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
