Penn State’s Hodges racks up 19 tackles
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Gerald Hodges says he never keeps track of tackles when he's on the field, that it's just a matter of running around and making plays and adding it all up at the end.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Gerald Hodges says he never keeps track of tackles when he's on the field, that it's just a matter of running around and making plays and adding it all up at the end.
Penn State's junior linebacker, the pride of Paulsboro, established a career high in tackles for the second straight week with 19, including a sack, and added a forced fumble for good measure.
"When I get a chance to make a play, I decide to make it," said Hodges, the Nittany Lions' leading tackler on the season. "I happened to be around the ball. It's great to be able to make plays as the game goes on."
The 1,000-yard man
Sophomore Silas Redd posted his fifth consecutive 100-yard game and topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season in just eight games.
The 5-foot-10, 209-pound Redd finished with 137 yards, or more than 65 percent of the Lions' total offense of 209 yards, on a career-high 30 carries and ended the day with 1,006 yards.
He also became the first Penn State player to post five straight 100-yard games since Curtis Enis in 1997.
"We kept our poise through the whole game," Redd said. "The offensive line did a great job."
That October snow
With five or six inches of snow falling in Happy Valley, the game took on a rather surreal quality.
The field was covered by a tarp that was removed about 90 minutes before kickoff. The field stayed clear of snow during the game but got wet and slippery. A crowd estimated at 62,000 braved the cold and the snow-covered stands; the Penn State athletic department said 97,828 tickets had been sold.
"I don't think [the weather] affected us much," offensive tackle Quinn Barham said.
"The weather might have affected the ballcarriers, but as an offensive line, it didn't affect us that much."
Nittany notes
Anthony Fera had a streak of nine successful field goals snapped in the first quarter when his 43-yard attempt drifted wide right. Illinois kicker Derek Dimke had been perfect in seven field-goal tries this season when his potential game-tying, 42-yard attempt clanged off the right upright. . . . Jason Ford joined Alabama's Trent Richardson as only the second opposing running back to reach the 100-yard mark against the Nittany Lions. Ford hit exactly 100 yards in 24 carries.