As the regular season of college football soon wraps up, teams in the Northeast had quite the week. Whether it was Penn State and Boston College coming up with strong wins, or Pitt’s back-to-back pick-sixes to begin the game, here is what happened in college football in the Northeast.
No. 14 Penn State shuts out Maryland, 30-0
The Nittany Lions are a fringe top-10 team after defeating Taulia Tagovailoa and the Terrapins on Saturday. Penn State’s defense was so dominant that it held Tagovailoa to 74 passing yards on a 50% completion rate. On top of that, Maryland only had 134 total yards, while quarterback Sean Clifford’s team had 413 yards. Clifford passed for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Penn State’s offense was carried by running back Nick Singleton, who had 122 yards and two touchdowns. Before halftime, Tagovailoa was sacked five times, and the Nittany Lions’ defense had held the Terps to just 27 yards after two quarters. With two games left on the schedule, Penn State will stay in the region for the rest of the regular season, traveling to Rutgers then hosting Michigan State.
Boston College knocks off No. 16 NC State on the road, 21-20
Boston College has had quite a weird season. After this game, the Eagles are 3-7, with painful losses to Duke and UConn, but have come out victorious against Louisville and now NC State. With quarterback Phil Jurkovec out, Emmett Morehead passed for 330 yards, three touchdowns but threw two picks as well. Two of Morehead’s touchdowns were to WR1 Zay Flowers, who finished the day with seven receptions for 130 yards. The Eagles also recovered three fumbles and had 11 tackles for loss. With Devin Leary gone for the season, NC State backup quarterback MJ Morris passed for 135 yards and had two total touchdowns with one interception. The problem with Morris was his ball security, as he lost all three of his team’s fumbles. On defense, the Wolfpack led in tackles for loss with 13, and had eight pass deflections. It’s a tough end of the road for Boston College, as they will travel to play No. 18 Notre Dame before hosting Syracuse to end the season.
No. 23 Florida State stomps Syracuse, 38-3
Speaking of Syracuse, the Orange’s defense could not stop Jordan Travis. He passed for 155 yards and had five total touchdowns — three passing, one rushing and one receiving. Travis must have gotten a few tips from Christian McCaffrey on achieving the trifecta. Trey Benson may have not found the end zone, but he ended up rushing for 163 yards on 18 attempts. All three of Travis’ passing touchdowns were to different receivers, showing how dominant the Seminoles’ offense could become in the air. It’s safe to say that Syracuse star running back Sean Tucker was not pleased with his performance, as he only had 52 rushing yards on 14 carries. The Orange did not have a passing game either, as Garrett Shrader went 6-for-16, with 65 yards passing. Nothing Syracuse did mattered, as they were blown out and now have lost their last four games. The Orange are on the road the next two weeks, looking to put an end to the streak against Wake Forest and/or Boston College.
Michigan State edges Rutgers, 27-21
The Scarlet Knights put up quite the fight in East Lansing, but could not get the job done and fell by just six points. With 14 incompletions, Gavin Wimsatt’s QBR dropped, but he passed for 236 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Kyle Monangai had 182 scrimmage yards, but could not score a touchdown to help Rutgers’ chances. It was quarterback Payton Thorne who kept the Spartans’ bowl chances alive, as he passed for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Jayden Reed reeled in four of Thorne’s 19 completions, finishing the game with 90 yards and a touchdown. Rutgers will take on Penn State next week during Senior Day and wrap up their regular season with a road game against Maryland.
Pittsburgh dominates Virginia, 37-7
Something you don’t see every day is two pick-sixes in 16 seconds. That’s how the game began for the Panthers defense, which intercepted Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong twice at the beginning of the game. Pitt quarterback Kedon Slovis passed for 208 yards and a touchdown with his top receiver being Bub Means, who had three catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. Running back Israel Abanikanda returned from injury, finishing the afternoon with 121 yards and a score on 24 carries. The Panthers had eight sacks on defense to go along with the two pick-sixes. Armstrong finished the day with 152 yards and a touchdown to go along with the two interceptions returned for touchdowns. With the Panthers now bowl eligible, they finish off their home schedule with Duke at noon on Saturday before facing Miami down in Florida.
