In their first shutout since the 2002 season, the Penn State Nittany Lions (6-3, 4-2) beat the Purdue Boilermakers (5-4, 2-3) on Saturday, 12-0.
The defense gave another strong performance, allowing no scoring to take place. In fact, it was the first time Purdue was kept scoreless in a decade. The Boilermakers were kept to 240 rushing yards–208 less than their average for the season. Linebackers Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor, and Sean Lee worked together for a combined 28 tackles.
The offense posted an impressive 240 yards rushing and 180 passing, a big improvement from previous weeks where players had a more difficult time getting things started.
Though with a combined 6 fumbles and 2 interceptions between the two teams, the play was anything but clean.
It was also nice to see kicker Kevin Kelly make two field goals happen, a 29-yard attempt and a 44-yard attempt were both good to put Penn State on the board with a 6-0 lead at halftime.
Tony Hunt led the offense with a net 142 yards rushing.
Morelli netted the team 182 passing yards, while suffering one 8-yard sack.
The Lions dominated possession time, having control of the ball for 35:22.
Saturday’s win qualified the PSU squad for bowl eligibility. Where Penn State will be spending New Years remains to be decided, and likely relies heavily on this weekend’s match-up with the no. 17 University of Wisconsin Badgers.
How do you feel after this week’s Purdue shutout? Post comments on the team, their performance, bowl prospects, and anything else Nittany Lions below.
