2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
Keizer led the group over the top of the two third-category climbs, and as a result, took the polka-dot jersey for mountains classification leader away from his teammate Bert-Jan Lindeman. The quartet were slowly brought back, and with added impetus from Team Katusha, RadioShack–Leopard and Astana, the peloton had caught them prior to the Côte de Mauvagnat, with 23 km (14.3 mi) remaining. After several foiled attacks from his Astana teammate Maxim Iglinsky, Andriy Hrivko attacked towards the top of the Côte de Mauvagnat, and managed to build a small advantage before Team Sky's Vasil Kiryienka bridged the gap on the descent from the climb.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
Kiryienka crashed on the wet roads several kilometres later, which delayed Hrivko enough for him to be caught by a group of four riders – Kiryienka's teammate David López, Gorka Izagirre of Euskaltel–Euskadi, Team Europcar's Davide Malacarne and hometown rider Romain Bardet (Ag2r–La Mondiale) – which later became seven riders in total as another Team Sky rider joined the lead group, with Richie Porte linking up with Garmin–Sharp's Andrew Talansky.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
BMC Racing Team and Omega Pharma–Quick-Step tried to lead the chase for the respective overall contenders Tejay van Garderen and Sylvain Chavanel, but the lead group managed to survive off the front by seconds. Malacarne tried a solo attack at the flamme rouge, but was chased down not long after, gesturing at his fellow escapees as they did so. Porte tried a long stint on the front of the group, but Bardet accelerated past him only to fade shortly after, and it was Talansky that prevailed by a bike length over Malacarne and Izagirre. With Viviani distanced on the final climb, Talansky became the race's fourth different leader, taking the young rider lead from Viviani as well.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
Starting in the previous day's finishing commune of Brioude, the fourth stage was packed full of climbs, with a total of seven over the course of the 199.5 km (124.0 mi) parcours. The last two climbs – both coming inside the final 25 km (15.5 mi) of racing – were both second-category ascents of the Côte de Talencieux and the Côte de la Sizeranne, with gradients of 8.1% and 6.6% respectively.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
The Côte de la Sizeranne, which was situated 8.5 km (5.3 mi) from the finish in Saint-Vallier, had most recently featured during the first stage of the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné; the climb had been a catalyst to a late-stage attack from Cadel Evans, Jérôme Coppel and Andrey Kashechkin, with the trio managing to hold off the advancing peloton by just four seconds. Along with the seven climbs, there were two intermediate sprint points at La Chaise-Dieu and Saint-Romain-d'Ay.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
After an initial solo move from Saxo–Tinkoff's Michael Mørkøv was chased down, Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) along with Johann Tschopp of IAM Cycling and Javier Moreno of the Movistar Team went clear on the day's first climb, the Côte de Lachaud. Moreno elected not to continue with the breakaway, but the group remained as a trio, as Team Europcar's Thomas Voeckler moved up on them.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
After a near-40 km (24.9 mi) chase, Mørkøv and three other riders – Argos–Shimano rider Warren Barguil, Hubert Dupont of Ag2r–La Mondiale and Euskaltel–Euskadi's Romain Sicard – were able to join the lead trio and eventually formed a breakaway of seven. The group's maximum advantage was around four minutes, with Garmin–Sharp setting the pace for race leader Andrew Talansky. Numerous teams had stints on the front of the peloton, as they steadily brought back the lead group, as Tschopp accumulated enough points to take the polka-dot jersey as mountains classification leader.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
With 25 km (15.5 mi) remaining, Voeckler made a move off the front of the lead group, with only Dupont able to follow in the original instance. Tschopp and Meersman both later rejoined in the crosswinds, while behind the peloton was splitting into several groups; the front group of the main field eventually recaptured the four leaders with around 15 km (9.3 mi) remaining. With the group back together, several riders attempted to create solo moves on the final climb, the Côte de la Sizeranne, and on its descent.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Sylvain Chavanel was prominent in several moves on the climb; with assistance from teammate Kevin De Weert, Chavanel chased down a move by Maxime Monfort, but was not allowed to gain sufficient ground due to his placing in the general classification. Coppel tried to repeat his Dauphiné move in the closing stages, but it was left to a group sprint of around forty riders. Maxim Iglinsky was first to launch his sprint for Astana, but Michael Albasini finished the strongest to take the victory for Orica–GreenEDGE. Iglinsky managed to hold on to second ahead of Chavanel's teammate Peter Velits, while Talansky maintained the race lead with a sixth-place finish.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The queen stage of the 2013 Paris–Nice, the fifth stage included the only summit finish of the race, finishing 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea level at La Montagne de Lure after a near-14 km (8.7 mi) climb at an average gradient of 6.6% and reaching 8.5% in places. The climb itself was the last of six categorised climbs during the stage, although the other climbs en route – mainly second- and third-category climbs compared to the first-category finishing climb – were less steep and challenging to the field as a whole.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Also as part of the parcours were two intermediate sprint points at Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt and Forcalquier. La Montagne de Lure, described as the "little sister of Mont Ventoux", had previously featured in the race in 2009, when Alberto Contador soloed to victory during that year's sixth stage, beating closest rivals Fränk Schleck and Luis León Sánchez by almost a minute, and taking the race lead in the process.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
RadioShack–Leopard's Jens Voigt – who finished in the top ten on the stage in 2009 – initiated the day's breakaway after 14 km (8.7 mi) of racing, and was later joined by Sojasun rider Cyril Lemoine, Paolo Longo Borghini of Cannondale and Thierry Hupond of the Argos–Shimano team. The quartet steadily built up a lead over the peloton, eventually reaching a maximum advantage of around six-and-a-half minutes, but still causing no threat overall as Hupond was the best placed of the riders, some nine minutes behind the overnight leader Garmin–Sharp's Andrew Talansky.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
For most of the stage, the advantage remained between four and five minutes, with Talansky's squad maintaining their presence at the front of the peloton. Heading towards the final climb at La Montagne de Lure, the leaders still held a lead of approaching two minutes but was quickly being dwindled, with Team Sky moving their riders towards the front.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
At the foot of the climb, Voigt attacked on his own for the second time during the stage, as the peloton began to shrink with the pace mainly being set by Kanstantsin Sivtsov and David López, with the squad's leader Richie Porte just behind them. Voigt's fellow breakaway companions were caught with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, while Voigt remained a further minute up the road. He was caught 3 km (1.9 mi) later, which set up a spate of attacks in the following few kilometres.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Michele Scarponi was able to gain a slight advantage for Lampre–Merida, to which Talansky and Porte later closed down, while Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) also latched onto the group. Talansky tried a second move, but Quintana led the rest of the ever-decreasing group up to him. Denis Menchov attacked just before 2 km (1.2 mi) to go, and was initially given freedom to build a gap, at which point, Talansky made a third move before Porte closed him down again. Porte launched his own attack with 1.4 km (0.9 mi) left, quickly catching and passing Menchov, and soloed away to the stage victory and the yellow jersey. Menchov finished second, 26 seconds behind, while Talansky led a small group over the line in third, 33 seconds behind Porte.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
The penultimate stage of the race was also its longest of the 2013 edition, with a 220 km (136.7 mi) itinerary for the peloton as the race moved towards the coast and Nice itself. There were five categorised climbs on the route, the first of which commenced just after the 2 km (1.2 mi) point of the stage, with the third-category Côte du Bois de Rousset climb, an ascent of 4.4 km (2.7 mi) and a 4.5% average gradient.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
The tougher climbs came in the second half of the stage, with a pair of first-category climbs – the Côte de Cabris, 7.6 km (4.7 mi) at 5.8% and the Col du Ferrier, 4.3 km (2.7 mi) at 6.8% – but with the summit of the Col du Ferrier still being over 70 km (43.5 mi) from the finish, on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. As a result, it was still expected to come down to a sprint finish at the end, but the severity of the climbs was certain to rule out many of the pure sprinters from the finish.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
Astana rider Egor Silin was the catalyst of the breakaway, attacking on the Côte du Bois de Rousset, gaining maximum points on offer for the climb. He was later joined by ten other riders, with Johann Tschopp also being part of the group as he was looking to secure the mountains classification for IAM Cycling. Team Sky only allowed the breakaway to build up a lead of around three minutes due to the fact that another member of the breakaway, Arnold Jeannesson of FDJ, was only 1' 49" behind the race leader, Richie Porte.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
After taking second place points behind Silin on the first climb of the day, Tschopp proceeded to take maximum points at the remaining four climbs of the day's stage, guaranteeing himself an unassailable lead in the classification. With 64 points, Tschopp held a 40-point lead over Argos–Shimano's Thierry Hupond, with only ten points left to be taken at the finish of the following day's individual time trial at Col d'Èze, a first-category climb.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
By the time the lead group was on the descent of the Col du Ferrier, only six members of the original eleven-rider lead group remained out front, and were only a minute clear of the peloton that was being led by the BMC Racing Team, Euskaltel–Euskadi and Team Sky. The breakaway was brought back by the main field prior to the day's second and final intermediate sprint point at Tourrettes-sur-Loup, with 34.5 km (21.4 mi) remaining of the stage.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
Astana's Andriy Hrivko as well as Omega Pharma–Quick-Step pairing Peter Velits and Sylvain Chavanel attacked prior to the sprint, to gain vital bonus seconds towards the general classification. The trio returned to the peloton after the sprint, and ultimately Team Sky manned the front of the main group towards the finish in Nice, to set up the bunch sprint of around sixty riders. Ag2r–La Mondiale and the BMC Racing Team moved towards the front for Samuel Dumoulin and Philippe Gilbert respectively, but Chavanel surprised both riders to take the sprint on the line. His result, a third stage win at Paris–Nice, gave him the lead in the points classification as well as moving him into third place overall, with ten bonus seconds.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
For the second year in succession, the race concluded at Col d'Èze on the outskirts of Nice, with a mountainous individual time trial. The 9.6 km (6.0 mi) test against the clock began in Nice, with the steepest part of the climb coming in the early stages, reaching a gradient of 8.5% – against the average for the climb of 4.7% – in the second kilometre.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
The intermediate timing point came at the Col des Quatre Chemins, 4 km (2.5 mi) from the finish, with the final 1.5 km (0.9 mi) towards the summit of Col d'Èze were contested on a false flat. In 2012, the stage saw Bradley Wiggins and Lieuwe Westra battle it out for the general classification, with Wiggins winning the stage by two seconds and the race by eight seconds. As was customary of time trial stages, cyclists set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage. Thus, Rick Flens of Blanco Pro Cycling, who, in 151st place, trailed overall leader Richie Porte (Team Sky) by one hour, twenty minutes and nine seconds, was the first rider to set off on the final stage.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Flens set the first benchmark with a time of 22' 35". Evaldas Šiškevičius of the Sojasun team was next to hold first place, going eleven seconds quicker than Flens, before prologue winner Damien Gaudin (Team Europcar) went fastest with a time of 22' 11". His lead was to last less than a minute as FDJ's Jérémy Roy went comfortably quicker than his time, more than a minute faster in a time of 20' 59". Roy held the best time for the best part of an hour before Lampre–Merida's Mattia Cattaneo knocked eight seconds off the benchmark.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Javier Moreno (Movistar Team) also went quickest for a period of time before Jérôme Coppel – fifth on the climb in 2012 – moved top for Cofidis in a time of 20' 33". Ion Izagirre moved the best time nearer the 20-minute mark as he took another eleven seconds off the best time, before his time was usurped by Michele Scarponi, as the Lampre–Merida rider put in a solid performance and went top on 20' 19". The first of four sub 20-minute times was recorded by the Movistar Team's Nairo Quintana, setting a time of 19' 43", holding his pace all the way up the climb.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Quintana's time held into the later moments of the stage, as the top ten overall contenders hit the course. Simon Špilak (Team Katusha) had gone quicker to the intermediate point than Quintana, but faded in the second half of the stage, and was thus unable to match his fourth place of 2012. Quintana's time remained untouched until the final two riders to start the stage; much like 2012, the top two were to battle for victory, as Porte and Andrew Talansky of Garmin–Sharp were split by 32 seconds pre-stage.


2013 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Talansky set the fastest intermediate split at the time, going six seconds quicker than Ag2r–La Mondiale's Jean-Christophe Péraud, but Porte passed the same point 21 seconds quicker than Talansky had done so. Péraud had faded to five seconds behind Quintana at the finish – despite falling at the start – and with slower times for those around in him the general classification, he sealed a place on the final podium. Talansky crossed the finish line with the fastest time, going four seconds quicker than Quintana with a time of 19' 39". However, Porte sealed victory in the race, and the stage itself, punching the air as he crossed the line in a time of 19' 16", four seconds slower than Wiggins' winning time of 2012.


2013 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
In the 2013 Paris–Nice, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2013 Paris–Nice, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.


2013 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing in the top 20 in a stage. Unlike in the better known points classification in the Tour de France, the type of stage had no effect on what points were on offer – each stage had the same points available on the same scale. The win earned 25 points, second place earned 22 points, third 20, fourth 18, fifth 16, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for 20th. In addition, points could be won in intermediate sprints; three points for crossing the sprint line first, two points for second place, and one for third.


2013 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a red and white polka-dot jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists. Each climb was categorised as either first, second, or third-category, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. For first-category climbs, points were awarded on a scale of 10 points for first across the climb, second place earned 8 points, third 6, fourth 4, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for seventh.


2013 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
Second-category climbs awarded points on a scale of 7 points for first place, second place earned 5 points, third 3, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for fifth. Third-category climbs, and the one fourth-category climb, awarded points to the top three riders only; 4 points for first across the climb, second place earned 2 points, third place earned 1 point.


2013 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1988 were eligible to be ranked in the classification.


2013 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.


2013 Paris–Roubaix
The 2013 Paris–Roubaix was the 111th edition of the Paris–Roubaix race that took place on 7 April and was the tenth race of the 2013 UCI World Tour. The race stretched 254.5 km (158.1 mi) from start to finish and was won by Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara. Second and third were Belgian Sep Vanmarcke and Dutchman Niki Terpstra, respectively.


2013 Paris–Roubaix, Teams
As the Paris–Roubaix was a UCI World Tour event, all 19 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad and the organizers invited six wild card teams to participate.


2013 Paris–Roubaix, Race overview
RadioShack–Leopard's Fabian Cancellara won the breathtaking sprint ahead of Sep Vanmarcke of Blanco Pro Cycling. Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Niki Terpstra sealed the final place on the podium by winning the sprint amongst the chasing group.


2013 Paris–Tours
The 2013 Paris–Tours was the 107th edition of this single day road bicycle racing event. John Degenkolb won the race from a mass sprint in front of Michael Mørkøv and Arnaud Démare.


2013 Parramatta Eels season
The 2013 Parramatta Eels season was the 67th in the club's history. Coached by Ricky Stuart and captained by Jarryd Hayne, Reni Maitua and Tim Mannah, they competed in the NRL's 2013 Telstra Premiership.


2013 Parramatta Eels season, Summary
Another wooden spoon followed in 2013, with the club suffering their second biggest loss ever (4–64 to Melbourne in Round 24), and conceding three other scores of 50 or more. On 12 September 2013 it was announced Ricky Stuart would leave the Eels to take up the head coaching role at Canberra for the 2014 season.


2013 Parramatta Eels season, Squad
Note: Junior Paulo, Kaysa Pritchard, Kelepi Tanginoa and Vai Toutai were still eligible to play in the Holden Cup for the 2013 season


2013 Party Rock Open
The 2013 Party Rock Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the fifth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2013 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000 in prize money. It took place in Las Vegas, United States, on September 23–29, 2013.


2013 Party Rock Open, WTA entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2013 Party Rock Open – Doubles
Anastasia and Arina Rodionova were the defending champions, having won the event in 2012, but Anastasia chose to compete at the 2013 Toray Pan Pacific Open and Arina decided not to participate.


2013 Party Rock Open – Doubles
Tamira Paszek and Coco Vandeweghe won the title, defeating Denise Muresan and Caitlin Whoriskey in the final, 6–4, 6–2.


2013 Party Rock Open – Singles
Lauren Davis was the defending champion, having won the event in 2012, but she decided to participate at the 2013 Ningbo International Women's Tennis Open instead.


2013 Party Rock Open – Singles
Melanie Oudin won the title, defeating Coco Vandeweghe in the final, 5–7, 6–3, 6–3.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400
The 2013 Party in the Poconos 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race  held on June 9, 2013, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, United States. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5–mile (4 km) triangular superspeedway, it was the fourteenth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, his third win of the 2013 season, while Greg Biffle finished second. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400
This was the final NASCAR race for Jason Leffler before his death in a sprint car crash on June 12, 2013.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400, Report, Background
Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°. The front stretch at Pocono Raceway is 3,740 feet long, the longest at the track. The back stretch, is 3,055 feet long, while the short stretch, which connects turn two with turn three, is only 1,780 feet long. Joey Logano was the defending race winner after winning the race in 2012.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400, Report, Background
Before the race, Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 473 points, while Carl Edwards stood in second with 443 points. Clint Bowyer followed in the third with 423, 24 points ahead of Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick in fourth and fifth. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., with 398, was in sixth; six ahead of Kasey Kahne, who was scored seventh. Eighth-placed Kyle Busch was three points ahead of Paul Menard and five ahead of Brad Keselowski in ninth and tenth. Jeff Gordon was eleventh with 361, while Aric Almirola completed the first twelve positions with 354 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 92 points, eight points ahead of Toyota. Ford was third after recording only 64 points before the race.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the race. The first session, scheduled on June 7, 2013 for 90 minutes, was canceled because of rain showers. The second and third, held a day later on June 8, 2013, were 50 and 60 minutes long.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
Forty-three cars were entered for qualifying. However, wet weather soaked the track, therefore canceling the session and making the  owner's points championship determine the qualifying grid. Johnson, whose owner was first in the owner's championship before the race, was rewarded the pole position. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards. Bowyer was third, Kenseth took fourth, ahead of Earnhardt, Jr. who started fifth. Kahne, Kyle Busch, Menard, Keselowski and Gordon rounded out the first ten positions.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
In the Saturday morning session, Johnson was quickest, ahead of Edwards and Kurt Busch in second and third. Marcos Ambrose and Harvick followed in the fourth and fifth positions. Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Earnhardt, Jr., Keselowski, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the first ten positions. In the final practice session for the race, Kurt Busch was quickest with a time of 51.331 seconds. Johnson followed in second, ahead of Edwards and Stewart in third and fourth. Ryan Newman, who was fifteenth quickest in second practice, managed fifth.


2013 Party in the Poconos 400, Results, Race results
Points include 3 Chase for the Sprint Cup points for winning, 1 point for leading a lap, and 1 point for most laps led.


2013 Patna bombings
On 27 October 2013, a series of bomb blasts rocked the Indian city of Patna, Bihar at a massive election rally for BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Of the estimated 300,000 participants at the "Hunkar" rally, six people were killed and 85 others were injured in eight bomb blasts.


2013 Patna bombings
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions; however, investigations suggest Indian Mujahideen were culpable.


2013 Patna bombings, Bombings
On the morning of 27 October 2013, the first bomb exploded at Patna Junction railway station at around 10:00 , while two unexploded bombs were recovered by bomb disposal personnel. The second bomb exploded at 12:10, while the third bomb exploded at 12:25, both near Gandhi Maidan, where the Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was supposed to hold a rally in the lead-up to the 2014 Indian general election a couple of hours later. There were five other blasts from which three bombs exploded in and out of the Gandhi Maidan area, one exploded near a cinema hall and another close to the Twin Tower building complex in Patna.


2013 Patna bombings, Bombings, Railway station
A crude bomb exploded on an isolated place on platform 10 of Patna Junction railway station. One person who sustained injuries in this blast died. According to Railway Protection Force, the explosion took place at a paid toilet within the station. Two more homemade bombs were defused. According to Union Home Ministry, one of the two crude bombs placed had a timer attached to it.


2013 Patna bombings, Bombings, Gandhi Maidan
Later that day, five more low intensity blasts took place in Gandhi Maidan, where the pre-election rally of Narendra Modi was taking place. Several people were injured in these blasts. One more blast took place in Elphinstine Cinema near the Gandhi Maidan, injuring six people. One more unexploded bomb was found below the dais where Narendra Modi had spoken in the rally, which has been defused. The eighth bomb exploded around 5 PM on the same day, which was believed to be hidden under garbage.


2013 Patna bombings, Reactions
Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asking him to hasten a probe into the incidents. The Union Home Ministry sent NIA and NSG teams to the blast sites for investigate. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs R. P. N. Singh assured the Bihar government that the union government would provide all assistance in investigating the blast incident. For his part, Kumar condemned the blasts and said that his government had provided full security for the rally.


2013 Patna bombings, Reactions
He also revealed that a suspicious suitcase was found in Gandhi Maidan two days previously and henceforth security would be beefed up. He also cancelled his scheduled trip of Munger and convened a meeting on the law and order situation. Narendra Modi expressed his condolences for the bomb blast victims online. A week after the blast, Modi returned to Bihar to offer condolences and Rs. 500,000 to the families of the six people killed in the attack. Dense fog allowed him to visit only three families while the other three were contacted over the phone.


2013 Patna bombings, Reactions
Former Deputy CM of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi called it a deliberate administrative failure and criminal negligence and wrong on Twitter: "When I saw 3 blast in gandhi Maidan,I ranged DGP Bihar.he said that truck tyre has burst." [sic]


2013 Patna bombings, Reactions
An Indian National Congress leader, Shakeel Ahmad, wrote: "Blasts during Modi Ji's 1st visit as PM hopeful to Bihar should be condemned by one and all. State govt and NIA should unearth the conspiracy." [sic] INC General Secretary Digvijaya Singh said: "What a coincidence blast at Patna Railway on the day of Modi's Rally ! Challenge to Nitish Govt to find the culprit !."


2013 Patna bombings, Reactions
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind General Secretary Nusrat Ali called for strong action against those who carried out the attacks.


2013 Patna bombings, Reactions
Hours after the attacks Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was spotted at the music launch party of Bollywood movie Rajjo along with Kangana Ranaut. Several political parties, including the national Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India criticised his presence immediately after the blasts.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation
Within days of the blasts, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar requested Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to have the National Investigation Agency (NIA) take over the case. As terrorists were planting the bombs at Patna Junction railway station, one of the bombs prematurely exploded due to a wiring error. One of the suspects planting the bomb, Tarique alias Ainul was critically injured in the blast and died a few days later. Patna police converged on the scene of the blast and apprehended Imtiaz Ansari as he was attempting to flee in possession of explosives.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation
Interrogation of Imtiaz Ansari revealed that the bombings were coordinated by Indian Mujahideen, a Pakistani-linked Muslim terrorist group operating out of India. Ansari confessed that the goal was to ring the rally ground with bombs and cause stampede during the rally to kill as many of the participants, particularly women and children, as possible.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation
However, as the blasts went off, BJP officials organising the rally led the crowd to believe they were fire crackers and appealed for calm, thus averting a much greater loss of life and foiling the Indian Mujahideen's plans of inciting a deadly stampede that could have killed hundreds. In the initial days of the investigation, six suspects were detained for interrogation based on leads obtained by police from Imtiaz Ansari.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation
Investigators believe Mohammad Tehsin Akhtar alias Monu to be the mastermind behind the serial blasts, and the second-highest ranking leader of the terrorist outfit, Indian Mujahideen. Tehsin had been radicalized at a madrasa in Chikmagalur, Karnataka in 2005 and has moved up the ranks in the terrorist group since then. After the blasts, the terrorist mastermind Tehsin Akhtar was revealed by news media as the nephew of Taqui Akhtar, a leader of the Janata Dal (United), party which is currently in power in Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Taqui publicly disowned his nephew after reports of his involvement in the serial blasts arose in the media.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation
The Gujarat Director General of Police lambasted the Bihar government for lack of cooperation and a lax approach to security for the rally despite receiving general intelligence inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of possible blasts during Modi's rally. He said that basic procedures mandatory for all public meetings, such as anti-sabotage checks and pre-event drills were not carried out by the Bihar Police despite requests made by Gujarat Police officials.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation
BJP leaders, including former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, asserted that the security lapses were a deliberate, possibly criminal attempt by the Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, to take revenge on his political enemy, Narendra Modi. Nitish Kumar rejected this charge saying that he had directed police to make all necessary security arrangements for the event.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation
On 5 November 2013, a tip-off in tracking one of the suspected masterminds of the blasts led the National Intelligence Agency to a small hotel in Ranchi, Jharkhand, 350 kilometers from Patna, where they discovered 9 live bombs just like those used in the Patna blasts. Police suspect that the Patna bomb blast suspects have been staying at this hotel. By April 2014, NIA had arrested eight suspects for their alleged involvement in the explosions.


2013 Patna bombings, Investigation, Chargesheet
On 24 April 2014, NIA filed the first chargesheet in the matter against Imtiaz Ansari under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act and other laws at an NIA special court. Cash rewards ranging from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh have been declared for the arrest of the absconding accused—Mujibullah, Hyder Ali, Numan and Taufiq Ansari.


2013 Patriot League Baseball Tournament
The 2013 Patriot League Baseball Tournament was held on consecutive weekends, with the semifinals held May 11-12 and the finals May 19-20. The higher seeded teams hosted each best of three series. Third seeded Army defeated Holy Cross for the second year in a row, and Army's seventh tournament title, to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Army and Holy Cross met in the final for the second consecutive year.


2013 Patriot League Baseball Tournament, Seeding
The top four finishers from the regular season were seeded one through four, with the top seed hosting the fourth seed and second seed hosting the third. The visiting team wa designated as the home team in the second game of each series. In the semifinals, Holy Cross hosted Bucknell, while Navy hosted defending champion Army.


2013 Patriot League Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Valuable Player
Chris Rowley was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Rowley was a pitcher for Army, earning a complete game victory in game one of each series.


2013 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2013 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 6, 9 and 13 at campus sites of the higher seed. The winner of the tournament, the BucknellBison received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.


2013 Patriot League men's soccer season
The 2013 Patriot League men's football season will be the 21st season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.


2013 Patriot League men's soccer season
The American Eagles are the defending regular season champions, while the Lafayette Leopards are the defending tournament champions.


2013 Pau Grand Prix
The 72nd Grand Prix Automobile de Pau (Pau Grand Prix) was held around as held around the streets of the city of Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, south-western France, on 19 May 2013.


2013 Pau Grand Prix, Entry list
All drivers used the Tatuus-Renault machine running the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 that season.


2013 Pekao Szczecin Open
The 2013 Pekao Szczecin Open was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the 21st edition of the tournament which was part of the 2013 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Szczecin, Poland between 16 and 22 September 2013.


2013 Pekao Szczecin Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2013 Pekao Szczecin Open – Doubles
Andre Begemann and Martin Emmrich were the defending champions, but chose not to compete. British team Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski outlasted the Italian team of Andrea Arnaboldi and Alessandro Giannessi to claim the title in three sets 6–4, 1–6, [10–7].


2013 Pekao Szczecin Open – Singles
Victor Hănescu was the defending champion but decided not to participate. 7th seed Oleksandr Nedovyesov defeated 8th seed Pere Riba 6–2, 7–5


2013 Penang state election
The 13th Penang election was held on 5 May 2013. Polling took place in 40 constituencies throughout the State of Penang, with each electing a State Assemblyman to the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The election was conducted by the Malaysian Election Commission.


2013 Penang state election
The legislative body had been dissolved on 5 April by the Governor of Penang, Abdul Rahman Abbas, on the advice of the incumbent Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, who also led the state's ruling coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Electoral candidates were nominated on 20 April.


2013 Penang state election
The PR not only successfully defended its two-thirds majority in the Penang State Legislative Assembly, it also captured an additional constituency from the state opposition, Barisan Nasional (BN), bringing PR's tally to 30 seats. This was despite BN's massive campaign in Penang, which included sponsored performances by Psy, Busta Rhymes and Ludacris in George Town. It was later revealed that BN's large-scale attempt at recapturing Penang, which it lost in the previous election, received substantial financial funding from Jho Low, a Penang-born tycoon notorious for his involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.


2013 Penang state election, Background
The election was the 13th state election in the State of Penang since the independence of Malaya (now Malaysia) in 1957. The governing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had won the previous election in 2008 and sought to secure their second consecutive term in office.


2013 Penang state election, Background
According to the Constitution of the State of Penang, the Penang State Legislative Assembly, the legislature of Penang, has a maximum term of five years, starting from the date of the first sitting of Assembly following a state election. However, the Chief Minister, as Penang's head of government, may advise the Governor, the head of state, to dissolve the Assembly before the five-year period is up. On 5 April 2013, the Governor of Penang, Abdul Rahman Abbas, gave his consent to the incumbent Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng, to dissolve the Assembly.


2013 Penang state election, Background
A state election must be held within sixty days after the dissolution. The Malaysian Election Commission set 20 April as the nomination day and 5 May as the polling day, providing for a campaigning period of 15 days.


2013 Penang state election, Background, Political parties
The Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the ruling coalition in Penang, was led by the incumbent Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng. In the aftermath of the 2008 state election, the PR controlled 29 out of the 40 seats in the Penang State Legislative Assembly.


2013 Penang state election, Background, Political parties
The PR was opposed by the Barisan Nasional (BN), which was led by Teng Chang Yeow of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan).


2013 Penang state election, Background, Electoral constituencies
All 40 state constituencies within Penang, which form the Penang State Legislative Assembly, were contested during the election.


2013 Penang state election, Campaign
The PR-led Penang state government campaigned by emphasising the administration's achievements during its five-year tenure, including social welfare policies targeted at the needy and its success at cutting the state's public debts by 95%. The latter, along with a sharp increase in foreign direct investments into Penang since 2008, had been acclaimed by Bloomberg, an American news outlet, as "Malaysia's biggest economic success"; the article added that "Penang’s economic resurgence may bolster Pakatan Rakyat’s claim that it can be an alternative to the Barisan Nasional (BN), which has run the country since independence from British rule in 1957".


2013 Penang state election, Campaign
The BN, on the other hand, relied conspicuously on financial backing from Jho Low, a Penang-born businessman who was involved with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a national investment fund established by the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak. Lavish funds were spent on campaigning materiel and events, including free-of-charge public dinners, lucky draws and concerts featuring famous international artistes. Prime Minister Najib also made magnanimous pledges to Penangites in the course of the campaign, such as the construction of 9,999 affordable housing units at Air Itam by 1MDB and a monorail system within Penang.


2013 Penang state election, Campaign
The BN's campaign excesses became more apparent towards the polling day, with tens of thousands of 1Malaysia and BN flags placed haphazardly across the streets of George Town; in many instances, the blue flags marred the city's landscape. Once again, Jho Low was allegedly behind the production of such an unprecedented amount of flags. The chief of BN in Penang, Teng Chang Yeow, even reportedly plead to Jho Low's men to put up the flags properly, while denying that the BN was responsible for the voluminous amount of BN-linked flags throughout the city.


2013 Penang state election, Campaign, Rallies and concerts
Both the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions held rallies, known in Malay as ceramah, throughout Penang during the campaigning period just prior to the polling day. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rallies, in particular, attracted record-breaking turnouts and generated a sizeable sum of donations. For instance, a PR rally at the Han Chiang College in George Town on 29 April 2013 drew a crowd of 50,000; the key speakers during the rally included Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh and Anwar Ibrahim. A few days later, an even larger PR rally, which was attended by more than 100,000 people, was held at George Town's Esplanade.


2013 Penang state election, Campaign, Rallies and concerts
Meanwhile, the BN, learning from its defeat in the previous election, organised a series of sponsored concerts, which were financially funded by Jho Low. The most famous of all was Psy's concert at the Han Chiang College on 11 February, days after the Chinese New Year. Just before Psy appeared on-stage, it was the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak's turn to give a speech. Najib proceeded by repeatedly asking the crowd "Are you ready for Psy?" and the spectators responded "Yes". However, he next asked "Are you ready for BN? ", which was met by a resounding "No!" from the crowd. The spectators also dispersed immediately after Psy finished performing his signature Gangnam Style. Another concert was held at the same venue on 20 April, featuring international artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Gigi Leung, Alan Tam and Hacken Lee.


2013 Penang state election, Incidents
On 23 April 2013, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at a Barisan Nasional (BN) rally in Sungai Jawi. The explosion caused no casualty, apart from a BN employee who was slightly injured. A second bomb, found later at the scene, was safely detonated by the police.


2013 Penang state election, Incidents
On 24 April, BN-linked mat rempits (motorcycle hooligans) interrupted a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rally at Gelugor. A journalist was assaulted by the mat rempits for attempting to take photographs of the incident.


2013 Penang state election, Incidents
During the polling day on 5 May, a gang of BN extremists gathered at a polling centre at Air Itam and provoked PR supporters, leading to a fistfight between both groups. More onlookers joined the fight and attacked the BN extremists, causing the BN gang to flee the scene.


2013 Penang state election, Results
The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) emerged from the election in a much stronger position, as it gained one additional constituency - Seberang Jaya - which was won by the People's Justice Party (PKR) candidate, Afif Bahardin; this increased the PR's tally in the Penang State Legislative Assembly to 30 seats. The PR also captured over +2⁄3 of the popular vote in Penang.


2013 Penang state election, Results
This was achieved in spite of Barisan Nasional's massive and lavish campaign to retake Penang. It was speculated that the loss of Seberang Jaya, which had been held by BN's dominant party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), was due to UMNO's choice of candidate. The BN's popular vote also slipped from 40.96% in the 2008 election to 32.09% in 2013.


2013 Penang state election, Results
As with the 2008 election, BN's other component parties, namely Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), failed to win any seat, leaving UMNO, which won the remaining 10 seats in the Penang State Legislative Assembly, as the state opposition once again.


2013 Penang state election, Aftermath
In 2015, it was revealed that Jho Low, the main financier of Barisan Nasional's failed election campaign, had been involved in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal; Jho allegedly served as BN's senior strategist in Penang, funded free-of-charge public dinners, concerts and lucky draws during the election via the 1Malaysia Penang Welfare Club, and told the BN candidates that his funds would be made available to them upon request. A source from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), who spoke on the condition of anonymity, commented that "the money was flowing like hell", adding that the funds, which were initially assumed to originate from corporate donors, did not pass through the party's official channels.


2013 Penang state election, Aftermath
Also in the same year, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition was disbanded, due to disagreements between the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP) over the former's insistence to implement the Islamic penal code, known as hudud, in the State of Kelantan. In place of the defunct coalition, the DAP and the People's Justice Party (PKR), together with newcomers, the National Trust Party (Amanah) and the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM), formed the Pakatan Harapan (PH) in 2017; the PH subsequently announced its Penang leadership line-up as well. As a result of the departure of PAS from the PR, the coalition's successor, the PH, retained 29 seats in the Penang State Legislative Assembly just prior to the 2018 State Election, while PAS controlled a single seat - Permatang Pasir - and UMNO the remaining 10 seats.


2013 Penn Quakers football team
The 2013 Penn Quakers football team represented the University of Pennsylvania in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 22nd year head coach Al Bagnoli and played their home games at Franklin Field. They were a member of the Ivy League. They finished with a record of 4–6 overall and 3–4 in Ivy League play for three-way tie for fourth place.


2013 Penn Quakers football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Lafayette
Improving to 4–0 when wearing their alternate red jerseys, the Quakers defeated the Lafayette Leopards 27–21 for the program's 820th overall win, 10th in the NCAA.


2013 Penn Quakers football team, Game summaries, September 28 vs. Villanova
In their second game, Villanova trounced the Quakers at Villanova Stadium in a crosstown rivalry for the 12th consecutive season. Of the many shortcomings from Penn in the game, "all pale in comparison to what happened to Penn’s running game". They had a total of 21 carries for just 43 yards, averaging just over two yards per carry. Villanova's coach Andy Talley commented, "I just think our D-line played a little better than their O-line today." After the "reality check", the Quakers were set to begin their Ivy League slate.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
The 2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Bill O'Brien and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. They were a member of the Big Ten Conference and its Leaders Division. Penn State was ineligible to play in a bowl game for the 2013 season, the second season of a four-year ban, due to NCAA sanctions imposed in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
Before the season, Penn State had an open competition to win the starting quarterback position; true freshman Christian Hackenberg won and started all 12 games for the Nittany Lions. Hackenberg headlined their recruiting class, which also featured tight end Adam Breneman. John Butler was named Penn State's new defensive coordinator upon the departure of Ted Roof.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
Most predicted Penn State would have a similar season to that of the 2012 team, which won eight games and lost four, but there was uncertainty, as injuries could decimate the team, which was already thin at many positions including offensive line and linebacker, while surprise performances from key players could lift them to success.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
Penn State opened the season with two non-conference wins, but lost to the UCF Knights, who ultimately went on to a BCS bowl, the Fiesta, in their third game. Entering conference play, the Nittany Lions were 3–1, and in their first conference game they lost to Indiana before defeating Michigan in a quadruple-overtime thriller. They alternated losses and wins for the remainder of the season, losing to Ohio State, Minnesota, and Nebraska, and defeating Illinois, Purdue, and Wisconsin.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
Despite the team never being ranked, several players earned national and conference recognition, headlined by wide receiver Allen Robinson, who was named the Big Ten Conference Receiver of the Year and earned first team all-conference and All-American honors before subsequently announcing he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2014 NFL Draft. Senior John Urschel, an offensive guard, won the William V. Campbell Trophy—sometimes referred to as the "academic Heisman". Hackenberg was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Additionally, backup quarterback Tyler Ferguson, who lost the preseason quarterback competition to Hackenberg, announced his intent to transfer.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
Soon after the season, two coaches—Ron Vanderlinden and Charlie Fisher—left Penn State for undisclosed reasons, though there was speculation that O'Brien forced them out. A few weeks later, O'Brien accepted the head coaching position with the Houston Texans, leaving the Nittany Lions after two seasons. Early in 2014, the Nittany Lions hired James Franklin to replace O'Brien as head coach for the 2014 season.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Recruiting
Despite NCAA sanctions including limited scholarships and a bowl ban, Penn State retained their top recruit: quarterback Christian Hackenberg. They finished with the 24th ranked recruiting class according to ESPN, who cited retention of top prospects Hackenberg and tight end Adam Breneman, as well as adding depth in the secondary, overall giving them a "B" rating. Linebacker recruit Zayd Issah never enrolled at Penn State after several instances of legal trouble. Entering camp, Hackenberg and Ferguson vied for the starting quarterback position; ultimately, Hackenberg won the job, and Ferguson served as the backup.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Preseason buildup
Coming off an 8–4 season during which, according to USA Today's Paul Myerberg, "Attrition robbed Penn State of everything but the kitchen sink, or so we heard, so it was quite surprising when the sink, a few walk-ons, a mathematician, a local kid and a rookie coach went 8–2 after a sluggish start, pushing back against storm clouds and bringing PSU back from the abyss of life post-NCAA sanctions." Many college football analysts expected the Nittany Lions to perform similarly in 2013, although almost all season outlooks noted that the team could take a major step back from 2012 if they were hampered by injuries, or could surprise everyone and win more games than they did in 2012.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Preseason buildup
A solid backfield anchored by Zach Zwinak, a trio of established tight ends plus a promising newcomer, and a veteran offensive line highlighted the projected success offensively, while a new coordinator (John Butler), a "borderline All-American" linebacker (Glenn Carson), and much potential both on the defensive line and in the secondary, the latter of which was "dramatically improved", highlighted projected progress defensively. Also, a quarterback competition between Christian Hackenberg and Tyler Ferguson brewed, which provided intrigue entering the season.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Preseason buildup
For Penn State to achieve success, they needed to avoid injuries that would hinder their already depleted depth due to NCAA sanctions. SBNation.com asserted, "If either Hackenberg or Ferguson gets hurt, and the other one stinks ... if either Zach Zwinak or Bill Belton (who missed four games last year) gets hurt ... if basically any linemen get hurt (and linemen often get hurt) ... this house of cards comes tumbling down." ESPN.com reporter Josh Moyer wrote, "In short, like last year, PSU is a bit of a wild card. If it receives strong efforts from its quarterback and the front seven, it should surpass last year's record. If it doesn't, it might be fortunate to get to seven wins."


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, August 31 vs. Syracuse
Note: Though the game was held at a neutral site, Penn State wore white uniforms and was considered the away team.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, August 31 vs. Syracuse
Prior to the game, Penn State coach Bill O'Brien hoped to keep his choice between Tyler Ferguson and Christian Hackenberg as starting quarterback a secret until the first snap. However, the night before the game, media reports began to surface that Hackenberg was going to be the starter. Hackenberg did start for the Nittany Lions, while Oklahoma transfer Drew Allen started for Syracuse, who had a quarterback competition as well. After Hackenberg played the first two drives for Penn State, Ferguson came in and promptly fumbled the football for a turnover and did not return. Allen Robinson, the Big Ten's leading receiver in 2012, did not start for what O'Brien said was, "between me and Allen", but he did play in the second half.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, August 31 vs. Syracuse
After a scoreless first quarter, the second quarter featured three turnovers, and at half time, Penn State led 6–3 with two field goals from senior kicker Sam Ficken. On Penn State's first drive in the second half, Allen Robinson returned and caught a screen pass, which he ran for 25 yards, and then a 51-yard touchdown pass to make the score 13–3. On the ensuing drive, however, Syracuse came right back and scored a touchdown via a Jerome Smith 10-yard run. Early in the fourth quarter, Ficken made his third field goal of the day, a career-long 46 yards.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, August 31 vs. Syracuse
Later in the quarter, Hackenberg threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Eugene Lewis to make the score 23–10. When only down by 6 points, Syracuse got the ball around their own 45-yard line with a little over two minutes left, but turned the ball over via an interception with under two minutes to play.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, August 31 vs. Syracuse
Hackenberg was named the Big Ten freshman of the week after totaling 278 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, and Ficken was named Big Ten special teams player of the week, redeeming himself from the 2012 season, after kicking three field goals including a career-long 46-yard kick. Seniors DaQuan Jones and Stephen Obeng-Agyapong led the team defensively with nine tackles, including three for a loss, and a sack at defensive tackle, and eight tackles, a sack, a forced fumble that he recovered, and an interception at safety and linebacker respectively. After it was announced that Penn State lost senior tight end Matt Lehman for the season with a knee injury during the game, O'Brien announced that Obeng-Agyapong might practice with the tight ends to help replace him.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
Prior to the game, Penn State was predicted to have the advantage on both sides of the ball at every position,  and as such, was expected to win handily. Coming into the game, Penn State had sustained injuries two of their top tight ends, Matt Lehman and Kyle Carter. Lehman suffered a knee injury against Syracuse and was out for the season, while Carter was "day-to-day" with an arm injury, but played in the game.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
The Lions wanted to focus on improving their running game, which was lackluster against Syracuse; Eastern Michigan allowed 202 rushing yards on 5.8 yards per carry in week one. Defensively, linebacker depth was an issue for the Lions. Safety Stephen Obeng-Agyapong was expected to step up and take snaps at linebacker, in addition to speculation he could end up on offense. At half time, the Nittany Lions honored the 1973 Penn State Nittany Lions football team and retired the number of Penn State's only Heisman Trophy winner, number 22 John Cappelletti.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
After both teams' first drives ended without points, Eastern Michigan got good field position to start their second drive, and attempted a 35-yard field goal, but after a low snap, Penn State defender Jordan Lucas tackled the holder for a loss, and the kick never got off, for a turnover on downs. Penn State failed to capitalize, however, as Hackenberg threw another incomplete pass on third down, starting the game with one completion in five attempts.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan scored first after the ball slipped from Hackenberg's hands and was returned for a touchdown by Hunter Matt for 11 yards, giving Eastern Michigan a 7–0 advantage with 4:01 in the first quarter. Penn State responded on their next drive scoring a touchdown on a 2-yard Zach Zwinak run, capping a 6-play, 67-yard drive that included a 43-yard reception to Allen Robinson to put the ball inside the 10-yard line.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
Penn State's next drive featured a hurry up offense, which Penn State calls "NASCAR", included 15+ yard completions to Jesse James and Matt Zanellato, and culminated with two consecutive runs by Bill Belton, the latter of which went for a 5-yard touchdown making the score 14–7. Eastern Michigan's ensuing drive had some success, as they got to Penn State 25-yard line prior to kicker Dylan Mulder pushing a 42-yard field goal attempt to the right of the goal posts.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
At the end of the first half, Penn State got into field goal range with under a minute to go, and Sam Ficken converted a 39-yard field goal, his Penn State record 14th straight, to make the score 17–7 with 17 seconds in the half. Penn State got the ball to start the second half, but exchanged punts with Eastern Michigan for their first three drives, both teams punting the ball away on their first three drives.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
On their fourth drive of the half, Penn State got to the board – on a six play drive that included a 20-yard run by Zwinak on 3rd and 24 (after two sacks) and a subsequent fourth down conversion, and then culminated with a 7-yard touchdown run by Zwinak making the score 24–7. After a quick punt, Penn State began to grind it out offensively prior to Hackenberg finding Robinson for a 45-yard touchdown pass to make it 31–7.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
Later in the quarter, Belton broke loose for a 51-yard touchdown run, putting him over 100 rushing yards on the day making the score 38–7. After Eastern Michigan punted for the 10th time in the game, Penn State brought in Tyler Ferguson at quarterback to replace Hackenberg, who had already amassed 311 passing yards, a Penn State single game freshman record. On that drive, Akeel Lynch became the third Nittany Lion to rush for a touchdown, an 18-yard run with under five minutes to go. That would be the final scoring play of the game; Penn State won 45–7.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
The Penn State defense struggled with defending the bootleg play early on, but recorded a shut out (the seven points for Eastern Michigan were off an offensive fumble) and limited Eastern Michigan to 183 total yards. They were led by senior defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, who recorded nine tackles and two sacks, Glenn Carson, who recorded 10 tackles, and Nyeem Wartman, who recorded six tackles and three pass deflections. On offense, the "running back by committee" approach proved successful – the two non-starters, Belton and Lynch, each recorded 108 rushing yards.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 7 vs. Eastern Michigan
One problem offensively was third down efficiency; the Lions were just 1 of 10 on third downs, bringing them to 2 of 26 on the season. One writer called Jones the game's MVP, noting his statistics, plugging holes opened by the offensive line, and overall "dominance", noting that he "put on an absolute display".


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
This was the two teams' first meeting since 2004, and the meeting reunited O'Brien and George O'Leary, under whom O'Brien was a graduate assistant in 1995, his first season coaching. The two squads are also set to meet in Ireland to open the 2014 season. In an article in The Patriot-News, writer Bob Flounders asserted that if the Nittany Lions beat the Knights of UCF, they would be on a fast track to a 5–0 start, which would have been their first since 2008.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
As this was Penn State's first night game with a particularly young team, keeping emotions in check was a key, as was improving third down efficiency (the Lions were 2-for-26 on the season) good for dead last in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). UCF, who was 2–0 coming into the game, went 10–4 in 2012, and was led by their running back Latavius Murray, who graduated. As such, their top offensive player was quarterback Blake Bortles. Defensively, they had only allowed one scoring play all season. Penn State students organized a "whiteout", in which the entire student section dons white. Outside linebacker Mike Hull returned after missing the prior game against Eastern Michigan.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
UCF got the ball to start the game at their nine-yard line after a penalty on the kickoff return, and their junior quarterback Blake Bortles orchestrated an efficient drive in which he converted two third downs and was 6/7 passing for 65 yards and a 4-yard touchdown pass to Storm Johnson. Penn State took over and got two first downs, the latter of which as a fourth down conversion, before a 44-yard pass to Allen Robinson immediately followed by a 6-yard touchdown run by Zach Zwinak to tie the game.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
Penn State moved the ball on their next drive, but ultimately turned the ball over on downs giving UCF good field position, with which they ran a two play drive culminating with a 58-yard touchdown run by Johnson to make it 14–7 UCF. Penn State's special teams responded with a 44-yard kickoff return by Geno Lewis, but their offense went three-and-out, and though they punted the ball deep into UCF territory, the Knights marched down the field with a strong running game and scored another touchdown to go up 21–7.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
On Penn State's ensuing drive, Sam Ficken kicked a career-long 47-yard field goal. UCF got some decent yardage on their next drive, but Bortles threw his first interception since October 27, 2012 with 1:17 in the half, but they ran down the clock and Ficken missed his first field goal attempt of the season, a 57-yard try as time expired. At the half, UCF had 290 total yards including 170 rushing yards, compared to 220 total yards for Penn State with only 89 rushing yards.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
Penn State got the ball to start the second half, but punted on their first drive. UCF responded with a touchdown via a 25-yard pass. Penn State came right back with a touchdown of their own. UCF's ensuing drive brought them to the one yard line, but Penn State held them to a field goal, making the score 31–17. Zwinak rushed for his third touchdown of the game on Penn State's next drive, and Shawn Moffitt kicked his second field goal of the game.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
Penn State drove 51 yards on their next drive before Zwinak lost a fumble with 5:43 remaining in the game. UCF went three-and-out, and on their punt, the snap went over the punter's head, and Penn State got the ball at the UCF 25. Penn State took advantage, scoring on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Allen Robinson with 57 seconds left. Penn State needed to regain possession of the ball after the score, and failed to do so, so ultimately UCF held on to win by three.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
Penn State's defense had excelled in their first two games, but regressed significantly against Central Florida, particularly with poor tackling, which some attributed to their practice strategy of "thud" tackling, in which one does not actually take a player to the ground, instead making a "thud" to stop a player. Several media outlets speculated that the Lions used this due to their lack of scholarship players in the wake of sanctions imposed due to the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. Defensive coordinator John Butler renounced that assertion, commenting he employed "thud" when he coached at South Carolina.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
Penn State's linebackers were also criticized; Glenn Carson and Nyeem Wartman received criticism for not being as strong as the 2012 team's Michael Mauti and Gerald Hodges. In addition, 2012 Big Ten Freshman of the Year defensive end Deion Barnes "barely wreaked any havoc", and DaQuan Jones, whose strong play had previously compensated for Barnes' weak play, was held to just five tackles.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 14 vs. UCF
The offense, however, was considered a "bright spot"; they gained 455 total yards, though receiver Allen Robinson commented that a fast start would have helped them gain more early momentum: "We are in the Big Ten playing against some great offenses and people are going to put points up early, so we need to get going early and start off fast." Freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades for the second time in the first three weeks of the season.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Penn State came into the game 2–1, while the Kent State Golden Flashes entered 1–2, including 0–1 in conference play, though this was a non-conference matchup. Kent State was expected to be without their star offensive weapon, wide receiver and running back Dri Archer, who suffered lingering effects from an ankle injury sustained in week one. In 2012, Archer rushed for 1,429 yards and scored 16 touchdowns, led the Golden Flashes in receptions and receiving yards, and recorded three kickoff returns for touchdowns; he even received some Heisman hype (he did not win).


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Without Archer, Kent State would have to more heavily rely on their freshman quarterback Colin Reardon, who had "not exactly dazzled" in Kent State's first three games, but had yet to throw an interception. Picking up the slack in the running game was Trayvion Durham, who had a total of 152 rushing yards in their first three games.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
The game also featured two top sophomore defensive ends – NFL prospects Roosevelt Nix for Kent State and Deion Barnes for Penn State, neither of whom had gotten off to a particularly strong start to the season, but both of whom had won their conference's freshman of the year award in 2012. Penn State also looked to rebound from sloppy tackling the previous week against UCF that underscored an overall poor defensive performance.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Offensively for Penn State, a quarter of the way through the season, one ESPN writer projected Allen Robinson to win the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year award, and Christian Hackenberg to win the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award for their strong performances through the first three games. That duo along with the running back trio of Zach Zwinak, Bill Belton, and Akeel Lynch led Penn State's offense, which was coming off a performance in which they had scored 31 points, into the game.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
In heavy rain that announcer Kevin Kugler described as a "deluge", Penn State's Blue Band wore ponchos in the stands during a "blue out", to support the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. After Penn State went three-and-out to start the game, Kent State got excellent field position at the opposition's 36-yard line after Penn State committed kick catching interference on the punt, but failed to capitalize as their kicker, Anthony Melchiori, missed a 31-yard field goal.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Penn State's next drive stalled, and on fourth down, quarterback Christian Hackenberg executed a "pooch punt", in which the quarterback lines up in the shotgun formation, and punts the ball, for 44-yards pinning Kent State inside their 10-yard line. Penn State drove down the field late in the first quarter getting it to the five-yard line, when Hackenberg had the ball slip from his hand backing Penn State up to the 15-yard line, but on the subsequent play, Hackenberg completed a 15-yard pass to Bill Belton for a touchdown to culminate a 9-play, 87-yard drive encapsulating 3:39.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Kent State's offense again proved ineffective, and Penn State's proved strong, as they drove down the field on a 10-play, 82-yard drive ending with Zach Zwinak running for a 2-yard touchdown. Towards the end of the first half, the teams began to exchange punts, and the half ended with Penn State ahead 14–0. In the third quarter, Hackenberg threw an interception, but on the next drive, Kent State threw an interception and Penn State got the ball back.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Later in the quarter, Penn State ran a 51-yard drive that got them inside the ten-yard line down to the one, at which point Zwinak ran for a touchdown, his second of the game. Later in the quarter, Penn State began another drive that spilled into the fourth quarter on which Akeel Lynch was the primary running back for the Lions, running for a total of 78 yards en route to Sam Ficken booting his first field goal of the game, a 25-yarder.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Penn State embarked on a drive that milked over five-and-a-half minutes off the clock and culminated with Zwinak rushing for his third touchdown of the game, a one-yard score with 6:42 to play.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
After another lackluster drive by Kent State, they punted for the ninth time, and on Penn State's ensuing drive, Tyler Ferguson entered at quarterback, and Von Walker, a member of Penn State's "run-on" program, entered at running back, and on the drive, Ficken kicked a personal record 54-yard field goal, the longest by a Penn State player since 1979,  which was the final scoring play of the game, whose final score was 34–0.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Penn State's defense excelled, shutting out an opponent for the first time since the 2010 season, also against Kent State. The Lions held Kent State to 190 total yards – just 56 rushing yards, and allowed them to move into Penn State territory only twice out of 14 drives. In the post game media conference, Coach Bill O'Brien commended his defensive coordinator John Butler for his hard work in practice the previous week to rebound from an embarrassing performance against Central Florida.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
Defensive end Deion Barnes recorded his first sack of the season, and safety Ryan Keiser made his first career interception, while linebacker Glenn Carson led the team with seven tackles. Offensively, Penn State was led by their tandem at running back – trio Zach Zwinak, who had three touchdown rushes, excelling in the grind-it-out style of play Penn State employed in the rain, Bill Belton rushed for 90 yards on 13 carries and had a receiving touchdown, and Akeel Lynch had a "career day", rushing for 123 yards on just 14 carries.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, September 21 vs. Kent State
The passing game faltered in the rainy conditions, as Christian Hackenberg frequently forced the ball to Allen Robinson for incomplete passes – Robinson finished with 3 receptions, and Hackenberg with 22 incomplete passes and an interception. Penn State did improve on third downs, converting 7-of-18, but remained in the bottom of the FBS, 120 out of 123 teams.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #1 – September 28, 2013
After their first four non-conference games, Penn State had their first of two mid-season bye weeks, this one heading into conference play. Off the field, Penn State received relief from sanctions imposed in wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal; based on a recommendation from independent integrity monitor George Mitchell, Penn State was allowed to have five additional scholarships in 2014, and up to the full 25 by 2015, meaning they would have the full 85 by the 2016 season.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #1 – September 28, 2013
“The decision is the result of a thoughtful and deliberative process to ensure we reached the most appropriate outcome. During our discussions, we had the benefit of engaging with Senator Mitchell’s expert perspective and the views of our Big Ten colleagues.” – Rita Hartung Cheng, chair of the NCAA executive committee meetings regarding Mitchell's annual report


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #1 – September 28, 2013
The reduction of penalties led to an article in The Patriot News on whether Penn State achieved an "unequivocal" bye week victory, perhaps even their biggest victory of the season.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #1 – September 28, 2013
On the field, several keys for improvement were identified within the media, including finding a secondary receiver to Allen Robinson, strengthening the secondary, and continuing improvement on third downs. Also, Penn State's tight end tandem, which struggled during non-conference play, needed to improve, particularly as Penn State had a young quarterback in Christian Hackenberg who would face tougher defenses in conference play.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 5 vs. Indiana
In their second game away from Beaver Stadium of the season, the Nittany Lions traveled to Bloomington, Indiana for their game against the Indiana Hoosiers, their first conference opponent. This was the teams' 17th meeting, with Penn State owning a 16–0 record coming into the game. Indiana featured the Big Ten's best passing offense in 2012, led by quarterback Chase Coffman, who returned in 2013. Indiana entered the game with a record of 2–2. As they had in 2012, struggled defensively in their first four games, averaging giving up nearly 33 points per game.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 5 vs. Indiana
Their offense however, had shined thus far, and had come into their previous game, a 45–28 loss to Missouri, averaging 50 points per game, but sputtered against the Tigers. A preview on SB Nation noted that Indiana's pass first offense might "cause problems" for Penn State, though it expressed some optimism, as Mike Hull finally returned and Adrian Amos moved from safety to cornerback.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 5 vs. Indiana
Offensively for Penn State, balancing the running game with the passing game was a key – in the previous season's game against Indiana, Penn Statewide receiver Allen Robinson caught 10 passes for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns – as this was expected to be a developmental game for freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg. There was no conclusive advantage on special teams.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 5 vs. Indiana
Penn State got the ball to start the game, and drove down the field with relative ease (facing only one third down) prior to stalling at their 26-yard line and turning the ball over on downs. After an Indiana three and out, Penn State ran another drive at the end of which they turned over on downs. Each team ran one more drive before Indiana attained first downs on three consecutive plays, ultimately culminating their possession with a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nate Sudfeld to Isaiah Roundtree, making the score 7–0 at the end of the first quarter.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 5 vs. Indiana
Penn State responded on their second drive of the second quarter via a 46-yard pass from Hackenberg to Robinson to tie the game. Later, Mitch Ewald kicked a short field goal to re-take the lead. Penn State had a chance to tie the game again when kicker Sam Ficken attempted a 42-yard field goal, but Indiana blocked the kick, and with their ensuing momentum drove down the field at the end of the half, ultimately ending with Ewald hitting a field goal as time expired.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 5 vs. Indiana
After halftime, Indiana ran a quick drive on which they punted before Penn State ran a 13-play, 80-yard drive that concluded with Robinson catching his second touchdown of the game, a 26-yard pass from Hackenberg. Indiana responded with a quick score; they converted a two-point conversion to take a 21–14 lead. Late in the third quarter, Hackenberg threw a fade pattern to Robinson in the corner of the end zone, which Robinson corralled, but he landed on his back out of bounds, and came up either with the wind knocked out, or some sort of back injury. Penn State settled for a field goal, and at the end of three, Indiana led 21–17. The fourth quarter entrenched the Hoosiers' lead, as they totaled 23 points to only 7 for Penn State, winning the game 44–24, their final score coming on a safety.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 5 vs. Indiana
Dubbed the "low point ... of the Bill O'Brien era" and Penn State's first ever loss to the Hoosiers, lack of execution was a primary problem for the Nittany Lions; Penn State was just one-of-five on fourth down conversion attempts, a few of which they attempted while in Sam Ficken's field goal range, and on two field goal attempts, there were two botched snaps, the first of which led to a blocked kick, the latter getting past the holder and rolling 31 yards by the time Ficken fell on the ball for a turnover on downs. O'Brien also conceded that poor coaching did not help the Lions, and that he tried to "manufacture" momentum at several points in the game: "We coached very average today." − Bill O'Brien


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
In the teams' first meeting since the 2010 season, the Nittany Lions looked to achieve their fourth consecutive win in the series, however even a hometown paper, the York Daily Record, predicted the Lions would lose, albeit in a close game, citing Michigan's superiority on both offense and defense, as well as coaching, compared to Penn State's superiority on special teams and intangibles.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
"Coming off a loss like (Indiana) is just going to motivate us harder. I see more focus in our team after losses ... gets us to work harder in practice, in the film room in order to get a win because we're hungry. We're just more determined – we're hungry for a win. We really want it. We really need it. ... The best way to get over that loss, that feeling of a loss, is to win a game. So we're really searching for this one."


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Glenn Carson, Penn State senior middle linebacker, October 11, 2013


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Penn State's edition of SB Nation also predicted the Lions would lose citing the Wolverines' better athletes, but noted that Michigan's quarterback Devin Gardner has thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns (8) coming into the game, and that Penn State's best chance to win would be if Michigan turned the ball over frequently.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Coming off an embarrassing loss against Indiana, Penn State's coach Bill O'Brien was "focused" all week and refused to talk to the media about the prior week's loss, focusing strictly on the Michigan game, which was Homecoming for Penn State, was expected to be the first sellout of the season, and featured a whiteout, led by the student section. O'Brien noted, "it would be crazy to think this is just another game". The game was Penn State's second national broadcast of the year, with Penn State alumnus Matt Millen providing color commentary on Penn State's homecoming weekend.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Michigan, coming off a 42–13 victory over Minnesota, entered the game with a win-loss record of 5–0, one of two remaining undefeated teams in the Big Ten (the other was Ohio State, who was 6–0, and whom the Lions are scheduled to play on October 26).


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Michigan's defense, led by their star cornerback Blake Countless, who was tied for the NCAA lead with four interceptions entering the game, had yet to allow a rushing touchdown, and was expected to receive a boost from the return of their 2012 All-Big Ten linebacker Jake Ryan, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) the prior season. As such, a key for Penn State was to match Michigan's physicality in strong offensive line play and establish the line of scrimmage, both on offense and defense, as the game would be won in the trenches. The game was described as a "critical juncture". Before the game, Penn State realized that, due to a Ticketmaster glitch, it had oversold student section tickets, and was forced to offer several alternate packages in order not to have to boot students.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
With a Goodyear blimp overhead, Michigan got the ball to start the game, and on their first play from scrimmage, they lost three yards when DaQuan Jones made a tackle for a loss stopping Fitzgerald Toussaint; the loss decimated the drive, which ended in a three-and-out. Penn State's drive was no more successful – after one first down, Christian Hackenberg threw an interception. On Michigan's ensuing drive, however, they were set up on another third down and long, and Penn State's Jordan Lucas picked off Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner's pass, setting Penn State up in the red zone.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Penn State capitalized, as Hackenberg threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Brandon Felder. Michigan struck right back, getting two first downs in the running game prior to Gardner throwing a 59-yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess to tie the game. Penn State did not get a first down on their next drive and tried to convert fourth down deep in their own territory, but failed, setting Michigan up with excellent field position.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Penn State's defense, however, responded, with Glenn Carson sacking Gardner to put Michigan out of field goal range, forcing a punt that Michigan downed around the five yard line. On Michigan's next drive, their kicker Brendan Gibbons made a 47-yard field goal. After Penn State again punted, Michigan embarked on a drive that included a third-and-long conversion, but ultimately ended when Gardner threw an interception to Penn State defensive end Anthony Zettel, who started over Deion Barnes.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
It took Penn State only one play to capitalize; Hackenberg threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jesse James to put Penn State back up 14–10. Penn State struck again later in the quarter, again via a touchdown pass from Hackenberg to Felder. Late in the first half, Penn State defensive end C. J. Olaniyan sacked Gardner for the second time, forcing a fumble, which Penn State recovered, but their drive stalled, and they punted. Penn State held a 21–10 advantage at halftime.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
On Penn State's first play from scrimmage in the second half, Zach Zwinak fumbled, and it was returned for a touchdown by Frank Clark to pull within four points. After another Penn State drive stalled, Michigan drove down the field, and was faced with a third-and-short before a freshman offensive lineman committed a dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to back up Michigan to face a third and long; on that play Olaniyan recorded his third sack of the day, and Michigan punted.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
On Penn State's ensuing drive, they turned the ball over again, this time via a Hackenberg interception; Michigan capitalized by kicking a field goal. When Penn State got the ball back, they ran a sustained, balanced drive (4 run plays, 5 pass plays, 50 yards) down the field during which they went to Bill Belton in the running game (as Zwinak had fumbled previously in the half) that culminated with Sam Ficken kicking a 45-yard field goal to go up by 4 points.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Michigan promptly drove right back down the field, and Gardner threw a touchdown pass to Jeremy Gallon to take the lead for the second time, 27–24. In the fourth quarter, Ficken attempted a 47-yard field goal, but missed, and Penn State's 10-play 45-yard drive came up empty. Michigan took advantage of their ensuing field position and ran a quick drive that ended with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Gardner to Funchess, putting them on top by 10 with 10:28 to go.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
On Penn State's ensuing drive, they converted a fourth down and one near midfield prior to a penalty and then a sack setting up a third and long on which Hackenberg threw an incomplete pass, so they were forced to settle with pulling within 7; Sam Ficken kicked a 43-yard field goal. Michigan tried to run out the clock on their next drive, and Penn State burned all three of their timeouts.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Though they were at one point within field goal range, they committed a five-yard delay of game penalty that pushed them out of range, and they had to punt. Penn State got the ball with 50 seconds left and no timeouts at their own 20-yard line. Needing a touchdown to tie the game, Penn State's first play of scrimmage was a pass from Hackenberg to Robinson along the sideline that was ruled incomplete on the field, but was reviewed and overturned and counted as a 14-yard gain.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
The next play was an acrobatic catch by Felder for 29 yards, and then a pass down the sideline to Robinson for 36 yards to put the ball inside the one yard line with 29 seconds remaining. Michigan then called their final timeout. Hackenberg then attempted a quarterback sneak over the right side for a touchdown; the play was reviewed and the call was confirmed, and Ficken made the extra point to tie the game with 27 seconds left. Michigan took the ball at their own 35, drove it to the other 35, and lined Gibbons up to attempt a 52-yard field goal, which he missed short. Penn State got the ball with two seconds left, but downed the ball to send the game into overtime.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Penn State got the ball to start overtime, but went three-and-out and Ficken missed a field goal. Michigan used their entire possession to try to center the ball for Gibbons, and then they attempted a field goal, but it was blocked, to send the game into a second overtime. Michigan got the ball to start the second overtime, achieved one first down, and Gibbons redeemed himself, kicking a 25-yard field goal. Ficken responded, tacking on a 36-yard field goal to tie the game at 37, headed into a third overtime.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Penn State got the ball to start the third overtime, but on their first play, an end-around to Robinson that he fumbled and was recovered by Clark to set up Michigan with a chance to win the game with any score. Gibbons had an opportunity to win the game, but missed wide, and sent the game into a fourth overtime. Michigan got the ball to start the fourth overtime, and stalled, leaving Gibbons to attempt a 40-yard field goal, which he made to put the Wolverines on top 40–37.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Penn State then needed a field goal to tie, or a touchdown to win. Faced with a fourth down and one, O'Brien sent his team out on the field to go for it, and they converted via a two-yard run by Belton. Three plays later, Hackenberg threw an incomplete pass intended for Robinson in the end zone, but officials called pass interference on the play, which occurred in the end zone, resulting in the ball being placed at the two yard line. On Penn State's next play, Hackenberg handed the ball off to Belton, who ran it in for a two-yard touchdown, winning the game for Penn State.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
The four-overtime game was the longest in Big Ten Conference history. For their performance in the game, Athlon Sports named Hackenberg as both its Big Ten and National Freshman of the Week, and Olaniyan as its Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Hackenberg threw for over 300 yards for the third time, already moving him into a tie for third-most all time in Penn State history, tied with Daryll Clark, and behind Matt McGloin and Kerry Collins; it was the third time he had been named freshman of the week.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 12 vs. Michigan
Olaniyan recorded 2.5 sacks and forced a fumble (that was recovered by DaQuan Jones), and this was his first career Big Ten Player of the Week accolade. ESPN named the game the best of the season's first half, and Robinson's catch late in regulation was named the number-one play on Sports Center's Top Ten.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #2 – October 19, 2013
After Penn State's quadruple overtime win against Michigan, they tried to get healthy, with veterans being held out of a scrimmage that occurred during the week of practice, instead working on conditioning. One ESPN writer opined that defensive coordinator John Butler needed to emphasize reworking the secondary, similar to how he had focused on reworking the defensive line, which was successful during the prior week's game.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #2 – October 19, 2013
Also, Penn State needed to find additional "playmakers" to supplement Allen Robinson in the receiving game, as well as determine who would lead the running game, as Zach Zwinak had fumbled against Michigan and was taken out, and Bill Belton took over and performed well. Halfway through the season, ESPN.com rated Robinson as the team's offensive MVP, and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones as the team's defensive MVP. The midseason report noted that Penn State had a grueling schedule in the second half of the season that would test the depth of its defense, limited by lack of scholarship players.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #2 – October 19, 2013
Lancaster Newspapers concurred with ESPN, awarding their first half offensive and defensive MVPs to Robinson and Jones respectively as well, adding Sam Ficken as special teams MVP. The column also called sophomore defensive end Deion Barnes the biggest disappointment of the first half, noting that he had even been relegated out of the starting lineup.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, Bye week #2 – October 19, 2013
Quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who had started the first six games and had a "halftime" in the bye week, as there were still six games to play, viewed the bye week as a bonus: "We have a couple more days to prepare, get a good game plan and get ready to go to a hostile environment and play a really good football team. I think it's more of a bonus for us." Coach Bill O'Brien concurred, asserting that Penn State's win against Michigan gave Hackenberg confidence and development.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 26 vs. Ohio State
In Penn State's second nationally televised, prime time game, which was to be called by Nittany Lion alumnus Todd Blackledge, the Lions entered the game underdogs, even according to their local media. The opening line put Ohio State 14.5 point favorites. Pre -game buildup focused on Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller, for whom there "is no good way to stop", and who Bill O'Brien called one of the top five players in the country.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 26 vs. Ohio State
In tandem with star running back Carlos Hyde, Ohio State was expected to score a lot of points, even against Penn State's improved defense; a preview from York Daily Record writer Frank Bodani gave Ohio State the edge on offense, citing the tandem of Miller and Hyde, defense, citing playmaking game-changers Noah Spence and Ryan Shazier, who play defensive end and linebacker respectively, special teams, noting their punt blocking ability and return game, coaching, noting that Ohio State had not yet lost under Urban Meyer, and intangibles, citing the sold-out crowd in prime time.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 26 vs. Ohio State
Keys to the game for Penn State were to contain Miller, not get beaten over-the-top in coverage, and running the ball, so as to avoid becoming one-dimensional offensively. Ohio State needed to contain Penn State receiver Allen Robinson with their star cornerback Bradley Roby, "ride Hyde" (run the ball with Carlos Hyde), and get pressure on freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg. Penn State made a few changes on their depth chart for the game, including placing Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak on the first team separated with an "OR". Also, Deion Barnes and Anthony Zettel were listed with an OR between their names; Zettel started the previous week against Michigan.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 26 vs. Ohio State
Ohio State got the ball to start the game, and promptly drove down the field on a 7-play, 75-yard drive culminating with a touchdown run by Carlos Hyde. Penn State responded with a solid drive of their own, running 12 plays and getting to the 12-yard line before Christian Hackenberg threw an interception in the end zone. The two teams exchanged punts, and then Ohio State scored, this time via a 39-yard run from their quarterback Braxton Miller. Hackenberg threw another interception late in the quarter, and Ohio State, early in the second quarter, capitalized with another touchdown.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 26 vs. Ohio State
After scoring again, Penn State scored points for their first time to make the score 28–7, off a 12-yard touchdown reception by Brandon Felder. Ohio State scored twice more, and the halftime score was a 42–7 Ohio State advantage. After exchanging punts to start the second half, Zach Zwinak lost a fumble in Penn State territory for the second consecutive week, and for the second consecutive week, he did not carry the ball after it. It took Ohio State only two plays to take advantage, scoring a touchdown on a Miller pass to Dontre Wilson.


2013 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Game summaries, October 26 vs. Ohio State
On Penn State's next drive, Tyler Ferguson replaced Hackenberg at quarterback due to an injury he sustained earlier in the game, Ferguson was no more effective, as Penn State ultimately punted. Ohio State scored once more in the third quarter, and they led 56–7 headed into the fourth quarter. After another touchdown for Ohio State, Ferguson threw a touchdown pass to Allen Robinson in which Robinson caught the screen pass behind the line of scrimmage, "runs around, weaving thru traffic from one sideline to the other, and finishes in the end zone for a touchdown". That would be the final scoring play of the game, which ended 63–14.