web1_Penn-St-Maryland-Foot_Sopr-2-.jpg

In the Huddle: Looking for the forgotten man

Letter to the Editor: Luzerne County Council requires newfound sense of cooperation

BALTIMORE &#8212; James Franklin wasn&#8217;t interested in hearing the numbers, which haven&#8217;t been pretty.The Penn State coach had the nation&#8217;s No. 1 rush defense at his disposal for most of the 2014 season. But the 2015 Nittany Lions have struggled mightily against option schemes. That&#8217;s how Ohio State and Maryland combined to rush for a stunning 556 yards against Penn State in the last two weeks.&#8220;We held &#8216;em to one less point than we got,&#8221; Franklin said upon hearing that figure after beating the Terrapins 31-30 on Saturday. &#8220;That&#8217;s the goal. Every single week.&#8221;On a day where Penn State&#8217;s defense did finish with a victory, perhaps the more important number was five. That&#8217;s how many takeaways the Lions came away with, including three in a decisive fourth quarter in which they held the Terps to three points.And that was despite the Lions coughing up two fumbles of their own in the final frame, giving the Terps plenty of opportunity to steal the win.Ailing linebacker Brandon Bell came up with a strip sack of quarterback Perry Hills with defensive end Garrett Sickels returning it 36 yards to flip field position.Senior cornerback Trevor Williams ended one drive with an interception on fourth-and-2.&#8220;It&#8217;s a great feeling,&#8221; said Williams, who grew up in Baltimore. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t played here in five years since high school. And just to make a play here at my hometown, in front of my family, it&#8217;s just a great feeling.&#8220;It&#8217;s a moment I&#8217;ll remember forever.&#8221;But the Lions couldn&#8217;t close it out after Williams&#8217; pick as a third-down pass fell incomplete, giving the Terps a shot to drive 40 yards or so for a winning field goal.Instead, safety Malik Golden sealed it with an interception off a tipped ball.Just as significant, freshman John Reid jarred a ball loose from Hills in the red zone in the first half as Maryland native Marcus Allen scooped it up. Grant Haley also came up with a pick on a deep ball to snuff out the Terps&#8217; first drive.Penn State needed all five turnovers to earn the win.Changing of the guardIt wasn&#8217;t a huge difference for Angelo Mangiro. After all, the senior lineman has played every spot up front for the Lions but left tackle these last two years.But it was still a different look for Penn State when Mangiro slid over to play left guard against Maryland with junior Wendy Laurent stepping in to play center.The odd man out was sophomore Brendan Mahon as the Lions went with Paris Palmer-Mangiro-Laurent-Brian Gaia-Andrew Nelson from left to right.Franklin wasn&#8217;t happy with the play of his guards vs. the Buckeyes as both Mahon and Gaia spent most of the second half on the sideline.Laurent has received plenty of praise from the coaches this season with Franklin even calling him &#8220;the most improved player&#8221; on the roster.Earlier in the season, Franklin was wary of moving Mangiro to a different position because he said he wanted a consistent presence at center. But by this, the eighth game of the season, Laurent had done enough to earn the staff&#8217;s trust.&#8220;Wendy has come in for a number of situations and played well,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;At some point we just had to say, &#8216;These are our guys.&#8217; To do that, we put Wendy at center and roll with it.&#8221;Infirmary reportThe offensive line got another shake-up just two plays into the second half when Nelson went down in considerable pain before gingerly walking off the field under his own power.It&#8217;s the second time this season Nelson has been knocked out of a game with an apparent left leg injury &#8212; Franklin called it a &#8220;nagging&#8221; issue after he went down in Week 2 against Buffalo.&#8220;It&#8217;s a chronic issue,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;But I&#8217;m not going to elaborate more than that.&#8221;Mahon replaced Nelson at right tackle as he had the last time.&#8220;He came in and really played pretty well,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Proud of those guys. They battled.&#8221;Senior tight end Kyle Carter returned from a one-game absence after missing the trip to Columbus with an undisclosed injury.With Carter back on the field, the Lions did not bring fellow tight end Adam Breneman along with them to Baltimore. Breneman returned from multiple injuries last week against Ohio State, playing for the first time since November 2013.But Breneman was only on the field for a handful of plays in the Lions&#8217; three-tight-end sets. Franklin implied after the game that Breneman likely wouldn&#8217;t have played had Carter been healthy.<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Penn-St-Maryland-Foot_Sopr-3-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State safety Malik Golden (6) celebrates with teammates after intercepting a pass in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland, Saturday in Baltimore. Penn State won 31-30. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Penn-St-Maryland-Foot_Sopr-3-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State safety Malik Golden (6) celebrates with teammates after intercepting a pass in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland, Saturday in Baltimore. Penn State won 31-30. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div>

Nittany Lions Notebook: Penn State defense saves best for last