed his 10^th field goal of the season, this one from 29 yards out, to give the Scarlet Knights a 3-0 lead with 3:32 to go in the quarter. Langan was 3-of-4 passing for 81 yards in the opening quarter, which included completions to Young, Washington (15 yards) and junior wide receiver Bo Melton (27 yards).

RU limited Penn State to just 17 passing yards in the first quarter, as Fogg and senior defensive back Damon Hayes combined for a sack of PSU quarterback Will Levis. The Nittany Lions scored in the closing seconds of the quarter on a two yard rush by Journey Brown to take a 7-3 lead at the end of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
Rutgers continued to dictate the tempo, as it outgained Penn State, 243-129, in the first half. The Scarlet Knights held the Nittany Lions scoreless in the second quarter, as Avery picked off Levis at the Rutgers' 2-yard line on a deep pass play to keep PSU out of the end zone at the 3:56 mark.

Avery's interception set up RU's longest drive of the game, a 15-play, 80-yard march to the Penn State 10-yard line. Davidovicz missed a 35-yard attempt with six seconds left in the quarter, as Rutgers trailed 7-3 at halftime. The impressive drive featured three plays of 10 or more yards, including an 18-yard reception by Washington, an 11-yard rush by Pacheco and an 11-yard reception by freshman Christian Dremel, the first of his collegiate career.

Langan finished the first half with eight completions for 146 yards and added another 26 yards on the ground. Pacheco grinded out 74 rushing yards, which featured a 16-yard dash, and Washington hauled in three catches for 55 yards.

In total, Rutgers stopped Penn State on four of its first five drives of the game, as it forced three punts to go along with the interception in the second quarter.

THIRD QUARTER
After Rutgers went three-and-out to open the second half, Penn State responded with a three-play, 74-yard scoring drive capped by a 18-yard touchdown run by Brown to give PSU a 13-3 lead at 12:05 in the quarter.

That did it for the scoring in the third, as Rutgers held the ball for the final 5:42 of the quarter to get the ball into enemy territory to begin the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
The 13-play, 58-yard drive was capped by Davidovicz' 38-yard field goal with 14:56 left in the fourth quarter, as his second of the day made it a 13-6 game. However, Penn State closed out the game with back-to-back touchdowns down the stretch to hold on for the 27-6 final.

PARTICIPATION

Started all 12 games on offense or defense (8): LB Tyshon Fogg, RG Nick Krimin, C Michael Maietti, WR Bo Melton, DL Willington Previlon, RT Kamaal Seymour, NT Julius Turner, LG Zach Venesky
Played all 12 games (35): TE Matt Alaimo, DB Tre Avery, DB Tim Barrow, DL Brendan Bordner, PK Justin Davidovicz, RB Parker Day, DB Malik Dixon, DL Jaohne Duggan, LB Olakunle Fatukasi, LB Tyshon Fogg, DB Damon Hayes, DB Christian Izien, LB Deion Jennings, DL Robin Jutwreten, P Adam Korsak, OL Nick Krimin, OL Mike Lonsdorf, LB Tyreek Maddox-Williams, OL Michael Maietti, WR Bo Melton, TE Brandon Myers, DL CJ Onyechi, DL Willington Previlon, LB Aslan Pugh, OL Kamaal Seymour, LB Drew Singleton, DB Lawrence Stevens, LS Billy Taylor, WR Prince Taylor, DL Julius Turner, DL Mike Tverdov, OL Zach Venesky, WR Isaiah Washington, RB Aaron Young, DB Avery Young
Collegiate debut (1): LB Johnny Yorey
DB Damon Hayes played in each of the last 47 games to finish his career.
OL Kamaal Seymour finished his career starting the last 41 games at right tackle.

NOTES

Rutgers played its fifth ranked opponent of the season, the most in program history.
The Scarlet Knights out-gained the Nittany Lions in the game, 383-333, its most in a game against a ranked opponent since picking up 386 versus West Virginia in 2011.
Rutgers rushed for 184 yards to match the most surrendered by Penn State this season. The Nittany Lions entered the game ranked fourth nationally with 89.8 rushing yards permitted per game.
Rutgers tallied a season-high four sacks. It was the most for the Scarlet Knights in a Big Ten game since totaling five versus Indiana in 2015.
RB Isaih Pacheco ran for 102 yards for his fifth career game reaching 100 rushing yards. It was the second time versus a ranked opponent (2018 vs. Michigan). It was also the third time a Scarlet Knights reached the century mark against Penn State in 30 meetings (Mike Botti in 1988, Raheem Blackshear in 2018).
WR Bo Melton recorded three receptions on the day to make it all 12 games with at least one catch this season. The last Rutgers wide receiver to achieve the feat was Janarion Grant in 2015. Melton led the Scarlet Knights with 30 receptions for 427 yards on the season.
DB Tre Avery hauled in his second interception of the season.
QB Johnny Langan added 58 rushing yards to finish the season with 391. That marked the most by a Rutgers quarterback in a season since Sam Mudie had 403 in 1961.
DL Julius Turner blocked an extra point in the third quarter for his second blocked extra point of the season, also against Maryland. Rutgers finished the season with three blocked kicks and has 90 since 2002.
LB Tyshon Fogg picked up eight tackles to end the season with 104. A Scarlet Knights has reached triple digits in each of the last 10 years. Fogg had 1.5 sacks, his first career sacks.
P Adam Korsak finished with 31 punts downed inside the 20 this season, most for a Rutgers punter this century. RU ended up with a net punt of 41.5 yards to break the school record set last season (40.1).
The attendance mark of 98,895 signaled the eighth-largest crowd to witness a Rutgers football game.

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