PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The Nittany Lions are on a three-game win streak with their win over Rutgers on Saturday.
Penn State has outscored their last three opponents 130 to 24 as they to move to 9-2 on the season and stay ranked at No. 11 in the country, ahead of their final regular season finale hosting Michigan State.
The atmosphere at the home of the Scarlet Knights was lit as the Nittany Lions hoped to gallop their way to a victory and make it an easy business trip to Piscataway.
Well, it didn't begin that way. They went three and out on their first drive, then quarterback Sean Clifford got sacked to end the second drive.
On Rutgers' second drive, they knocked in a 42-yard goal to get on the board first.
But on the ensuing kickoff, the Nittany Lions answered, and they answered in a big way.
From endzone to endzone, the Governor Mifflin grad Nick Singleton got his first kick return for a touchdown the entire length of the field, 100 yards, as PSU took the lead 7 to 3.
Singleton and Kaytron Allen are the first freshmen duo to surpass 700 yards rushing in the Big Ten, and counting.
Four plays later and the Scarlet Knights score just their fourth ever touchdown against PSU since they came into the Big Ten, Rutgers up 10 to 7.
The Lions defense needed a big play to flip the script, and they did just that.
Freshman linebacker Dominic Deluca had the hit that made the ball come loose. Then other freshman linebacker, Kobe King, was there for the scoop and score.
The Nittany Lions regained the lead 14 to 10. Once they took that lead—they didn’t look back.
Later in the second, Clifford passed to Tyler Warren, who took a nice stroll into the end zone to add another. They led 28 to 10 at the half, but it’s what the Nittany Lions did coming out of halftime.
To open the second half, PSU allowed Rutgers to get a huge play. The defense answered back a few plays later with a forced fumble; Ji'Ayir Brown scooped it and brought it back for a 73-yard touchdown.
The defense and special teams scored three touchdowns to pace the Nittany Lions to 9 and 2 on the season as they beat Rutgers, 55 to 10.
In doing so, the Lions picked up head coach James Franklin's 100th college football career win.