Highs & Lows: Pitt

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Miles Sanders said last week he knows most of the members of Pittsburgh roster. If they didn’t know Sanders, they most certainly do now. The Penn State running back posted his second straight standout performance, carrying the ball 16 times for 118 yards, including a long of 41 yards that would have been longer had the Nittany Lions not been called for an illegal block. It was good for his first 100-yard showing. Sanders never found the end zone, but it didn’t matter in a 51-6 Penn State blowout victory over the Panthers.

PLAY OF THE GAME:

DeAndre Thompkins was quiet for the first six-plus quarters of Penn State’s season. Saturday, he silenced the only remaining whispers of Pittsburgh’s bid for an upset. Thompkins fielded a line-drive punt near the Panther sideline with a whole side of the field unaccounted for by the coverage. He took it around the left edge and found himself with only the punter to beat, and that proved to be no issue for the elusive wide receiver, who punched it into the end zone to put the Nittany Lions up 30-6 near the end of the third quarter.

BEST PASS:

James Franklin unleashed Sean Clifford’s arm on his first snap of competitive college football, and Clifford made his chance count. Clifford dropped a 34-yard floater directly into the breadbasket of Brandon Polk, who had beaten two Pittsburgh defenders. The garbage time touchdown put the Nittany Lions up 51-6 late in the fourth quarter.

BEST RUN:

Hamler needed only one drive at the end of Penn State’s opener to show off his dynamic playmaking ability. He needed only one carry against Pittsburgh to do the same. Hamler’s first touch against Pittsburgh inspired a similar reaction. He took a jet sweet around the left end of the line of scrimmage to paydirt, scampering 32 yards untouched.

BEST CATCH:

Mac Hippenhammer’s first touchdown of his Penn State career came through excellent man coverage near the corner of the Nittany Lion end zone. The redshirt sophomore managed to create enough space for McSorley to hit him in the chest with an accurate pass, and Hippenhammer scored to put the Nittany Lions up 37-6.

WORST DROP:

With a chance to take control of the game and go up two scores early in the third quarter, the Nittany Lions’ wide receivers let them down. First, Thompkins dropped what would have been a touchdown pass from McSorley. On the very next play, Juwan Johnson let a pass that would have gone for a gain of more than 10 yards slip through his fingers. They were bailed out, however, as the Nittany Lions found the end zone anyway.

BEST SACK:

Ellison Jordan would have had the Nittany Lions’ first sack of the game in the third quarter had it not been for a holding penalty. But Penn State will take it. An effective rush by Jordan warranted a flag in the Pittsburgh end zone, resulting in a safety that put the Nittany Lions up 23-6.

BEST INTERCEPTION:

Amani Oruwariye’s hands betrayed him once when he dropped an interception on Pittsburgh’s first drive of the game. It wasn’t going to happen twice. In the more crucial of his two interception opportunities, Oruwariye sealed a Pittsburgh wide receiver against the sideline with his body and brought down a high arching pass, abruptly ending a promising Panther drive and giving the Nittany Lions the ball at their own 1-yard line.

BEST HIT:

The difference between Penn State’s tackling effort in the first and second halves was stark. The Panthers ran the ball 31 times for 214 yards in the first half, breaking Nittany Lion arm tackles left and right along the way. But that didn’t continue into the second half, and Pittsburgh’s upset bid collapsed along with its rushing totals. Penn State held the Panthers to 31 yards rushing in the second half on its way to a route.

BEST EFFORT:

Shareef Miller earned praise for his leadership from Franklin this week, and those qualities showed up at one of the game’s most important points. Penn State had shown no ability to stop the Pittsburgh running game in the first half, leading the Panthers to elect to go for it on fourth-and-3 inside the Penn State 10-yard line. Miller ensured that decision turned out to be bad one, surging through the right side of the line to close the intended whole and allow Penn State to keep its 7-6 lead in the second quarter.

BEST KICK:

Blake Gillikin seemed to be the only specialist on either side unaffected by the wet conditions on Saturday. The Penn State punter started his game off with his best punt of the season so far, pinning the Panthers inside their own 5-yard line. Overall, Gillikin pinned the hosts inside their own 20 4 times, averaging 42.6 yards per punt.

WORST KICK:

The Panthers were victimized by the conditions and some sloppiness on three separate occasions in the first half. Bad holds on an extra point and short field goal attempt cost Pittsburgh four points. Then, in the half’s final moments, a dropped snap on a punt resulted in catastrophe for the Panthers. The kick was blocked, and Penn State took over deep in Pittsburgh territory, later scoring. The game was never in question thereafter.

BEST RETURN:

Hamler’s impact on the game was evident on special teams yet again on Saturday. He took Pittsburgh’s first kickoff of the day back 27 yards, taking a Saquon Barkley-esque leap over a member of the Panther coverage team before a facemask penalty tacked on 15 more yards. His next return was just as good, bursting through the coverage for 28 yards.

WORST DECISION:

Facing fourth-and-3 from the Pittsburgh 27-yard line with just over 5 minutes left in the first quarter, Franklin elected to send freshman kicker Jake Pinegar out to attempt his second career field goal instead of trying to pick up the first down. In wet conditions and a hostile environment, Pinegar pushed his kick wide right.

MOST TELLING MOMENT:

Whatever corrections the Nittany Lion coaching staff made during halftime to slow the Panthers’ running game had an almost immediate impact on the game. Penn State forced Pitt into a three-and-out on its first drive of the third quarter, stopping a pair of rushing attempts in the backfield. The Nittany Lions rode that momentum, scoring a touchdown on the next play to go up 21-6 and put the Panthers at arm's length.