Rutgers can’t stop Penn State backs, lose 28-3

True freshman John Reid has been starting in place of Haley, who is also a valuable gunner on Penn State’s punt coverage team. Hackenberg was sacked 10 times in the season-opener against Temple, but he’s found more room to operate with the emergence of Barkley. Junior college transfer Paris Palmer will likely get the nod if Nelson can’t go.

Barkley averaged just over nine yards on 21 carries. After a quick drive to start the game with Akeel Lynch getting the bulk of the work, Barkley entered and changed the dynamic of the offense…again.

“I think”, he began, “Saquon Barkley has brought something to our offense”.

That’s significant, but more significant still is the fact that the Nittany Lions, in their second year under head coach James Franklin, finally seem to be discovering their offensive identity — i.e., that they are a running team.

Franklin said the biggest difference for the offensive line on Saturday night was a notable spike in confidence. “I just wanted to make sure that I (got the handoff clean), because I knew it was going to be a big gash for a big play”. The difference for Penn State this week is the run game. Penn State has played six teams from the West Coast in Beaver Stadium – California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA and USC.

Rutgers quarterback Chris Laviano threw two interceptions and completed 22 of 36 passes for 213 yards. “We had just run what we thought was one of our very good choices in that distance, so we just looked to kick the field goal”. The call was curious given that Rutgers was down 21 points and they would have needed three scores regardless.

Rutgers QB Chris Laviano scrambles out of the pocket under pressure from Penn State’s Carl Nassib (95), linebacker Troy Reeder (42) and defensive end Evan Schwan (94) during the first half Saturday night. The Hoosiers didn’t exactly impress with their Week 1 win over FCS Southern Illinois-the always-shaky Hoosier defense was, well, a good deal shakier than normal-but you’ve got to give this bunch credit for taking care of business in the two weeks since.

“When I talk about the future, I’m talking about near future”, Franklin said. The Lions converted three of their four third downs in the quarter and had two plays of 48-plus yards.

– Rutgers committed eight penalties and turned it over three times.

Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg wasn’t particularly sharp, missing a handful of open receivers.

But the senior tailback said he didn’t feel as if the distribution at the position – sophomore Robert Martin had five carries for 20 yards – altered the game plan’s rhythm.

His ability to get into the backfield has made life miserable for opposing offenses as they try to establish a running game.

Aller/Getty Images A chaotic week off the field ends with a mess on it as Rutgers falls in a 28-3 rout to Penn State.