Saquon Barkley got things going with that opening kickoff for Penn State. From there, the defense was very aggressive, forcing lots of turnovers. Special teams also chipped in and Penn Ptate rolled to a 45-14 victory over Indiana.
"Obviously early on, we started out really strong," Penn State Head Coach James Franklin said. "I don't know if I've seen a better half of special teams in my 23 years of doing this. That has been something that we've worked really hard on and invested in. We got to get the running game cleaned up. We got to be better. There's no doubt about it, but that's another kind of example of why we said we also wanted to use Saquon Barkley as a kickoff returner because it's a play that we know we can get the ball into his hands in space and obviously it paid off for us."
After giving up two scores in the second quarter, the Penn State defense got back to work, forcing two more turnovers. It's something this team takes pride in.
"The special teams played very well from the first quarter to the fourth quarter," senior cornerback Christian Campbell said. "They did really good."
"Defensively, I thought the turnovers were huge," Franklin said. "We've been emphasizing that all offseason. Obviously, the ones we got tonight, I think most of them were off of tackles."
DaeSean Hamilton had nine receptions for 122 yards and three scores. He becomes Penn State's all-time leading receiver.
"I really came into the game, I didn't expect to break the record," Hamilton said. "Obviously I hoped to break it. Whenever I'm out there, whatever, but as the course of the first couple games was going, there really haven't been that many pass coming my way and so I didn't really care if I got it today or I didn't."
"He has been a great leader, a great teammate and he's a great student. So whatever you can say that you're the all-time leader at Penn State, that's pretty special."
Well it's Northwestern next week. Then Michigan comes here to the big house. Should be a great game between the Wolverines and hopefully an undefeated Penn State football team.