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Chris Godwin is a grown-ass man
— Black Shoe Diaries (@BSDtweet) October 24, 2015
Yes. Yes, he is.
On a day when Maryland stacked the box with eight or nine defenders in order to stop Saquon Barkley from gaining yardage, Mike Locksley and Co dared Christian Hackenberg to beat them through the air. After a slow start, he delivered, and the biggest beneficiary of the Terrapins' defensive gameplan was Chris Godwin.
That touchdown was only one of many highlight-reel plays Godwin made on the day, and his stat-line reflected it: he finished the day with four receptions for 135 yards and the touchdown--an insane 33.75 YPC, with a long of 40. I think that's pretty good.
It's going to be so fun watching him get even better the next two years.
Honorable Mentions:
Christian Hackenberg - No, he clearly wasn't perfect, he fumbled the ball once and less than 50% of his passes were completed. But for the sixth straight game he threw zero interceptions, and when what was working for the Penn State offense so much this year--Barkley--was taken away by the Terrapin's good defensive gameplan, Hack made them pay with the deep ball, finishing the day with 315 yards and three TDs on 13 completions. Oh, and he's now PSU's all-time pass leader after this week's game.
Carl Nassib - Because he continues to be the truth, with his eighth straight game with a sack. I was getting worried when he went most of the game without one, but thankfully the streak continued when he logged his twelfth of the year near the end of the fourth quarter.
Charles Huff, Special Teams Coordinator - For the second time this year, we've faced an electric kick/punt returner--and for the second time this year, he's been effectively neutralized. Will Likely is a special return man, and though his average of 25 yards per kickoff return is decent, it never felt like he was going to take one to the house--and his average of 8 yards per punt return was not close to where he was averaging on the year. Kudos to the special teams unit for neutralizing one of Maryland's biggest weapons.