page_title: 2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
section_title: November 9 vs. Minnesota
hierarchical_section_title: 2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team / Game summaries / November 9 vs. Minnesota
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the field from the home side on the main light bank on the roof of the press gallery
context_page_description: The 2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Bill O'Brien and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. They were a member of the Big Ten Conference and its Leaders Division. Penn State was ineligible to play in a bowl game for the 2013 season, the second season of a four-year ban, due to NCAA sanctions imposed in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.
  Before the season, Penn State had an open competition to win the starting quarterback position; true freshman Christian Hackenberg won and started all 12 games for the Nittany Lions. Hackenberg headlined their recruiting class, which also featured tight end Adam Breneman. John Butler was named Penn State's new defensive coordinator upon the departure of Ted Roof.
context_section_description: In the teams' first meeting since 2010, Penn State visited TCF Bank Stadium to face a Minnesota team looking for their fourth consecutive Big Ten victory, and their eighth win of the season, which would have been their first time since the 2003 season. There was consensus among both Penn State's and Minnesota's SB Nation sites, as well as independent picks, that Minnesota would win a relatively close game. Minnesota's offense was one of the better rushing teams in the conference (20th in the nation), but Penn State's defense was also pretty good against the run, making it a good matchup. Freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg in tandem with a running game that, in theory, was led by Bill Belton and supplemented by Zach Zwinak, and receivers Allen Robinson had potential to score a lot of points. Keys to the game included avoiding turnovers and running the football. Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill, recovering from seizures stemming from epilepsy, coached from the press box.
  Penn State received the opening kickoff, however on their first play from scrimmage, Bill Belton lost a fumble and Minnesota recovered and kicked a field goal after failing to achieve a first down. Penn State's punt on the subsequent drive was downed at the four-yard line, but the poor field position did not adversely affect Minnesota, who drove down the field for a 15-play, 96-yard drive, highlighted by a 24-yard pass from Philip Nelson to Maxx Williams to convert a fourth down to get down to the Penn State four-yard line, from which point they scored two plays later via a 1-yard run by David Cobb. Penn State responded, however, with Zach Zwinak rushing the ball 5 times for 61 yards including a 38-yard run, and ultimately a 6-yard touchdown scamper. At the end of the first quarter, Minnesota led 10–7. In the second quarter, Minnesota wasted no time, embarking on a 13-play, 70-yard drive that lasted 6:54 and ended with Nelson rushing for a 6-yard touchdown. Penn State responded, driving down the field on 13 plays for 65 yards lasting 5:57, culminating with Ficken kicking a 27-yard field goal after the drive stalled in the red zone. Late in the half, Minnesota drove down the field, and Nelson completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Williams, putting Minnesota on top 24–10 at the half. Receiving the second half kickoff, Minnesota initiated a drive that included a 39-yard run by Cobb, but ultimately ended in their first punt of the day, which they downed inside the one-yard line. Penn State achieved two first downs, but an illegal block in the back on Jesse James decimated the drive, which ended with a punt, but they caught a break a play later when Minnesota fumbled and Malcolm Willis recovered in Minnesota territory. The break did not materialize with any points, but their subsequent punt was downed inside the five yard line. Dreadful field position continued when, after driving for several yards, Minnesota's punt settled inside the five yard line, again setting Penn State up with a long field. In the waning moments of the third quarter, Penn State relied on Zwinak, who rushed several consecutive times to garner Penn State breathing room. There was no scoring in the third quarter. Penn State failed to convert a third down (they had still not converted any in the game), but Minnesota committed a roughing the kicker penalty, giving Penn State a second chance with which they converted their first third down of the game, but ultimately turned the ball over on downs. After a Minnesota punt, Penn State, for the first drive of the game, relied on their passing game to drive down the field, but, when faced with a fourth down and ten deep in Minnesota territory, failed to convert. On Minnesota's ensuing possession, however, they managed to run only 47 seconds off the clock, and went three-and-out. Hoping not to again blow an opportunity, Penn State moved promptly down the field, and got into the red zone. While there, a pass to Allen Robinson resulted in a pass interference penalty called against Minnesota, giving Penn State the ball at the two-yard line, from w
caption: The game marked Penn State's first visit to TCF Bank Stadium
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