UNIVERSITY PARK– The Penn State offense had its best day of the Big Ten season in multiple aspects, including the most important one: It scored the most points it has in Big Ten play.
In Penn State’s first four games, it hadn’t scored more than the 23 it put up on USC Oct. 10.
With 2:11 left in the third quarter, Ryan Barker’s 44-yard field goal gave PSU 24 on the evening and pushed its lead to 10.
Now, 24 points isn’t going to make anybody forget about Kerry Collins, Ki-Jana Carter and Bobby Engram, but it’s hard to argue that PSU’s offense didn’t take a big step forward against the Boilermakers. Nowhere did it take a bigger step than in the running game. In the first half alone, Penn State rushed for 177 yards, which was considerably more than Purdue, which rushed for 31.
Penn State would add to its point total in the fourth quarter on Cam Wallace’s 2-yard touchdown run, which put him at 131 yards on 21 carries.
The previous high-water mark for a Penn State running back in Big Ten play this season was 67, set by James Peoples against Wisconsin Sept. 26.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Now, some of this must be taken with a grain of salt due to the opponent.
Purdue came into the game with the third-worst scoring defense and rushing defense in the Big Ten.                                                   Â
On the flip side, Penn State came in with the second-worst run defense in the Big Ten and held Purdue to 43 yards on 14 carries.
Overall, it was a good day at the office for Penn State football.
