Penn State starts strong, holds on to beat Washington 28-25

SEATTLE (AP) — Penn State got good news on the injury front for its wide receiver room, and the Nittany Lions made the most of it early before holding on late for a 28-25 win over Washington at Husky Stadium on Saturday.

Quarterback Rocco Becht went 16-for-27 for 240 yards and threw first-half touchdowns to Chase Sowell and Zay Robinson, both of whom were listed as questionable on the pregame injury report but ended up being good to play.

The Nittany Lions (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) went into halftime up 28-6 but were forced to hold in the fourth quarter, with Becht converting a fourth-and-1 in the red zone just after the two-minute timeout to seal the win.

Sowell, who missed last week’s win over Purdue with an undisclosed injury, finished with four catches for 125 yards, including a 45-yard scoring strike up the seam that made it 21-3 with 10:03 left in the first half.

Robinson caught a 24-yard touchdown pass on third-and-10 three plays into the second quarter for the Nittany Lions, who were still without Koby Howard for the sixth straight game.

Penn State’s offense dominated third downs early, gaining an average of 17 yards on their six first-half third downs and finishing 7-for-14 on third down and 2-for-3 on fourth down. The Huskies cut the deficit to 28-25 on Demond Williams Jr.’s 6-yard touchdown to Dezmen Roebuck with 7:40 remaining, but the Nittany Lions never gave the ball back.

Carson Hansen ran for 119 on 14 carries, scoring a 12-yard touchdown in the first quarter and adding a key 36-yard run to keep Penn State’s final drive going.

Williams, who was renamed UW’s starting quarterback after leading the Huskies’ late comeback at Nebraska last weekend, started his day 2-for-10 and went into halftime with just 36 passing yards. After three straight field goals, the Huskies finally found the end zone with a 4-yard passing touchdown from Williams to Baron Naone midway through the third quarter.

The takeaway

Penn State: The Nittany Lions have won back-to-back Big Ten contests after starting their conference season 0-4. They averaged 18.5 points per game in the four losses, but have scored 59 in their past two games.

Washington: The Huskies have now lost three consecutive home games for the first time since 2021.

Up next

Penn State: Hosts Minnesota on Nov. 14

Washington: Visits Michigan State on Nov. 14

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