Running the football.

It’s something that Penn State has improved on this season.

Last week, I wrote that the Nittany Lions (7-3, 4-3) wouldn’t be able to climb into the College Football Playoff in the present or future without winning the battle in the trenches. In their big games this season, the Nittany Lions were not able to do that and it resulted in three losses to Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan.

Penn State’s lack of push up front consistently in those games, especially late in the game, has knocked them out of contention for a national championship.

However, against Wisconsin last week, the Nittany Lions competed up front on both sides of the ball and the result (even with a few late-game mistakes) was a positive one — a 22-10 victory over the always tough Badgers.

Penn State rushed for 183 total yards, with Miles Sanders rushing for 159 yards and almost seven yards per carry. On the season, Sanders has rushed for 1,007 yards and nine scores. As a team, Penn State is averaging 205.4 rushing yards per game.

Coming into the season, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the Nittany Lions passing game with Trace McSorley returning and a host of talented receivers both returning and coming into the program. But the passing game has not been very effective this season with the team averaging just 215 yards passing per game and McSorley yet to reach 2,000 yards. There are a lot of reasons for that, namely in my opinion, drops from the receivers and their inability to create separation.

Point being, Penn State has needed to depend on the running game for offensive success whether that has been with Sanders or McSorley, who before his knee injury was scorching defenses with his ability to run the football. But it’s obvious from the past few games that McSorley simply just isn’t the same with the injury.

Moving forward, with two games left in the regular season, it looks like Sanders and the offensive line will need to set the tone up front offensively as the Nittany Lions passing game is not expected to drastically improve over the next two weeks.

“Last year we were averaging 4.9 yards per rush, which was I think was 32nd in the country. This year (we’re) averaging 5.17, which is 24th in the country,” said Penn State head coach James Franklin.

“I think the biggest difference there, and we’ve talked about this, is tackles for loss. There were too many times in the past where the ball would be handed off and they would have a free edge rusher, usually from the field, and we’d have tackles for loss.

“Last year, 11.36 percent of our plays were tackles for loss, which was 111th in the country. This year we’re at 23rd in the country. So, we’ve made a dramatic improvement there.”

The Nittany Lions will look to establish the run game this week against a struggling Rutgers team with just one win. The Scarlet Knights are also giving up over 230 rushing yards per game, which should bode well for the improved Penn State rushing attack. Getting Sanders going early will be key.

Rutgers has been solid against the pass, allowing just 188 yards per game, which realistically could be because teams haven’t had to throw the ball because they’ve been so successful running the ball. But statistically it’s been good.

What I would like to see in this one is to have Tommy Stevens start at quarterback. McSorley has earned his spot and he’s shown that year after year, collecting his 29th victory last week (which ties the Penn State record). But maybe a week off would give him some time to heal up, so he’s 100 percent for the Maryland game on Thanksgiving weekend. I think with Stevens back there, it gives the Penn State offense — at this moment — the best chance to be successful.

“They’re doing a really good job statistically against the pass. They’ve got a good-looking team,” said Franklin. “They’re another team that is going to play both an odd front as well as an even front, the way they slide their front in the three technique, base out of two high, playing some quarters. They’ll mix in some cover one.”

Las Vegas has Penn State as a 27-point favorite.

I think the Nittany Lions will move the ball on the ground throughout this one and will take advantage when in scoring position. That’s something Penn State has been efficient at throughout the season, scoring 38-of-40 times when in the red zone with 33 touchdowns.

Defensively, the Nittany Lions held Wisconsin to just 10 points a week ago — its lowest point total since 2016. Last week, Penn State’s pressure was impressive, sacking the quarterback five times. Yetur Gross-Matos has been impressive this season from defensive end with 45 tackles, 15.5 tackles for a loss and eight sacks. Gross-Matos’ defensive end partner Shareef Miller had two sacks last week and defensive tackle Robert Windsor is improving every week, as he also collected two sacks.

Rutgers quarterback Artur Sitkowski has 16 interceptions on the season, so getting pressure on him could certainly force him to make some mistakes. The Scarlet Knights do have a guy the Nittany Lions will need to worry about in Raheem Blackshear, who leads them in rushing and receiving.

My pick is Penn State 43, Rutgers 13.