UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State held only a 13-6 advantage after three quarters Saturday against Rutgers.
From there, though, it was all Penn State much like it had been throughout the rest of the game. Penn State, led by backup quarterback Beau Pribula, found the endzone twice in the fourth quarter to put the game further out of reach.
The game was never truly in doubt given Penn State’s stout defense, but offensively, it was much of the same before Drew Allar went down with an injury in the third quarter.
More from the game:
PENN STATE RB NICHOLAS SINGLETON’S STRUGGLES
It’s been a tale of two seasons for Nicholas Singleton. At the start, Singleton’s struggles continued against Rutgers, compounding with a second-quarter fumble.
But after that, Singleton’s afternoon got significantly better. He had carries of four and five yards before bursting for a 20-yard gain, his longest of the season.
Late in the fourth quarter, Singleton got outside for what seemed like the first time this season and it worked wonders for the speedy running back.
Will this continue? That remains to be seen, but the progress is definitely positive.
PRIBULA’S POISE
Allar was injured after a quarterback draw in the third quarter. Pribula took over and, so too did the offense. On his first play, Pribula ran for a 39-yard gain.
The completion of that drive would end with a failed fourth-down conversion, but after, the offense found a groove and benefitted from the defense’s domination.
Pribula threw only once, a nine-yard completion to tight end Tyler Warren, but to be honest, throwing wasn’t necessary. Under Pribula, the offense racked up 172 total yards in two quarters surpassing the 136 yards Allar and the offense racked up in the first half.
“When Drew got hurt and Beau came in, it opened up some things in the run game for him,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “You can be able to do some different things there.”
Pribula’s legs opened up the running game which racked up 177 yards in the second half, 67 of which were his.
As usual, Franklin was mum on any sort of information on Allar and his injury following the game, but given the short week, it would not be a shock to see Pribula in action against Michigan State Friday.
DEFENSE CHOPS RUTGERS UP
The Penn State defense continued its dominance against Rutgers in a big way. As a program, Rutgers hadn’t scored a touchdown at Beaver Stadium since 1994. That would continue to be the case following Saturday’s win.
Defensive end Chop Robinson helped lead Penn State with five tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and recovery.
“I was timing to the clock all the time. And I was saying he was snapping the ball when it got under five seconds,” Robinson said. “I was keying that the whole game. And then once I jumped out of my stance and I saw he was halfway passing, I just swiped the thing and sacked him.”
It was the type of performance the defense needed following last week’s game against Michigan.
