#19 Penn State 34 Akron 16
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa — On miserable rainy day, the Nittany Lions recorded a sloppy win aganist the overmatched Akron Zips. It was a fairly typical opening game for the Lions, winning without dominating. Joe Paterno always says that good teams always learn more between the first and second games of the year than at any other time. Hopefully, we can expect to see some improvement. Many questions linger (CDT) headed into next week’s showdown in South Bend.
PSU main: A new chapter – CDT
Lions solid when it counts – Patriot-News
Boxscore – ESPN
Nittany Lions Zip Up Opening Day Win Over Akron, 34-16 – Intercollegiate Athletics (includes quotes, photos, stats, etc.)
Penn State Football Story video
OFFENSE
The long-awaited debut of Anthony Morelli at QB was a successful one. The junior’s first pass was 42 yard bomb to Deon Butler in the end zone to put the Lions up 7-0. He threw two more TDs, including Jordan Norwood’s first career TD in the second quarter and another to Derrick Williams in the third. He started having trouble hitting his targets in the second half, but the Lions were already ahead. He did not throw any interceptions or get sacked, though he did fumble. All in all, it was the smoothest debut start for a Penn State QB in a long time.
The running game left an awful lot to be desired (Patriot-News). RB Tony Hunt broke a 19 yard run to start the game, but that was the high-water mark for him. He did not get another 19 through the rest of the game. The run blocking is terrible and it appears that Penn State is going to have to start utilizing a fullback more if it does not improve dramatically. The downside is that takes a wideout off the field.
DEFENSE
After a summer of denials, Penn State went with a 3-4 defense with Tim Shaw playing DE. Some will argue it was still the traditional 4-3 and that is fine. The unit was solid, giving up a mere 225 yards. They did give up 18 first downs (Penn State had only 13) and were on the field for over 37 minutes. The standout player was OLB Dan Connor, who lead the team with 13 tackles, including 3.5 for a loss. Not surprisingly, he was named Big11Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Shaw also had a good game, being a disruptive force throughout the game. Reigning Bednarik/Butkis awards winner Paul Posluszny had a very quiet game, despite 7 tackles, playing in the middle. Some scribes thought his range was less than last year’s before his injury. Sophomore Sean Lee also played well (Post-Gazette) in his first significant regular season action.
The defensive backfield played well, though Justin King did not distingush himself as a tackler. Anthony Scirrotto and Nolan McCready had interceptions and Donnie Johnson made a number of great tackles. Tony Davis was also solid.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The special teams had flashes of brillance, but was mostly awful. Holder Jason Ganter botched a fake field goal and fumbled a snap. If your last name is not Hamme, you’ll probably blame the coaches for the dubious decision to run a fake in the poor conditions.
Derrick Williams was strong as a returner and frosh A.J. Wallace proved elusive as well, but lost a fumble on the second half kickoff. K Kevin Kelly only managed one touchback and had trouble reaching the goal line on most kickoffs, but he did prove effective at splitting the uprights.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
Anthony Morelli threw for 3 TDs and no INTs or sacks. He was particularly good in the first half, but did not peform that well in second half, though the game was not on the line. A solid, if not spectacular, debut.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
LB Dan Connor played an excellent game, recording 10 tackles including three for a loss. Honorable mention to LB/DE Tim Shaw.