Final score: #12 Penn State 59 Maryland 0

Brief recap: This one was over early. Penn State scored two touchdowns on its first two offensive plays of the game, an eight-yard run by Sean Clifford followed by a 58-yard touchdown pass from Clifford to KJ Hamler. The Nittany Lions built a quick two-score advantage and never looked back. By halftime, PSU had this victory in the bag, taking a 38-0 advantage into the locker room. Penalties and turnovers were huge issues for Maryland. The Terrapins had three turnovers and nine penalties for 85 yards. They had to play a nearly perfect game to stand a chance against the Nittany Lions, and they didn’t come close.

Key moment: Hamler’s 58-yard touchdown run seemed the be the game-clinching play, even though it came early in the first quarter. The Penn State receiver embarrassed the entire Maryland defense on one play. It essentially summed up the night.

Key stat: Let’s talk about the passing differential, shall we? Penn State racked up 421 yards through the air on Friday night. Maryland? Yeah, it threw for a grand total of 68 yards. That is the opposite of good. It’s not like we expected the Terrapins to pile up hundreds of yards against this Penn State defense, but to not crack triple digits is surprising.

Key player: Clifford ended up being the leading passer and leading rusher for the Nittany Lions. He completed 26-of-31 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns, and added 55 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Not to compare him to his predecessor, but this was a Trace McSorley-type performance from Clifford.

What it means for Penn State: When Penn State plays the way it did in the first half against Maryland, it can beat anyone in the country. Yes, that includes the likes of Ohio State and Wisconsin, which have looked equally as good through four weeks of the season. There are so many offensive weapons on the Nittany Lions roster right now, and they’ve been really good at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. Clifford is playing really smart football right now, too. Penn State is going to be awfully hard to beat when he plays the way he did Friday.

What it means for Maryland: It’s still too early to say those first two games against Howard and Syracuse were a fluke, but Maryland isn’t quite the threat in the B1G East we made them out to be after those first two games. There’s still a lot of issues with this team, particularly on the offensive line. Josh Jackson has had some serious issues finding his receivers in the last two games and Maryland’s run game hasn’t been up to snuff. Life gets a little easier with games against Rutgers and Purdue coming up. We’ll see if the Terrapins can bounce back against more comparable levels of competition in the coming weeks.