Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from Week 14 takedown of Rutgers

Penn State football held on to win its 10th game of the season in a closer-than-expected home finale against Rutgers. What did we learn?

After losing their chance to win the Big Ten West last weekend when they fell at Ohio State, Penn State headed back to Happy Valley looking to close out the regular season with a strong rebound against Rutgers. Instead, the Nittany Lions came out undermanned and listless as they struggled to put away the Scarlet Knights at home. The final result was a 27-6 victory, but it was hardly as pretty as that final score indicates.

Eventually the Nittany Lions ran away with a three-touchdown win after a strong second half that sent the Beaver Stadium crowd home happy on a chilly day in State College. While they reached double digits in the win column, it was hardly the most inspiring of showings by a team that could still reach a New Year’s Six bowl this season depending on how things transpire in the Big Ten championship game.

That marks the third time in the past four seasons that James Franklin’s team won at least 10 games, and they have a chance to get to 11 wins depending on how they finish off the year in their postseason game.

There were some positives and some negatives to take away from the battle between the Nittany Lions and the Scarlet Knights in the regular-season finale for both teams. Here are three things we learned on Saturday as Penn State pulled away for the win at home.