Barkley, McSorley Help Penn St. Beat Maryland 38-14
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Saquan Barkley ran for 202 yards, Trace McSorley threw a pair of touchdown passes and Penn State beat Maryland 38-14 on Saturday.
McSorley accounted for 233 total yards, throwing for 152 and rushing for 81 as the Nittany Lions (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) had a season-high 524 total yards and snapped Maryland's five game win streak.
Barkley averaged 6.5 yards on 31 carries.
"I didn't do anything spectacular today," Barkley said. "The offensive line took over and did a good job. We kind of felt we could run the ball; we hadn't been getting our running game going. The offensive line did an outstanding job."
Penn State limited Maryland (4-1, 1-1) to 270 total yards, including 170 on the ground. The Terps came in averaging 300 rushing yards per game in victories over Howard, Florida International, Central Florida and Purdue.
Maryland was forced to play without veteran quarterback Perry Hills during the second half; Hills injured his shoulder on a second-quarter keeper deep in Penn State territory and Maryland coach D.J. Durkin said it was not in Hills' best interest to return in the second half.
"We have to play better, we have to coach better," Durkin said. "We made dumb mistakes. We have to stay within the scheme of our offense."
Penn State penalties and a Barkley fumble enabled the Terps to stay within striking distance until McSorley hooked up with DeAndre Thompkins on a 70-yard scoring pass late in the third quarter to make it 31-14. Freshman Miles Sanders added a 25-yard scoring run late in the game.
"Offensively, we put up some good numbers and did some good things," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "I thought we matched up well against this team on the O-line and the D-line. The games that we've matched up well, we've had success."
THE TAKEAWAY:
PENN STATE: Penn State has gotten off to slow starts in each of its games this season. The Nittany Lions shook that off with a seven-play, 84-yard scoring drive on its opening possession that featured four plays of 17 yards or more and capped by a 5-yard scoring pass from McSorley to tight end Mike Gesicki. "It was huge for us to get that first touchdown," said McSorley, who had 81 yards rushing on 18 carries. "We were able to get Beaver Stadium rocking." On Maryland's ensuing possession, Penn State recorded back-to-back sacks of Hills by Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan for a loss of 17 yards, forcing a punt. The Lions rang up 293 first-half yards.
MARYLAND: The Terps were unable to run or stop the run. Lorenzo Harrison ran for 76 yards but the Terps lost two turnovers and were prevented from any consistent scoring drives by Penn State's front seven. Maryland's passing game was largely ineffective as Hills and Tyrrell Pigrome combined to complete 10 of 16 passes for 100 yards with one TD and one interception. Pigrome ran for 39 yards and a touchdown.
UP NEXT
MARYLAND: After playing three of its first five games on the road, Maryland returns home to face Minnesota on Oct. 15.
PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions have an open date Oct. 15 prior to playing their third straight home game on Oct. 22 against No. 2 Ohio State; the Buckeyes will be Penn State's second top-five opponent this season.
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