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Penn State and Kentucky are having a miserable time picking up first downs in Citrus Bowl
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Offense was going to be hard to come by in the Citrus Bowl, and almost everyone understood that entering Tuesday’s game. But nobody would’ve expected both Penn State and Kentucky to struggle so much through two quarters.
It was a low-scoring affair in the first half of the Citrus Bowl, with the Wildcats taking a 10-7 lead into the locker room over the Nittany Lions. The minimal scoring wasn’t the sad part though.
After 30 minutes of action, neither team converted a single third down. Kentucky was 0-for-7 and Penn State was 0-for-8 on third down attempts. That’s right, 15 attempts and not one conversion.
That’s not great.
Both teams struggled to pick up first downs in general through the first half. Kentucky had just three first downs while Penn State had eight. The Nittany Lions ended the half with 173 yards of offense while the Wildcats had just 87.
Poor special teams was costly for Penn State in the first half, a huge reason why Kentucky, somehow, has a lead through two quarters.
The Citrus Bowl has been close through two quarters. Hopefully we’ll see a little more offense in the second half. Or at least one third down conversion would be nice.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB