Penn State Defeats Washington In Thriller
Penn State finishes off another successful season with a 35-28 victory over Washington in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl on Saturday night.
Saquon Barkley was dominant once again, rushing 18 times for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns. His partner in crime Trace McSorley also had a heck of a game completing 32 passes on 41 attempts, for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns. McSorley also ran 12 times for 60 yards.
Washington quarterback Jake Browning threw for 175 yards on 18 completions and a touchdown in the losing effort. Myles Gaskin ran 14 times for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Penn State struck first, scoring on a 48 yard touchdown pass from McSorley to DaeSean Hamilton.
The Nittany Lions scored again on a 2-yard Barkley touchdown run that gave them a 14-0 lead.
Washington responded with a TD of their own, Browning ran it in from 1-yard out to cut the lead to 7.
Penn State countered the Huskie score with a Miles Sanders 1-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7.
On the next Penn State possession Barkley showed off his speed running for a 92-yard touchdown to put the Nittany Lions up by two possessions.
To close out the half Gaskin ran it in from 13 yards out. Penn State led at the half 28-14.
To start the third quarter, Browning tossed a touchdown to Aaron Fuller from 28 yards to come within 7 of PSU.
With 5:59 left in the third Hamilton struck again as he caught another TD pass from McSorley, this would put the Nittany Lions up 35-21.
Washington cut the lead to 7 with a 69-yard touchdown run from Myles Gaskin. 35-28 PSU led.
With 38 seconds left, Penn State had the ball with 4th and 1 on the Washington 23 yard line. The Nittany Lions jumped and a false start was called that pushed them back 5 yards.
Now at the Washington 28, coach James Franklin decided to kick a field goal and try to extend the lead to 10. The kicker Tyler Davis missed the 45-yarder, wide right and the Huskies took over on their own 28 with just 34 seconds, needing a touchdown to tie the game.
Browning quickly threw three incomplete passes and the Huskies faced a 4th and 10 from their own 28 yard line with just 15 seconds left.
Browning completed a pass to Aaron Fuller for 10 yards and he tossed it back to Dante Pettis who ran for 14 yards. Before going out of bounds at the Penn State 48 yard line, Pettis tried to lateral the ball back to a teammate but threw it right to Penn State’s Brandon Smith.
Penn State took over with 5 seconds remaining, with the ball on their own 48 yard line and a 7 point lead. The Nittany Lions kneeled and they sealed the victory!
Penn State finished this season with a 11-2 record. As for Washington they finished their season with a 10-3 record.
