Army at Penn State: Nittany Lions finish non-conference play

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Penn State hosts Army on Saturday, in the Nittany Lions’ final non-conference game. Here’s a closer look:

Penn State vs. Army
Beaver Stadium, State College
Saturday, noon, ESPNU

Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions, 3-1 after last week’s 37-21 victory over San Diego State, will likely be without their top two running backs, Akeel Lynch (knee) and Saquon Barkley (ankle) because of injuries, meaning redshirt freshmen Mark Allen and Nick Scott will be asked to shoulder much of the load. To date the two of them have combined for 27 rushing yards on 18 carries. Safeties Jordan Lucas and Marcus Allen are expected to play. Lucas missed the SDSU game, and Allen departed during the day’s first series, both with unspecified injuries.

Scouting Army
The Black Knights (1-3) broke into the win column last week with a 58-36 victory over Eastern Michigan, a triumph that also snapped a 21-game road losing streak. They had dropped their first three games — to Fordham, Connecticut and Wake Forest — by a combined 10 points. They use a flexbone offense, and have run the ball on 200 of their 236 plays to date. They are averaging 294.5 yards a game on the ground, and 5.9 yards per carry. Starting quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw, the team’s top rusher (341 yards) was injured against EMU and replaced by A.J. Schurr.

History
Penn State leads the all-time series, 13-10-2, though the two teams haven’t met since the Lions beat the Black Knights 24-3 in 1979.

Storyline to watch
The Lions, with superior athletes across the board, ought to be able to do whatever they want; Army is 96th in the nation against the pass, allowing 261.8 yards per game, and 90th in total defense, allowing an average of 418.3 yards. The X-factor, however, is the weather. Rain is in the forecast.

What’s at stake?
After this week, it’s nothing but Big Ten games for the Lions, beginning with a visit by Indiana on Oct. 10. They would do well to smooth out the entire operation.

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