EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Fifty-four. Thirty-three. One-hundred and thirty. Seventy-nine.

Those were Penn State’s passing yards by quarter Saturday as the Syracuse secondary gradually deteriorated.

Playing against a freshman quarterback making his first career start, the Orange’s defensive backs went from phenomenally physical to fundamentally unsound, and All-Big Ten wide receiver Allen Robinson had everything to do with it.

Considering Robinson hauled in 77 passes for 1,013 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore last season, one would think the Orange would have prepared specifically for him.

Not quite.

“We just treat him like any other receiver,” free safety Jeremi Wilkes said. “No extra help on him.”

The Orange (0-1) didn’t have to treat him like any receiver in the first half as PSU head coach Bill O’Brien benched Robinson for disciplinary reasons. The SU secondary wreaked havoc on the Nittany Lions’ (1-0) tight end-heavy sets. Big hits galore and a Wilkes interception that gave SU the ball close to midfield highlighted the sharp play.

But when Robinson came in for the second half, that all changed. SU used its same base defense with significantly less success as Robinson torched the Orange for seven catches, 133 yards and a touchdown and Penn State aired its way to a 23-17 victory in New York’s College Classic at MetLife Stadium.

SU defensive backs coach Fred Reed had seen Robinson shine before, too. As the cornerbacks and punt returns coach for Ohio last season, he watched Robinson catch nine passes for 97 yards in a PSU loss to the Bobcats.

Still, the SU defense treated him as just another receiver while Christian Hackenberg threw for 209 second-half yards, including a 54-yard heave to Eugene Lewis.

“They didn’t do anything spectacular,” Wilkes said. “That was on our part. Those were things we were supposed to stop.”

After Robinson took a bubble screen 25 yards on Penn State’s first play in the second half he capitalized on a Wilkes gaffe the next, embarrassing the SU defense with a 51-yard score.

Lined up in the left slot, Robinson ran a short wheel route toward the left while wide receiver Brandon Felder showed back for a quick pass.

Hackenberg pump faked to Felder and Wilkes bit, sprinting up from the secondary. Robinson ran past him and helplessly exposed outside linebacker Cameron Lynch, before catching the pass and cutting back inside as safety Durell Eskridge was unable to make a tough open-field tackle.

“We were supposed to have some safety presence there,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said, “and we didn’t do a real good job with our reads, with our eyes.”

Early in the fourth quarter, the secondary lapsed again. Lewis sprinted up the left seam, striding past cornerback Brandon Reddish and Wilkes before hauling in a 54-yard bomb from Hackenberg.

But that performance was strikingly different from that of the first half. Images of Keon Lyn driving his shoulder into the collarbone of Lewis on Penn State’s first drive, and of Wilkes jumping in front of PSU tight end Jesse James and scampering 22 yards up the field faded fast.

At one point, it seemed like the secondary could abuse the true freshman Hackenberg.

“You want to make it appear that something’s there but it’s really not,” Wilkes said of baiting Hackenberg.

It was a tactic that nearly netted the Orange another turnover, too, as Lynch nearly intercepted a pass early in the third quarter. But Hackenberg and Robinson became too much to handle.

Aside from a Reddish forced fumble on Robinson and a lengthy return — after Robinson beat him for a 23-yard gain — the secondary struggled to keep up.

Even on that play, which put SU in a position to score at the Penn State 27-yard line, Reddish would have had an easy score had he waited for his blockers to take out 303-pound tackle Garry Gilliam.

“I’m sure when if he looks back at the tape he’s going to be kicking himself thinking that, ‘Maybe if I make one more move I would’ve scored,’” Reed said.

Standing in the tunnel inside MetLife Stadium after the game, Wilkes remained steadfast that the team’s approach had been solid. The execution, he said, was the problem.

Syracuse won’t face another star wide receiver for a few weeks. But if the secondary takes the same treat-him-like-a-normal-player approach against Clemson’s Sammy Watkins, Robinson’s thrashing could seem like nothing.

“He’s a good football player and they did a good job of getting him the ball and he made plays,” Reed said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Published on August 31, 2013 at 11:11 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1