UNIVERSITY PARK — The No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions left Minnesota on Saturday, Nov. 23, with their 10th win of the season and in a position to earn an almost certain berth in the first 12-team College Football Championship.
They need one more win over visiting Maryland on Senior Day at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30, to finish the regular season with an 11-1 record, a top five ranking, and possibly a home playoff game.
Yet, what can be taken from Penn State’s razor-thin, 26-25 victory over Minnesota, not to mention losses by three of last week’s top 12 teams across the country, is that nothing can be taken for granted in this season and that it is all about results.
Minnesota, for example, was an 11-point underdog on Saturday, but the Gophers were waiting for the Lions after a week off and an unnerving loss the week before at Rutgers.
It was their Senior Day, and the highly prepared and motivated Gophers were confident and ready to take their biggest victory of the season.
And the game began like they were going to do it.
Minnesota took an early 10-0 lead, and it stood toe-to-toe with the Lions all day. The Gophers led at halftime, 19-16, and increased that lead to 22-16 in the third quarter before Penn State doggedly began to get an advantage.
The Lions scored in the first half on a 45-yard pass from Drew Allar to Omari Evans and on a 4-yard run by Allar.
Allar’s run would have tied the game at 17-17 except that Minnesota blocked the extra point and returned it all the way for two points. So, the score was then 19-16 in favor of the Gophers at the half.
After a third quarter Minnesota field goal, Penn State took its first lead, 23-22, on a 12-yard touchdown run by Nicholas Singleton with three minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Lions extended their lead in the fourth quarter to 26-23 on a 32-yard field goal by Ryan Barker, but the Gophers were not done.
They drove deep into the Penn State red zone, but the Lions’ defense held them to a field goal with five minutes still to play.
And then, helped with a fake punt and two fourth-down conversions, Penn State ran out the clock and took the win.
The victory marked the third year in a row that Penn State recorded at least 10 wins, one of only three teams to have done that, and it brought the Lions to the brink of the playoffs.
It is only the Maryland Terrapins now standing in the way.
Maryland is now 4-7 (1-7 in the Big Ten) and is coming off a 29-13 loss last week to Iowa at home.
The Terps have actually lost their last four games, to Minnesota, No. 1 Oregon, Rutgers and Iowa, since their exciting 29-28 victory over USC at home on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Against Iowa, Maryland fell behind 16-0 early in the third quarter, but the Terps scored two touchdowns, both by Tai Felton on passes from MJ Morris and closed to within 19-13 with 11 minutes to play.
But Iowa didn’t crumble and struck back with a dramatic, 68-yard touchdown run by Kamari Moulton just two minutes after Maryland’s TD.
Moulton’s run and a later field goal gave Iowa the win and sent the Terps to their seventh loss.
Billy Edwards is the leading passer for Maryland with 273 completions in 420 attempts for 2881 yards and 15 touchdowns, an average of 261 yards per game.
Roman Henby is the top rusher with 570 yards and six touchdowns, and he’s followed by Nolan Ray with 330 yards and two touchdowns.
Felton is the top receiver with 92 catches for 1097 yards and nine touchdowns. Felton averages just under 100 receiving yards per game.
As a team, Maryland averages 25 points per game with 114 yards on the ground and 289 in the air for a total of 403 yards per game.
Defensively the Terps give up 375 ypg and 29 points with seven interceptions, nine fumble recoveries and 14 sacks for 94 yards.
Maryland needed a win over Iowa last week to bolster its bowl game hopes, but that did not work out.
For Penn State, the importance of the game is clear, and the Lions will come into the contest as a heavy favorite and with the seniors looking forward to playing their final game at Beaver Stadium.
Or, if things go well, maybe not.
Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. at Beaver Stadium.
