STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ Just when it looked as if Nebraska was going to spend a cold, rainy day giving Penn State a tough test, the Nittany Lions put their offense into overdrive Saturday and built up a huge advantage that the Cornhuskers couldn't overcome.
Trailing, 10-7, midway through the first quarter, the Lions (ranked 10th in the College Football Playoff rankings and 13th by the Associated Press) went over, around and through the Nebraska defense for touchdowns on five consecutive possessions to take a 32-point halftime lead, and had enough to hold off the Cornhuskers, 56-44, on senior day before a soaked crowd of 106,722 at Beaver Stadium.
Saquon Barkley returned to his Heisman Trophy form with 158 yards on 17 carries and three first-half touchdowns to lead an explosive offensive show for the Nittany Lions (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten). Penn State rolled up 439 yards of total offense in the first half and led, 42-10, at the break. The Lions finished with 609 for the game.
Trace McSorley passed for two touchdowns, completions of 9 yards to Mike Gesicki and 15 yards to DeAndre Thompkins, and ran 9 yards for another score. He completed 24 of 36 passes for 325 yards.
The Cornhuskers (4-7, 3-5) didn't play well on either side of the ball in the first half, picking up just 77 total yards. They came to life in the third quarter on a 24-yard touchdown run by Mikale Wilbon and Tanner Lee's 22-yard scoring pass to De'Mornay Pierson-El.
That narrowed Nebraska's deficit to 42-24 but the Nittany Lions drove 79 yards and scored on McSorley's 17-yard pass to Gesicki a little over a minute into the fourth quarter. They made it 56-24 on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Tommy Stevens to tight end Nick Bowers, but the Cornhuskers scored the game's final three touchdowns.
Nebraska rolled up 389 total yards in the second half. Lee, who suffered a concussion in last week's loss to Minnesota but was cleared to play Saturday, passed for 399 yards. In the second half, he completed 19 of 22 passes for 327 yards and touchdown throws to Pierson-El, Stanley Morgan, and Jack Stoll.
It was a day of records for Penn State. Barkley's three touchdowns gave him 39 rushing TDs for his career, breaking the program record of 38 held by Lydell Mitchell. Gesicki caught four passes for 47 yards and finished the day with 1,384 career receiving yards, breaking the record for most yards by a tight end previously held by Ted Kwalick.
Barkley, who had rushed for just 142 yards in his previous three games, got the crowd revved up on the third play of the game when he took a handoff over left tackle, broke two tackles and went all the way for a 65-yard scoring run. The Cornhuskers scored the next 10 points, capitalizing on two special-teams mistakes by the Nittany Lions.
Nebraska punted at the end of its first drive, but the ball bounced and struck Penn State's Zech MacPhearson, with Marquel Dismuke recovering for the visitors. The result was a 28-yard field goal by Drew Brown.
The Cornhuskers then took advantage of a shanked punt by the Lions' Blake Gillikin that went out of bounds at the Penn State 36. It took the Huskers just three plays to get into the end zone, with Devine Ozigbo going over from a yard out.
The Nittany Lions responded with touchdowns on each of their next five possessions on drives of 66, 85, 67, 65 and 78 yards. Barkley scored on a 1-yard run to give his team the lead for good at 14-10 late in the first quarter.
Then in the second quarter, Penn State scored on a 9-yard run by McSorley, a 9-yard pass from McSorley to a leaping 6-foot-6 Gesicki in the left corner of the end zone, an 8-yard run over left tackle by Barkley and McSorley's 15-yard pass to a wide-open Thompkins in the end zone. The last touchdown, with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the first half gave the Lions a 42-10 lead.
