No. 14 Penn State put together possibly its most complete game of the season in a 30-0 thrashing over the visiting Terrapins.
Here are the top takeaways from Penn State's crushing win over Maryland:
Defense plays on another level
The Nittany Lions definitely ate their Wheaties this morning. Manny Diaz's unit was flying to the ball, making crushing hits, and overall just having fun.
It all started up front, where Penn State's front seven was unstoppable. The Nittany Lions were constantly in the backfield and made it hard for Maryland to gain positive yards.
The pass rush gave Terrapin quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa little time to throw, with Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac dominating on the edge. Penn State finished with seven sacks and nine TFLs
Even when Tagovailoa had time to throw, open receivers were few and far between. Despite being without star corner Joey Porter Jr., the secondary stepped up and held the receivers in check.
By night's end, the defense allowed just 134 total yards — the least Penn State has allowed since Purdue mustered 123 yards in 2019.
Ground-and-pound Nittany Lions
The blue and white flexed its Big Ten mettle Saturday night, as it ran the ball all over the Terrapins.
Freshman running back Nick Singleton earned the start and was terrific. The speed has always been there, but he showed good vision and finished his runs with great power. The home run threat finished with 122 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
Kaytron Allen ran well in his own right, gaining 73 yards on 16 carries. The freshmen duo combined for over 200 rushing yards.
On a day where the passing attack wasn't great, the running game more than made up for it in the blowout.
Next-man up does the job
Coming into Saturday's matchup, there were concerns about some of the injuries Penn State was dealing with. Overall, it was hard to tell there were any injuries, as the back-ups stepped up nicely.
With starting tackle Olu Fashanu out against the Terps, it was true freshman Drew Shelton stepping in to be Clifford's blindside protector. Shelton performed nicely in both pass and run protection. Although he is no longer eligible for a redshirt, the starting experience is good for Shelton.
The linebacking corps was without Curtis Jacobs, but they hardly skipped a beat. Abdul Carter, Jonathan Sutherland and Tyler Elsdon tackled very well and did a great job of keeping the Terrapins in check.
In the secondary, Joey Porter Jr.'s absence was nothing more than a footnote. Kalen King and Johnny Dixon started on the outside and shut things down. Maryland wide receivers made just five receptions all night.
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