Penn State-Nebraska Takeaways: Lions overwhelm Cornhuskers on record-setting night

By Greg Pickel

Penn State put together its most complete game of the season in its final contest at Beaver Stadium. Forty days after losing to Northwestern on this very same turf, a listless showing that proved to be James Franklin’s final game on their sideline, the Nittany Lions played suffocating defense, threw the ball downfield to get the run game going, and even pulled off a successful fake punt en route to a 37-10 blowout of Nebraska.

Our top takeaways are below.

1. Penn State leaves Beaver Stadium on a high note

Coming into this game, most reporters from both sides felt Penn State would win. However, the predictions universally called for a close game. All of those picks, including one from this writer, were wrong. The Nittany Lions scored on their first possession and dominated the Cornhuskers from start to finish. Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef looked like a freshman making his first start in a hostile road environment. Star running back Emmett Johnson had a season-long 52-yard run on the visitors’ first series but was bottled up from that point on.

The crowd was well below capacity but was still treated to the kind of performance that most people thought they’d be seeing all year. Redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer was solid and threw well down the field, completing 11 of 12 for 181 yards with a touchdown toss to redshirt sophomore tight end Andrew Rappleyea and no interceptions. The run game produced 231 yards thanks to big holes created by the offensive line. And the defense was aggressive, holding Nebraska to 263 yards following Johnson’s long run on the third play from scrimmage.

PSU now moves on to Rutgers, where it hopes to win a third consecutive game. If so, the Lions would be 6-6 and eligible for a bowl game.

2. Kaytron Allen sets a record

Senior running back Kaytron Allen is now the leading rusher in Penn State history with 3,954 yards in his four seasons as co-starter alongside classmate Nicholas Singleton.

Allen passed Evan Royster’s mark of 3,932 career yards with a 4-yard carry in the fourth quarter. Following a nicely executed fake punt one play later that gave Penn State a first down, Allen raced into the end zone untouched for a 13-yard score, his second of the night. He had a terrific evening, finishing with 25 carries for 160 yards and 2 scores.

Allen is deserving of this spot in Nittany Lion football history. He’s had a marvelous career, even if this last season did not go as expected for the team.

3. Odds and ends

— True freshman linebackers Alex Tatsch and LaVar Arrington II both burned their redshirts in this game.

— Junior linebacker Amare Campbell continues to be terrific for this defense. He was all over the field yet again, especially when the game was undecided in the first quarter.

— The lone negative of the night was a rare Ryan Barker miss on an extra point.

— Big Ten referee Rod Snodgrass and his crew had a brutal night. There were multiple missed calls both ways throughout this contest.