Week 14: Amare Campbell, Penn State

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photo courtesy penn state athletics

Penn State University linebacker Amare Campbell, who starred at Unity Reed High School in Manassas, has been named the DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Football Player of the Week after one of his best collegiate performances lifted the Nittany Lions to a much-needed win over Rutgers in its regular season finale.

Campbell, who played the previous two seasons at North Carolina, made 14 tackles and delivered the game’s most important play midway through the fourth quarter as Rutgers drove trying to increase its three-point lead.

After Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis dropped back to pass and dropped the ball, one Penn State defender failed to fall on it. But Campbell was there to scoop up the ball and he raced 61 yards for the game-winning score as Penn State held on for a 40-36 win.

"As soon as I saw the ball drop, I was thinking scoop and score, we’ve got to get some points,” Campbell told reporters after the game. “I was just thinking scoop and score."

Campbell added that it was his first scoop-and-score since at least middle school.

It has been a difficult season for the Nittany Lions, as they moved all the way up to No. 3 in the country before a six-game losing streak during which then-coach James Franklin was fired. But Penn State (6-6) rebounded to win its final three games and ensure itself of a bowl bid.

"With our injuries at linebacker, I don’t know what we would do if he wasn’t here," interim coach Terry Smith said of Campbell. "He's a stable piece in the middle for us, just a tremendous effort tonight. What a play that we really needed. We needed a jolt and he gave it to us."

This week’s DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Football Player of the Week honor roll:

  • Ohio RB Sieh Bangura (DeMatha) rushed 22 times for 120 yards and one touchdown as the Bobcats beat Buffalo, 31-26. It was his seventh 100-yard game this season.

  • Susquehanna QB Josh Ehrlich (Broadneck) completed 20 of 28 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 65 yards and three touchdowns as the River Hawks avenged a regular season loss, beating Christopher Newport, 42-28, in an NCAA Division III second-round game.

  • South Carolina WR Nyck Harbor (Carroll) caught six passes for a career-high 115 yards and caught a touchdown pass for the fifth consecutive game as the Gamecocks lost to Clemson, 28-14.

  • Delaware DT Keyshawn Hunter (H.D. Woodson) made seven tackles with 2 ½ tackles for loss as the Blue Hens beat UTEP, 61-31.

  • Navy LB Luke Pirris made seven tackles and had a career-high two sacks as the Midshipmen beat Memphis, 28-17.

  • Villanova RB Isaiah Ragland (South Lakes) rushed 17 times for a career-high 152 yards and caught two passes for 18 yards and one touchdown as the Wildcats beat Harvard, 52-7, in an FCS first-round game.

  • Yale RB Josh Pitsenberger (Avalon) rushed 32 times for a career-high 209 yards and three touchdowns, capped by a 56-yard touchdown run with less than three minutes left, as the visiting Bulldogs rallied from a 28-point halftime deficit to beat Youngstown State, 43-42, in an FCS first-round game.

  • Salisbury DB Patrick Sheil (Robinson) made nine tackles, intercepted one pass and broke up two more passes as the Sea Gulls beat Endicott, 35-28, in an NCAA Division III second-round game.