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PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers' relatively short stay in the Big Ten East has been a boon to almost every program of the conference. You can put Penn State at the top of the list.
James Franklin's Nittany Lions have mingled with the Scarlet Knight five times and the numbers give a true picture. Penn State is 5-0 and Rutgers was 135-26.
The last match, the Saturday clash at Highpoint.com, was not as one-sided as the previous three. But Penn State has never been really threatened in a 20-7 win over a 50-degree afternoon.
A good defense is a constant for the Lions in the five competitions with Rutgers. Penn State (8-3, 5-3) excluded the outsiders from touchdown for four minutes for more than 50 minutes. The top four Lions were in the game along with the efforts of linebacker Micah Parsons.
The Lions have accumulated 11 tackles for defeat, four mats and three turnovers. Rutgers (1-10, 0-8) totaled 234 yards on 71 games, only 46 by the air.
Penn State defensive end, Shareef Miller, fired a low shot from a Scarlet Knights offensive lineman to score seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for defeat and a sack. His compatriot Yetur Gross-Matos added a tackle for the loss to bring his season total to 16.5 and starting tackles Kevin Givens and Robert Windsor combined for a 3.5-shot defeat.
"Everyone brings a different set of skills to the table," said Miller, a Redshirt junior, about his teammates.
"We feed each other's energy. We practice hard, we run to the ball. Coach (Sean) Spencer, he's putting pressure on us to get the team on their backs and play. And we deliver. ''
One of the biggest challenges for Miller on Saturday was keeping calm. He was sentenced to a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty in the first quarter after an official blamed him for fighting a physical challenge from a Rutgers offensive lineman.
On the play, Miller thought he had found a Rutgers hangman at Scarlet Knights '24, a loose ball forced by Parsons, who burst into the backfield and knocked quarterback Artur Sitkowski to make a bag.
"I was pretty upset because it was dirty and I do not play the game like that," said Miller.
"I had the ball, guys grab me in areas where they are not supposed to, hit me. And then one of their offensive lineman, No. 54 (Kamaal Seymour) … he did something dirty.
"He is standing above me and he has just fallen on me with his fist. I do not play the game like that. I was hot for a little bit. "
But Miller eventually settle in and the Lions' defense was installed. Rutgers faced a touchdown, a two-yard run by halfback Raheem Blackshear with 9:23 to play, and PSU was lucky that the Scarlet Knights did not score on the third goal. quarter.
But semi-goalkeeper Giovanni Rescigno, who replaced Sitkowski late in the first period, was unable to score in the end zone on a fourth-inning trick of PSU 2. Trey Sneed passes for Rescigno. in the left corner of the end zone but the QB missed the shot.
Still, it was hard to find grounds for the Rutgers' offense and the Parsons game, a graduate of Harrisburg High, was also important. He learned Friday that he was starting in the place of veteran Cam Brown, who missed the first period due to a minor problem off the field, according to Franklin.
Parsons finished with seven tackles and added another tackle for loss. One day when Lions quarterback veteran Trace McSorley won the 30th match of the program as a starter, contributions from three new freshmen allowed Penn State to separate from Rutgers.
Parsons continues to shine in his first year.
Jake Pinegar, a Lions classmate, tried 22- and 18-yard passes. And freshman Pat Freiermuth captured a McSorley touchdown pass – scoring 6 and 18 yards. He finished with three catches for 47 yards and Freiermuth scored six touchdown hits.
"(Freiermuth) is great, he's strong, he's physical," said Franklin.
"He has done beautiful things all season."
Hamler, who led PSU in the catches (five) and yards (71), said he knew in early September that Freiermuth was ready to make an immediate impact.
"It starts now, so he has a lot of experience as a freshman," Hamler said.
"Me and him, we communicate a lot on the ground, which man block. He is very mature for his age, so he is doing a good job. "
History tells us that almost every meeting between Penn State and Rutgers ends in the same way. The Lions have won 27 of 29 games and the ten games have been far from competitive.
So, a win over an outsider with four touchdowns is hardly surprising.
The fact that Parsons and Freiermuth made the difference in most games this season is.
And these two are just beginning.
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