'Chaos' helps spur rare fast start for Lions

With Penn State struggling to get off to quick starts before Saturday, coach James Franklin decided to institute a "chaos" period at the start of practice. The team would have to play at full-speed in a chosen situation from the opening whistle.

The tactic seemed to work against Maryland. The Nittany Lions scored on their first drive of the game and put 24 points on the board in the opening half en route to a 38-14 victory at Beaver Stadium.

Franklin said he had input from offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead on the decision.

"It's something that we did that was important," he said, "but it comes down to the players executing and Joe calling a great game. Putting a little more emphasis on it helped. We were able to open the game with a little more success."

Sophomore Saquon Barkley ran for 17 and 20 yards on the first drive on his way to a career-high 202 yards.

"The chaos period really helped us," he said. "What we worked on was really situational football and I felt like that really helped us, and I hope we continue to do that. We had seven points on the board right away."

The Nittany Lions' victory was marred somewhat by an injury to redshirt junior offensive tackle Andrew Nelson that Franklin believed was "a season-ending injury."

The 6-foot-6, 306-pound Nelson was rolled up under the pile late in the second quarter as quarterback Trace McSorley was sacked and stayed down for a long time as medical personnel looked at his right leg. Brendan Mahon moved over from left tackle to Nelson's right tackle spot, and Paris Palmer took over at left tackle.

"Looks like we've lost Nellie for the season," Franklin said. "We'll find out more, but I'm pretty confident we've lost him for the season."

McSorley said the team "wanted to finish it out" for Nelson after he left the game.

"That's something we talked about at halftime," he said. "We knew he wasn't going to play the rest of that game, and that we wanted to get that W for him. We wanted to run the ball and finish strong."

An opposing player was once again ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct for going after Penn State kicker Joey Julius on a kickoff.

Maryland's Isaiah Davis hit the 5-foot-10, 260-pound Julius well after the whistle blew on the second-half kickoff by Julius that went out of bounds. Davis was ejected.

Terrapins coach D.J. Durkin said he would have removed Davis from the game, had he not been ejected, because "that is not our program."

Minnesota's Jaylen Waters was thrown out of last week's game for a hit on Julius, who has become a fan favorite with his own hard hits. His internet fame only grew this past week when he revealed his personal struggles with an eating disorder.

Other special-teams news included Tyler Davis, who hit his 18th straight field goal on a 30-yard kick in the second quarter; and Daniel Pasquariello, who came on for Blake Gillikin in the second half.

Franklin said Gillikin had suffered an injury in practice that he thought he could play through, but was not able to.

Linebacker Koa Farmer, who moved from safety two weeks ago to shore up an injury-depleted position, settled into his new position nicely on Saturday.

"Koa has kind of been like a man without a home since he has been here," Franklin said of Farmer, who played running back, quarterback, receiver, linebacker, and safety in high school. "Probably more of an offensive-minded player when he first got here, so it is nice to see him not only playing but making an impact."

Farmer, a 6-foot-1, 222-pound redshirt sophomore, came up with a big play in the second quarter. After Maryland blocked a punt and took over at the Penn State 15, he responded on the next play with his first career sack, which forced a fumble that was recovered by the Lions.

"I played a lot of football. That was by far the best feeling ever," Farmer said. "I can't really describe it . . . It was amazing. I hope I can get a couple more."

Farmer made five tackles and an impression on the coaches.

"He has always been a talented guy. It was just finding a home for him that fit our defense and also that he embraced," Franklin said. "That is big for us."