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UPDATE: Police identify teen shot and killed in Wilkes-Barre late Friday

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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins drop decision in overtime

Maryland is missing its starting quarterback. Its top two rushers from a year ago. Its head coach.And the Terrapins come to Happy Valley Saturday having lost an emotionally draining 52-51 game to Ohio State in overtime last week, the capper to an exhausting season that began with the death of teammate Jordan McNair.But Penn State knows what sort of damage this offense can do. And the Nittany Lions have long memories from the last time they faced it. Not last year, but back in 2016 when Terps interim coach Matt Canada was the offensive coordinator at Pitt.Using an array of misdirection plays, shifts and motions, Canada&#8217;s scheme racked up 341 yards on the ground to put the Lions in a 28-7 hole that was too deep for them. Pitt&#8217;s 42-39 win ultimately kept Penn State out of the College Football Playoff at the end of that season. The stakes aren&#8217;t quite so high this time around. But a Lions win would keep them alive for a potential at-large bid to a New Year&#8217;s Six bowl, which would be the program&#8217;s third straight. Maryland, meanwhile, needs a win to reach any bowl game, period.In their near-upset of the Buckeyes, the Terps rushed for 339 yards using many of the same tricks that confounded the Lions two years ago.&#8220;I think in a lot of ways, it&#8217;s like (defending) option football,&#8221; Lions coach James Franklin said. &#8220;You may be responsible for the A gap, but then you see the motion fly by and the guy fake it &#8212; and you start to kind of drift out of your gap. Then all of a sudden, here comes that ball screaming through your A gap and we&#8217;re not sound.&#8220;So it&#8217;s guys being disciplined enough to say, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to do my job and I&#8217;m going to trust my teammate is going to do his job. &#8230; I&#8217;ve got to do my job and I&#8217;ve got to do it consistently.&#8217; &#8220;Easier said than done.Ohio State couldn&#8217;t figure it out last week. And the Buckeyes were one accurate pass in overtime away from being knocked out of the Playoff picture themselves.With starter Kasim Hill out for the season with a knee injury, Maryland had Tyrrell Pigrome under center, and it was Pigrome with the ball on a 2-point try in overtime that would have won the game. He had his man open in the end zone, but Pigrome, not being a polished passer, missed the mark.Pigrome was a late addition to the Terps&#8217; 2016 recruiting class. And he&#8217;s only on the roster because the quarterback they had committed for several months of that cycle is now starting for Ohio State instead.Maryland native Dwayne Haskins flipped from the Terps to sign with the Buckeyes that winter. On Saturday he threw for 405 yards and scored six total touchdowns &#8212; including running in the game-winner in overtime &#8212; in his first start in College Park.This week, Canada will have another chance to make his case to be Maryland&#8217;s full-time coach after taking over for DJ Durkin, who was ultimately dismissed because of his staff&#8217;s negligent response to a medical emergency that led to McNair&#8217;s death over the summer.&#8220;This program is on the rise. Everybody knows that if you actually pay attention,&#8221; Canada told reporters in Maryland this week. &#8220;There&#8217;s a bunch of talent on the edge out there. Those wideouts can play. The running backs can play.&#8221;THREE AND OUTRunning wildSpeaking of running backs, what made all of Canada&#8217;s pre-snap motion effective in the 2016 game was that he had a hammer in the backfield in the form of James Conner, now starring for the Pittsburgh Steelers.Maryland may be missing explosive rushers Ty Johnson and Lorenzo Harrison in the backfield &#8212; Johnson has a chance to return this week &#8212; but the Terps still have their highest pedigree tailback in top form.Anthony McFarland torched Ohio State for 298 yards last week and became the first Maryland player to top 200 yards in back-to-back games since former Meyers star Charlie Wysocki did it in 1979.&#8220;We know Anthony really well,&#8221; said Franklin, who recruited McFarland out of Maryland powerhouse DeMatha Catholic. &#8220;He can run, he can flat-out run. You watch him on tape. He is fast, and he makes a bunch of big plays for them.&#8221;Emotional afternoonWith 21 players being honored before the game during senior day ceremonies, Nick Scott pointed the finger at himself when asked which player was most likely to choke up before coming out of the tunnel for the final time at Beaver Stadium.&#8220;I think I might be up there, to be honest,&#8221; Penn State&#8217;s defensive captain said. &#8220;I&#8217;m a pretty emotional guy. I ride off of my emotions and things like that, especially times like these when something is coming to the end for me.&#8220;Other than myself, I can see (linebacker) Koa Farmer being pretty emotional. That&#8217;s my roommate. I know him pretty well. He&#8217;s kind of a softy. I think he&#8217;ll be right beside me trying to fight back some tears.&#8221;The Lions&#8217; captain on offense has tried not to dwell on it.&#8220;I haven&#8217;t really envisioned it or thought too much about it,&#8221; Trace McSorley said. &#8220;The best way that I think you can handle it is just when those emotions kind of happen, just let yourself experience that for a couple seconds here and there. Ten, 15 seconds &#8212; whatever it might be &#8212; and then be able to refocus.&#8221;Franklin watchSome might be wondering if Saturday could be Franklin&#8217;s final game in Beaver Stadium as well.His name has repeatedly come up as a potential candidate for the USC job, which could come open as early as Sunday if the Trojans lose to undefeated Notre Dame as expected and miss a bowl game.Franklin wouldn&#8217;t address his future when asked twice on Tuesday, including a point-blank question on the Big Ten coaches teleconference if he would be Penn State&#8217;s coach in 2019.His responses &#8212; or lack thereof &#8212; apparently set off some alarms. Enough for him to address the situation unprompted at the start of a media session with reporters in State College after Wednesday&#8217;s practice.&#8220;In an attempt (Tuesday) &#8212; a failed attempt &#8212; to try and keep the focus on Maryland, I got asked a question (Tuesday) about another school and tried to keep the focus on (the next opponent) like I always do, and that didn&#8217;t go over very well,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t feel like it was appropriate to talk about another school or another person&#8217;s job status, so that&#8217;s why I addressed it the way I did.&#8220;But, obviously, have all the plans in the world to be here and to be here for a long time. So I just wanted to address that because it became something that I did not want it to be or intend.&#8221;Time will tell.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Maryland&#8217;s Anthony McFarland will be on Penn State&#8217;s radar on Saturday after the running back racked up nearly 300 yards on the ground last week against Ohio State. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18321672602076.jpg</photo0><caption0>Maryland&#8217;s Anthony McFarland will be on Penn State&#8217;s radar on Saturday after the running back racked up nearly 300 yards on the ground last week against Ohio State. </caption0><photoCredit0>Nick Wass | AP photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18321621870205.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Breakout star Yetur Gross-Matos and the Penn State defense will look to contain a scheme that has hurt the Nittany Lions in the past. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18321621870205.jpg</photo1><caption1>Breakout star Yetur Gross-Matos and the Penn State defense will look to contain a scheme that has hurt the Nittany Lions in the past. </caption1><photoCredit1>Julio Cortez | AP photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>PSU GAMEDAYMaryland (5-6, 3-5) atNo. 12 Penn State (8-3, 5-3)3:30 p.m. todayBeaver StadiumState CollegeTV: ABC Line: Penn State by 13.5</factboxMeta></div>

Penn State on high alert against Maryland’s dangerous offense