#11 PENN STATE 33 Purdue 15
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Another one in the win column for Penn State. It was not a terribly pretty victory over Purdue, but I am not going to complain too much about a 33-15 final.
After weeks of saying “Tony Hunt is going to have a breakout game” he finally did. He ran for 129 yards and put the game away in fourth quarter. Mike Robinson, despite seemingly getting stopped for not much yardage on most runs, somehow gained 97 yards. The defense was fairly solid, but gave up a 1st half TD on a short field and a fourth quarter TD when they were too busy going for interceptions instead of making tackles.
The special teams continued to be mixed. Kevin Kelly had a strong outing with four field goals and Ethan Kilmer excelled as the gunner on punts. Calvin Lowrey continued to frustrate everyone with his terrible play as punt returner. He boggles the mind, but perhaps what is most flabbergasting is the coaching staff’s reluctance to put someone else in there.
PSU still on track – CDT
Not perfect … not needed – Patriot-News
Boxscore – ESPN.com
NEW RANKING
With #6 Georgia losing to Florida, a bunch of teams behind them have moved up one, including the Nittany Lions who re-enter the AP Top Ten at #10.
JOEPA FALL DOWN GO BOOM
Joe Paterno pulled a Velma — getting knocked down without his glasses, when Jim Shaw ran into him during warmups. He was okay.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
This was is easy — Tony Hunt. The junior RB had 129 yards on 20+ carries, easily his best outing of the season. He rarely goes down on first contact, and often spins off of tacklers. His running put the game away in the fourth. He has been overdue for a breakout.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
If you went by official stats, DE Tamba Hali’s performance did not standout. However, the Purdue player blocking him got whistled for five penalties. That speaks volumes. He has really become a standout player since moving from DT to DE.
SPEICAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ethan Kilmer has continued to amaze on special teams (Patriot-News). He made SIX tackles on punt coverage on Saturday. He is just so fast and has a nose for the ball. What would Fisher DeBerry say about him?
TRAFFIC WOES
On the way up US 322 WEST, traffic through Seven Mountains was backed up about a mile. The primary reason — rubbernecking due to a t-shirt stand that had set up just beyond the lane drop. Ridiculous.
On the way back, traffic was stopped on US 22/322 EAST coming out of Lewistown for about 45 minutes, for no apparent reason.