September 8, 2018 Week 2 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

Penn State takes the belt, 51–6, on the road at Pittsburgh.

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Pittsburgh 6

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Penn StateAP No. 13 51

AP poll, week 2: Penn State No. 13 at Pittsburgh unranked · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Penn State took the belt here, ending Pittsburgh’s run of 288 days and 1 defense (reign #301) and starting reign #302. It lasted 21 days and 2 defenses, until Ohio State took it on September 29, 2018.

For Penn State this was its 22nd shot at the belt; it had held the belt 4 times before — and it took it back here.

It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, Penn State led the belt series 1–0; all-time Penn State leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

Penn State dominated Pittsburgh 51-6 in a dominant performance that saw the Nittany Lions seize control early and never relinquish it. KJ Hamler set the tone with a 32-yard touchdown run just over a minute into the game, and Penn State's offense continued to pile on scores throughout the afternoon. Pittsburgh managed an early touchdown on a 13-yard Qadree Ollison run, but the Panthers' offense sputtered badly, managing just 314 total yards and committing three turnovers. Penn State's defense capitalized on Pittsburgh's mistakes, including a crucial interception by Amani Oruwariye in the first quarter and forcing fumbles late in the first half. By the fourth quarter, the game was completely decided, with Penn State scoring at will behind Trace McSorley's efficient play and a punishing ground game led by Miles Sanders.

KJ Hamler's 32-yard TD run (Q1 12:14) - Penn State struck immediately to establish momentum
Amani Oruwariye's interception of Kenny Pickett (Q1 1:05) - Pittsburgh's early offensive spark was snuffed out
Trace McSorley's 14-yard TD pass to KJ Hamler with 0:26 left in Q2 - Extended Penn State's lead to 20-6 heading into halftime
DeAndre Thompkins' 39-yard punt return TD (Q3 0:28) - Penn State's special teams added another score to put the game out of reach

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

PittsburghPenn State

Total yards314390

Rushing yards259211

Passing yards55179

First downs1523

3rd down conv.4/154/12

Turnovers32

Penalties–yards14–1164–45

Time of possession34:2225:38

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:40	Penn State	+22 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Jonathan Holland for 22 yds to the Pitt 42 for a 1ST down
Q1 12:14	Penn State	+32 yd	KJ Hamler run for 32 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q1 12:05	Pittsburgh	+38 yd	Shocky Jacques-Louis run for 38 yds to the PnSt 37 for a 1ST down
Q1 7:09	Pittsburgh	+13 yd	Qadree Ollison run for 13 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed)
Q1 5:34	Penn State	+45 yd	Jake Pinegar 45 yd FG MISSED
Q1 7:09	Pittsburgh	+27 yd	Alex Kessman kickoff for 52 yds , KJ Hamler return for 27 yds to the PITTSBURGH 38 PITTSBURGH Penalty, Face Mask (15 yards) (Jazzee Stocker) to the Pitt 45
Q1 2:50	Pittsburgh	+20 yd	Kenny Pickett run for 5 yds to the PnSt 43 for a 1ST down PENN ST Penalty, Unnecessary Roughness (Shareef Miller) to the PnSt 42 for a 1ST down
Q1 1:05	Pittsburgh	+0 yd	Kenny Pickett pass intercepted Amani Oruwariye return for no gain to the PnSt 1
Q1 0:50	Penn State	+31 yd	Miles Sanders run for 41 yds to the PnSt 42 for a 1ST down PENN ST Penalty, Illegal Block (Brandon Polk) to the PnSt 32 for a 1ST down
Q2 12:20	Pittsburgh	+63 yd	Qadree Ollison run for 63 yds to the PnSt 33 for a 1ST down
Q2 8:49	Pittsburgh	+35 yd	Alex Kessman 35 yd FG MISSED
Q2 7:30	Penn State	+3 yd	Ricky Slade run for 3 yds to the PnSt 31 Ricky Slade fumbled, forced by Quintin Wirginis, recovered by Pitt Rashad Weaver
Q2 0:59	Pittsburgh	-7 yd	Kirk Christodoulou run for a loss of 7 yards to the Pitt 35 Kirk Christodoulou fumbled, recovered by PnSt Jarvis Miller
Q2 0:40	Penn State	+21 yd	Miles Sanders run for 21 yds to the Pitt 14 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:26	Penn State	+14 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to KJ Hamler for 14 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q3 15:00	Pittsburgh	+28 yd	Alex Kessman kickoff for 65 yds , KJ Hamler return for 28 yds to the PnSt 28
Q3 8:36	Penn State	+4 yd	Trace McSorley run for 4 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q3 10:00	Penn State	+16 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Jonathan Holland for 3 yds Jonathan Holland fumbled, forced by Dane Jackson, recovered by PnSt for a 1ST down PITTSBURGH Penalty, Roughing Passer (Patrick Jones II) to the Pitt 11 for a 1ST down
Q3 7:38	Pittsburgh	+0 yd	PITTSBURGH Penalty, Offensive Holding (Stefano Millin) to the Pitt 0 for a SAFETY
Q3 0:28	Pittsburgh	+39 yd	Kirk Christodoulou punt for 36 yds , DeAndre Thompkins returns for 39 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 14:09	Pittsburgh	+39 yd	Kirk Christodoulou punt for 39 yds , DeAndre Thompkins returns for a loss of 1 yard to the PnSt 36
Q4 11:40	Penn State	+11 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Mac Hippenhammer for 11 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 13:59	Penn State	+20 yd	Trace McSorley run for 20 yds to the Pitt 44 for a 1ST down
Q4 13:30	Penn State	+20 yd	Miles Sanders run for 20 yds to the Pitt 24 for a 1ST down
Q4 6:17	Penn State	+4 yd	Mark Allen run for 4 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 4:32	Pittsburgh	+13 yd	Kenny Pickett pass complete to Shocky Jacques-Louis for 13 yds Shocky Jacques-Louis fumbled, forced by Jonathan Sutherland, recovered by PnSt Ayron Monroe
Q4 4:21	Penn State	+34 yd	Sean Clifford pass complete to Brandon Polk for 34 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 1:00	Penn State	+6 yd	Ricky Slade run for 2 yds to the Pitt 43 Ricky Slade fumbled, forced by Rashad Weaver, recovered by Pitt Rashad Weaver , return for 6 yds to the Pitt 43
Q4 0:30	Pittsburgh	+22 yd	A.J. Davis run for 22 yds to the PnSt 35 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Pittsburgh

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Kenny Pickett	9/18	55	3.1	0	1

Penn State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Trace McSorley	14/30	145	4.8	2	0
Sean Clifford	1/1	34	34.0	1	0

Rushing

Pittsburgh

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Qadree Ollison	21	119	5.7	1	63
A.J. Davis	6	52	8.7	0	22
Shocky Jacques-Louis	2	39	19.5	0	38
Kenny Pickett	14	30	2.1	0	11
Darrin Hall	7	28	4.0	0	8
George Aston	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Kirk Christodoulou	1	-7	-7.0	0	0

Penn State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Miles Sanders	16	118	7.4	0	41
Trace McSorley	5	36	7.2	1	20
KJ Hamler	1	32	32.0	1	32
Ricky Slade	4	13	3.3	0	4
Mark Allen	7	12	1.7	1	10

Receiving

Pittsburgh

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Shocky Jacques-Louis	2	21	10.5	13
George Aston	2	14	7.0	8
Taysir Mack	1	9	9.0	9
Darrin Hall	1	4	4.0	4
Dontavius Butler-Jenkins	1	4	4.0	4
Qadree Ollison	2	3	1.5	3

Penn State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Brandon Polk	2	45	22.5	1	34
KJ Hamler	3	40	13.3	1	18
Jonathan Holland	2	25	12.5	0	22
Juwan Johnson	2	23	11.5	0	12
Danny Dalton	2	17	8.5	0	9
Mac Hippenhammer	1	11	11.0	1	11
Mark Allen	1	7	7.0	0	7
Miles Sanders	1	6	6.0	0	6
Pat Freiermuth	1	5	5.0	0	5

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Pittsburgh

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Quintin Wirginis	9	7	1	2.5	0	0
Dennis Briggs	6	6	0	0	0	0
Dane Jackson	4	4	0	1	1	0
Oluwaseun Idowu	4	3	0	1	0	0
Rashad Weaver	4	3	0	1.5	0	0
Jazzee Stocker	3	3	0	0	1	0
Damarri Mathis	3	3	0	1	0	0
Dewayne Hendrix	3	1	0	0.5	0	0
Saleem Brightwell	2	2	0	0	0	0
Shane Roy	2	1	0	1.5	1	0
George Aston	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tre Tipton	1	1	0	0	0	0
Damar Hamlin	1	1	0	0	1	0
Patrick Jones II	1	1	0	0	0	1
Jason Pinnock	1	1	0	0	0	0
Kirk Christodoulou	1	1	0	0	0	0
Shocky Jacques-Louis	1	1	0	0	0	0
Elijah Zeise	1	0	0	0	0	0
Phil Campbell	1	0	0	0	0	0
Amir Watts	1	0	0	0	0	0

Penn State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Kevin Givens	7	5	0	2	0	1	0
Micah Parsons	7	5	0	0	0	0	0
Shaka Toney	5	5	1	2	0	0	0
Jan Johnson	5	2	0.5	0.5	0	0	0
Garrett Taylor	5	2	0	0	0	0	0
Tariq Castro-Fields	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
Zech McPhearson	4	3	0	1	0	0	0
Cam Brown	4	3	0	1	0	1	0
Daniel Joseph	4	2	1	1	0	0	0
Lamont Wade	4	2	0	0	0	0	0
Amani Oruwariye	3	3	0	0	2	0	0
Yetur Gross-Matos	3	1	0.5	0.5	0	1	0
Shareef Miller	2	2	1	2	0	0	0
Dae'Lun Darien	2	2	0	0	0	1	0
Ellis Brooks	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Sutherland	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Ayron Monroe	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Robert Windsor	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Antonio Shelton	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
PJ Mustipher	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Scott	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jake Cooper	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Connor McGovern	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Mac Hippenhammer	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jesse Luketa	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Koa Farmer	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jarvis Miller	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
DeAndre Thompkins	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Fumbles

Pittsburgh

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Rashad Weaver	0	0	2
Rafael Araujo-Lopes	2	0	0
Kirk Christodoulou	1	1	0
Shocky Jacques-Louis	1	1	0

Penn State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Jarvis Miller	0	0	1
Ayron Monroe	0	0	1
Ricky Slade	2	2	0
Jonathan Holland	1	0	0

Interceptions

Pittsburgh

No recorded stats in this category.

Penn State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Amani Oruwariye	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Pittsburgh

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Maurice Ffrench	2	22	11.0	11	0
Rafael Araujo-Lopes	1	12	12.0	12	0

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
KJ Hamler	3	73	24.3	28	0

Kicking

Pittsburgh

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Alex Kessman	0/1	0.0	0	0/0	0

Penn State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake Pinegar	0/1	0.0	0	7/7	7

Punt Returns

Pittsburgh

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Rafael Araujo-Lopes	3	-5	-1.7	0	0

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
DeAndre Thompkins	2	38	19.0	39	1

Punting

Pittsburgh

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Kirk Christodoulou	6	202	33.7	0	0	42

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Blake Gillikin	5	213	42.6	0	4	52

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401013105) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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