By LOGAN HOUSER

October 19, 2019. Primetime. Penn State vs. Michigan in Happy Valley. The highly anticipated annual Whiteout game under the lights in Beaver Stadium did not disappoint. The Wolverines were ranked 16 in the nation heading into the game, having only lost once to the Wisconsin Badgers. The Nittany Lions were ranked 7 coming into the game, who prevailed after a major test against the Iowa Hawkeyes the week before.

One thing that stood out the most to everyone was how electric the stadium was on Saturday night. Right away, the Michigan offense struggled adapting to the noise and chaos the Penn State crowd produced. On the very first play from scrimmage, the Wolverines were flustered and called a timeout, and the crowd was ecstatic. The attendance at Beaver Stadium totaled out at 110,669, which is the 4th largest in school history. Along with an attendance in the record books, Penn State’s iconic student section won ESPN’s Live Más Student Section of the week, for the second time this year. The student section even broke a bleacher in the stadium, and were carrying it around.

“[The] 2019 White Out did not disappoint! Great game and as always, incredible atmosphere and support by the [Penn State football] fans,” popular college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said in a tweet.

An explosive first half from Penn State that turned into a nail biting slugfest late in the game. Michigan was unable to overcome the 21-0 deficit early in the game which resulted in a 28-21 victory for Penn State.

The game started off with a stalemate on the first three drives with big defensive stands for both teams. On the ensuing possession, Penn State marches the ball down the field and strikes first with a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sean Clifford to tight end Pat Friermuth. 

On the very next drive, Penn State shut down Michigan on a fourth and three to give the ball back to their offense. The crowd is really into it at this point. Penn State, again, marches the ball straight down the field. At the start of the second quarter, Clifford capped the drive off by doing it himself this time for a two yard rushing touchdown on second and goal.

The Nittany Lions make another stand on defense to give the ball back to Clifford and the red hot Penn State offense. Penn State’s offense stalls out and punts the ball back to Michigan. On a second and ten, the Wolverines attempt a screen pass that backfires drastically getting the ball intercepted by defensive back Tariq Castro Fields.

A couple plays later on a third and three, the Penn State offense strikes again with a 25-yard lob from Clifford to wide receiver KJ Hamler. The desperate Michigan offense responds back with a 12-yard touchdown run by their running back. The score is 21-7 in favor of Penn State at the end of the first half.

The third quarter was filled with defense, with only a touchdown late in the third quarter by Michigan. Early in the fourth quarter Clifford again finds Hamler, this time for an explosive 53-yard touchdown. Michigan marches down the field on the next drive and capped the drive off with a questionable touchdown from a quarterback sneak on the goaline.

The score is now 28-21 in favor of Penn State, it is late in the final quarter and Michigan has a 4th and goal from the 3-yard line. The Nittany Lion defense makes the stand. Penn State is now on offense and needs one first down to win the game, and they get it.

Even though all players had important roles, one stood out a little bit more than the rest. KJ Hamler put up 6 catches for 108 yards, that is 18 yards per catch, 2 touchdowns and even had 2 carries for 6 yards. The six rushing yards statistically does not seem impressive, but for anyone who watched the game knows those six yards sealed the game for the Lions at the end of the fourth quarter. The offense showed a lot of confidence in Hamler in one of the last plays of the game.

“The one thing that probably surprised me tonight was [Hamler] turning into a powerback at the end of the game there, lowering his shoulder, and hammering the thing up there,” Head Coach James Franklin said in his post-game press conference.

Penn State looks to stay unbeaten as they head to East Lansing in Michigan to take on the 4-3 Michigan State Spartans next week.