STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Christian Hackenberg threw a touchdown pass and backup tailback Nick Scott ran for another score, as Penn State slinked past Army 20-14 on Saturday in Beaver Stadium.
Joey Julius also kicked two field goals for the Nittany Lions (4-1), who won their fourth straight against suspect competition.
PSU, a 24.5-point favorite, was outgained by the Black Knights, 293-264, and outrushed, 261-108. The game was in doubt until Lions linebacker Jason Cabinda sacked Army quarterback A.J. Schurr for a 10-yard loss on 4th-and-5 from the Penn State 43 with 1:21 left.
Schurr, who started in place of an injured Ahmad Bradshaw, ran for two TDs for Army (1-4).
Offense
Facing a defense that came in allowing 418 yards a game (90th among the 127 FBS teams), the Lions struggled to move the ball, something that was only partially due to the fact that their top two tailbacks, Akeel Lynch (knee) and Saquon Barkley (ankle), sat out the game with injuries.
After Scott scored on an 11-yard run five minutes into the game — set up by a fumbled punt — the Lions managed six points on their next six possessions.
Hackenberg found tight end Mike Gesicki for a 33-yard score on the final play of the third quarter.
Defense
Army did not cross midfield until the third quarter, amid an eight-play, 76-yard TD drive that included the Black Knights’ first pass of the game, a 32-yard connection from Schurr to sophomore wide receiver Edgar Allan Poe. (Yes, that’s his real name.) Three plays later, Schurr wriggled into the end zone from three yards out.
Schutt also sprinted 56 yards for a score with 11:04 left in the game, capping a seven-play, 84-yard march.
Special teams
Nothing much to see here. Julius kicked two field goals, but punter Chris Gulla punted poorly before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury and there were no returns of note.
Health check
Besides Lynch, Barkley and Gulla, offensive tackle Andrew Nelson (knee) missed his third straight game, and safety Marcus Allen sat out with what is believed to be a shoulder injury.
Center Angelo Mangiro also left the game in the third quarter with a leg injury. He was replaced by Wendy Laurent.
Turnstile report
The announced attendance in the 107,282-seat stadium was 107,387. That’s interesting, as was the fact that there were swaths of empty seats on a rainy day.
Up next
The Lions, who play nothing but Big Ten games from here on out, host Indiana next Saturday at noon.