Penn State finds an unlikely hero against Rutgers

There were a few good choices for the game ball on Saturday night.

Saquon Barkley went for 195 yards rushing and two touchdowns in his first Big Ten game. Akeel Lynch went for 120 and a score. The offensive line turned in a strong performance.

James Franklin’s pick? That would be the punter.

“I would say it goes to Gulla,” the Penn State coach said.

Chris Gulla, a sophomore walk-on, had won the job in camp a year ago but lost it to Daniel Pasquariello midway through the 2014 season.

But the day before Penn State’s 28-3 win over Rutgers, Franklin made the switch back to Gulla after an inconsistent two weeks from Pasquariello.

The move paid off.

Gulla placed all five of his punts inside the Rutgers 20 to help decisively win the field position battle for the Nittany Lions. More than that, his kicks helped neutralize arguably Rutgers’ biggest threat in return man Janarion Grant.

Grant had returned two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season. But Gulla’s directional punts and solid hang-time pinned Rutgers speedster against the sideline, often with nowhere to run.

“Today was the most comfortable I felt punting at this level,” Gulla said. “Me and Daniel competed all week, so it felt no different than the few times I’ve been out there.”

Combined with some strong kickoffs by Joey Julius, Grant had just one punt return for minus-1 yard and one kick return for 8 yards.

Considering the Lions entered the game with punting as one of its biggest problems, it was an impressive performance.

“He was able to swing field position,” Franklin said of Gulla. “He was able to pivot back deep. So that’s exciting for us, we’re going to build on that.

“If you remember last year, early in the season Gulla started out real strong, and then he hit some rough spots. Then Daniel came in and did some decent things, then he hit some rough spots. Consistency is the name of the game in every position, but definitely at punter.”

Recruiting corner

For the second straight week, Lake-Lehman senior center Connor McGovern took in the game at Happy Valley on an unofficial visit, this time with a healthy complement of Penn State’s verbal commitments for the 2016 class.

McGovern, who pledged to the Lions back in March, had some company from the Wyoming Valley Conference.

Two other WVC offensive linemen — Coughlin junior Ryan Solt and Wyoming Valley West sophomore Chris Bleich — made the two-hour trip to State College to see the Lions’ front five pave the way for 326 yards rushing against Rutgers.

Neither Solt nor Bleich has a verbal scholarship offer from Penn State so far, though only a few dozen juniors and a small handful of sophomores do at this point.

In his postgame news conference, Franklin used the opportunity of Barkley’s big game to give a recruiting pitch to other Pennsylvania prospects watching from the recruiting lounge above the media room.

“If you have the chance to stay home and play for your state school, why wouldn’t you?” Franklin said. “We got the chance to develop a relationship with Saquon’s coaches, his family. And I think once Saquon got around our staff and our players, Penn State sells Penn State.

“We’re happy he’s with us, and we’re going to continue to do that, develop the guys we have on our roster and continue to recruit hard in this footprint.”

Also on the sideline before the game were some of the Lions’ highest rated 2016 recruits — including Reading offensive lineman Michal Menet and Pittsburgh running back Miles Sanders — and a handful of other committed players. The Lions’ lone commit for the 2017 cycle, Ohio quarterback Sean Clifford, also made the trip for the game.

Up next

Once again, Penn State will be welcoming a team to Happy Valley that’s coming off of a crushing loss.

Before the season started, it looked on paper like San Diego State would be the toughest opponent on the Lions’ milquetoast non-conference schedule. The Aztecs returned one of the nation’s top rushers to go with a solid defense and were expected to contend for the Mountain West title.

Then they lost Saturday at home, a 34-27 overtime defeat to South Alabama, a program in just its seventh season of existence and only its third season as a full FBS member in the Sun Belt Conference. San Diego State was a 17.5-point favorite in the game.

Kickoff between the Lions and Aztecs will be 3:30 p.m. with the Big Ten Network carrying the broadcast. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.

Rutgers’ Janarion Grant, left, scored three TDs on returns in the first two weeks but had no room to operate against Penn State thanks in part to the work of punter Chris Gulla.

Janarion Grant, left, scored three TDs on returns in the first two weeks but had no room to operate against Penn State thanks in part to the work of punter Chris Gulla. Gene J. Puskar | AP photo

Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter