Well… it was a win. It was less than spectacular and certainly less lopsided than the oddsmakers had expected, and it was aided immeasurably by a huge unforced error by the opponent. But those kinds of wins count, too, and Penn State will happily take it. By defeating Rutgers, 20-7, on Saturday, the visiting Nittany Lions continued to show that their defense is developing into one of the Big Ten’s better units, and in the process they improved their postseason resume heading into next week’s regular-season finale against Maryland.

Penn State was ineffective on offense for much of the afternoon, producing only two touchdowns against one of the Big Ten’s more porous defenses. The Scarlet Knights had gone into their home finale surrendering 34.3 points per game, second-most in the conference, but the Nittany Lions weren’t able to move the ball with any consistency even when they were starting out with excellent field position.

But Rutgers had even less success than Penn State. Despite holding the ball for more than 32 minutes, the Scarlet Knights managed only 234 yards, 88 fewer than the Lions.

Penn State’s strong defensive performance ended up being the difference, as it allowed the team to keep Rutgers at arm’s length, even with its own offense struggling.

“When we watched these guys on tape, we had a lot of respect for them and how they played and how hard they played,” coach James Franklin said. “We didn’t feel like we were going to come in and this was going to be an easy game for us. We thought it was going to be a battle. We saw these guys trending in the right direction, playing hard, especially in the first half of games.”

The Nittany Lions caught an enormous break in the third quarter when Rutgers flubbed its attempt to run the “Philly Special.” Facing fourth-and-goal, the Scarlet Knights managed to sneak quarterback Giovanni Rescigno into the end zone without anyone noticing. But when Trey Sneed lobbed him a short pass, the backup quarterback dropped the ball. The fourth-down failure gave Penn State possession and preserved a 13-0 lead. In was one of the decisive moments in a game that improved Penn State’s record to 8-3 overall and 5-3 in the conference, while dropping Rutgers to 1-10 and 0-8.

Here’s a look at the good and the bad:

• Two of Pat Freiermuth’s three catches were for touchdowns, as he caught a 6-yarder in the second quarter and an 18-yarder in the fourth. He’s steadily developed into one of McSorley’s most reliable receiving targets over the second half of the season and is now the team leader with six TD catches.

“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical, he’s got great body control. He can contort his body into different positions and come down with the ball,” Franklin said. “He’s done some really nice things all season long, and he’s got a lot of confidence, not only with what he’s done in the run game but with what he’s done in the pass game. He’s also a quick learner. He’s able to pick things up and play with confidence and play fast. I think the year that he’s put together has been really impressive.”

• Penn State’s defense totaled four sacks against a Rutgers offensive line that had done a very effective job of protecting its quarterbacks this season. The Scarlet Knights went into the game having surrendered only 12 sacks all year.

The Nittany Lions chased Artur Sitkowski from the game late in the first half, holding him to three completions in seven attempts for 18 yards and intercepting two passes. Rescigno fared little better after taking over in the second quarter, completing 2 of 8 for 28 yards. But he didn’t turn it over, and his mobility helped Rutgers get its offense unstuck, as he finished with 35 rushing yards. Still, that wasn’t nearly enough against Penn State’s defense. Said Franklin, “Our defense has played really good the past couple of weeks. I thought we played fantastic today. We knew it was all about the running game with them. We had not seen on tape that they can beat you with their passing game, with their quarterbacks and receivers and tight ends. It was about [Isaih] Pacheco and [Raheem] Blackshear. We’ve been pretty good at defending teams that maybe are one-dimensional in some ways. I think our defense is playing really well. Our defensive line is playing at a high level right now.”

• Blake Gillikin averaged 48.7 yards on six punts with a long kick of 70 yards.

• The Nittany Lions struggled to generate explosive plays. They only completed four passes of 20 or more yards against Rutgers, and their longest run of the afternoon was 9 yards. McSorley struggled from the start, misfiring on two of his first three pass attempts on Penn State’s opening drive. He finished the game with 17 completions in 37 attempts for 183 yards. He also rushed for 39 yards. In the process, he secured his 30th victory as a starting quarterback, the most in school history, but it was a struggle.

• The Nittany Lions weren’t able to run the ball consistently against a Rutgers defense that was surrendering 230.2 rushing yards per game, second-worst in the Big Ten. Penn State totaled 139 yards, and Miles Sanders needed 27 carries to net 88 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.

Afterward, Franklin said the team’s difficulties in the passing game were hampering the ground attack. “In the running game, we did some good things,” he said. “I think we’re still a little off in the passing game. We’ve got to get that cleaned up. It’s pressure sometimes, missed throws sometimes. We just are a little bit off in the passing game, and that’s been a bit of a storyline this year. We’ve got to get that fixed this week and moving forward.”

• K.J. Hamler was the starting punt returner in place of DeAndre Thompkins, but it didn’t help Penn State pull out of its special teams malaise. Hamler had a 15-yard return but also was fortunate to recover a first-quarter muff that would have flipped the field position in Rutgers’ favor.

The regular season comes to a close at home next Saturday against Maryland. Away from the field, the Terrapins have been in turmoil ever since the summer. But they have been competitive on the field throughout the season, including this week against College Football Playoff hopeful Ohio State.

With Tyrrell Pigrome starting at quarterback in place of Kasim Hill, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear last week against Indiana, the Terps took the Buckeyes to overtime before falling on a failed two-point conversion attempt, 52-51. They didn’t ask Pigrome to do too much, preferring instead to hand the ball to Anthony McFarland. The freshman running back responded with 298 rushing yards. Against Penn State, they’ll be playing for a chance to become bowl-eligible.

The way the Nittany Lions’ offense has struggled lately, it’s hard to feel fully confident in their ability to keep pace with anyone in a shootout, least of all a Maryland team that just hung 51 points on Ohio State. The Lions will need their defense to come through for them again on senior day if they want to stay in contention for a 10-win season.

“It’s going to be a pretty significant week next week,” Franklin said. “This senior class has got a chance to really do some great things and really end the season on a positive note. You think about this senior class, these guys, what they’ve meant to Penn State in our history, in our resurrection in some ways. I hope the stadium is sold out next week. We’ve got another really good Big Ten opponent coming into our place. But more than anything, Trace McSorley, Amani Oruwariye, all those seniors – they deserve to have that stadium sold out, and they deserve to be sent out the right way.”