Three Takeaways From Penn State’s 56-0 Victory Over Georgia State

Penn State cruised to a somewhat predictable 56-0 victory over Georgia State on Saturday night at Beaver Stadiums, here’s what we learned:

1. Turnovers are good. We like turnovers!

We’re going to give you three takeaways, Penn State’s defense had five. That’s a lot of takeaways. Marcus Allen, Grant Haley and Tariq Castro-Fields each snagged interceptions. For Allen and TCF, it was the first of their Penn State careers. The Nittany Lions also forced three fumbles, recovering two. If Penn State continues that trend, it will prove fruitful in the future.

2. James Franklin is not here for your bullshit

With 11 seconds to play in the ball game, Georgia State coach Shawn Elliot lined up for a short field goal on fourth and one to try to end Penn State’s 56-0 shutout. The decision did nothing to help Georgia State and was generally a petty move. Well, James Franklin was having none of it. Franklin called a timeout in order to ice the Panthers kicker and, guess what, it worked! Franklin’s pettiness, which I am ALL THE WAY HERE FOR, paid off and gave Penn State its second shutout in three weeks. Penn State has now recorded multiple shutouts in a season for the first time since 2007.

3. Trace gon’ be ight.

Last week, everyone got all uptight because Trace McSorley had his first bad game in nearly a calendar year (and it wasn’t even that bad!). This week, McSorley responded in the affirmative, going 18 of 23 for 309 yards and four touchdowns despite sitting for most of the second half. McSorley also carried the ball three times for 24 yards and a touchdown.