41 Thoughts on Penn State’s dominant win over Auburn
It’s time for one of my favorite pieces of every week, my quick thoughts on a wide variety of topics regarding Penn State’s most recent game. This week, I give 41 thoughts on Penn State’s 41-12 win over Auburn…
1. While I thought there was a possibility Penn State could win by double-digits thanks to a late touchdown, in no way did I sense what we saw on Saturday was coming. I think the Nittany Lions are a pretty good team overall but I also think that Auburn team has little faith in Bryan Harsin. Saturday’s loss marked the official beginning of the end for Harsin.
2. Credit is due for both Mike Yurcich and Manny Diaz, I thought both called fantastic games against Auburn and stuck to their gameplans. The Nittany Lions looked to establish the run early offensively and were able to do so while the defense looked to get
3. Sean Clifford didn't need to be spectacular on Saturday afternoon but when he was called upon to move the ball through the air, he did just that in an efficient manner. He completed 14-of-19 passing attempts for 178-yards. He also had six carries for 15 yards and one touchdown.
4. The hit that Sean Clifford took on the Nittany Lions' first drive on Saturday looked vicious in person. That's one of the biggest hits I can remember involving Penn State in recent memory.
5. Let's quickly discuss the 4th and 1 on that first drive - I like the aggressiveness there from Mike Yurcich but didn't agree with the call itself on top of the fact that your quarterback just got sent into orbit. Perhaps not the decision considering everything.
6. Just to complete talking about the quarterbacks - while it was only a few snaps, getting Drew Allar and Christian Veilleux snaps in this game was huge for Penn State. I did, not, however, expect either to get snaps because Penn State was boat racing Auburn. Getting snaps this many snaps in the first three weeks is going to pay off big time for both quarterbacks but especially Allar later this season and in the future.
7. Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen are going to be a special 1-2 punch at running back for the next three years for Penn State. Singleton's elite speed and explosiveness are unmatched while Allen's vision and ability to bounce off the defenders are special in his own right.
8. What Singleton did against Ohio in week two was one thing, but to go into Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday afternoon felt like Singleton's national breakout moment. After Saturday, everyone in the country should know Nick Singleton's name.
9. Keyvone Lee had four carries on Saturday just one week after having one carry against Ohio. He did leave the game for a little with a knee injury but later returned. Lee should continue to get a handful of Carrie’s a week but barring injuries his time as Penn State’s feature back are done. Devyn Ford had seven carries himself for a quality 37 yards.
10. To the tight ends and wide receivers - let's start with Brenton Strange. This was a big season for him entering the year and he's off to a great start. Against Auburn, he played arguably the best football of his career. Six receptions for 80 yards including a 24-yard reception. He also was strong in his run blocking which we always haven't seen out of him in his career.
11. Mitchell Tinsley's 34-yard reception in the first quarter is a big reason Penn State brought him into the program. He's a tremendous route runner and has elite ball-tracking skills, allowing him to make that over-the-shoulder catch along the sideline. That was also one of the best throws of Sean Clifford's career.
12. Parker Washington didn't have the loudest of days but had a nice day with four receptions for 58-yards. Penn State hasn't needed Washington to be a consistent big-play threat this season, yet. We'll see how he steps up when his number is called in those situations.
13. KeAndre Lambert-Smith may only have had two receptions for 16 yards but his biggest play of the game came on a trick play as part of a double-pass with the ball going from Clifford to Lambert-Smith back to Clifford. The play would go for 22-yards, it was the first reception of Sean Clifford's career. Loved the creativity and spot that Mike Yurcich decided to use that play call.
14. Penn State's offensive line had their best performance of the season against Auburn, not allowing Sean Clifford to be sacked for a second-straight season. The Nittany Lions' offensive line allowed five pressures on their 23 passing attempts.
15. Theo Johnson did return against Auburn for his first snaps of the season, he had 25 snaps in the game but did not record a reception. Tyler Warren actually ended up with more playing time with 31 snaps while Khalil Dinkins had three.
16. Landon Tengwall and Juice Scruggs were Penn State's top two pass blockers yesterday while Olu Fashanu and Sal Wormley both had quality performances themselves according to PFF.
17. The run blocking wasn't always consistent against Auburn but when Nick Singleton and kaytron Allen are in the backfield, the offensive line doesn't have to be perfect. If you give them the slightest of openings they have the vision and burst to take advantage of them.
18. Penn State struggled in weeks one and two on third and fourth down. Against Auburn, the Nittany Lions were 5-for-11 on third down while on 4th down they were 0-for-1. A considerable improvement, they’ll need to be consistent in that area going forward.
19. The only factor you can really ding Penn State's offense for in this game was getting just 10 points off the defense’s four turnovers. Need to convert a bit more on those opportunities.
20. You never know what Penn State is going to get out of Jake Pinegar but his 48-yard field goal in the second half was impressive and one that perhaps he could use as a confidence and momentum builder going forward.
21. Dominance - is the only way to describe Penn State's defensive effort on Saturday. Yes, they gave 415 yards but when they had to the Nittany Lions' defense was able to bunker down. Auburn reached the red zone four times in this game but walked away with just 12-points.
22. That being said, Auburn early in the game converted on a few 3rd & longs both on the ground and through the air. Penn State is a bit lucky that Auburn wasn't able to take advantage of those picks up but there's of course always a lot of "if and but" in every game. End of the day, Penn State's defense when it mattered played lights out.
23. Nick Singleton had a national breakout game but so did freshman linebacker Abdul Carter. He racked up six tackles in the game, tied for the team lead to go along with a sack, a tackle for a loss, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble.
24. Ji'Ayir Brown had a bit of a sluggish start the first two weeks of the season but had one of the best games of his career against the Tigers. Five tackles, one sack, one tackle for a loss, one interception, one quarterback hit, and one forced fumble.
25. When it comes to the defensive line, I expected Penn State to have some success, I did not expect them to have as much success as they did. According to Pro Football Focus, on Auburn's 38 passing attempts, the Nittany Lions totaled 36 pressures on the Tigers quarterbacks.
26. Adisa Isaac is starting round back into form it appears, he was terrorizing Auburn all day with five pressures including three quarterback hits and one sack. Chop Robinson continued his domination from the first two weeks of the season with five pressures, three quarterback hurries, and one sack.
27. While Chop Robinson was a nice transfer portal addition this year for Penn State, Jordan van den Berg, a JUCO signee in Penn State's 2021 recruiting class had a great performance in his own right. He had four total pressures in the game including three hurries. The South Africa native has been a sneaky good pickup for the Nittany Lions.
28. Talking about all these quarterback pressures and sacks, I thought Manny Diaz's creativity in the game when it came to bringing pressures was really strong.
29. You could truly go up and down Penn State's defense on Saturday and talk about a lot of players who had good performances. It was truly a full team effort.
30. While the Nittany Lions' ferocious pass rush was one of the game's biggest storylines, their ability to shut down the Tigers' rush offense was eye-opening. Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter are a great running back duo and Penn State never really allowed them to get anything going consistently on the ground.
31. Bigsby had just nine carries for 39 yards. Hunter, five carries for 16 yards. The defense did vacate the middle of the field a few times which allowed TJ Finley and Robbie Ashford to break off some big runs, they'll have to clean that up.
32. The defense in the first two weeks of the season struggled to force turnovers, that was obviously not the case on Saturday. Manny Diaz preached about creating chaos and turnovers throughout the preseason and Penn State surely did that against Auburn. 11 tackles for a loss, six sacks, and four forced turnovers.
33. Probably should briefly talk about the secondary, Auburn was able to have a bit of success through the air with 296 passing yards but it wasn't in an efficient manner, that's for sure.
34. Jaylen Reed deserves a lot of credit for forcing TJ Finley's first interception of the game as Reed hit Finley from behind forcing a lame pass that Zakee Wheatley made a diving catch to bring in for an interception.
35. Daequan Hardy was targeted twice in the first half of the game and gave up big receptions on both though the one reception he had no chance of breaking up, it was just a spectacular effort by Auburn WR Shedrick Jackson.
36. Marquis Wilson was strong in coverage and had a good game overall as well. He allowed two receptions for 20-yards but also had six tackles including one tackle for a loss.
37. Auburn had no interest in throwing the way of Joey Porter Jr, he was targeted just once in the game.
38. Going back to the linebacker room quickly, Tyler Elsdon deserves credit for a strong performance. He was one of Penn State's highest-graded defenders and was strong in pass coverage.
39. We didn't see much of Barney Amour against Auburn as he just had three punts but all three were solid with two pinning the Tigers inside their own 20-yard line.
40. Overall, Penn State's win over Auburn on Saturday was one of the more thorough wins of the James Franklin era. To be able to go into a hostile environment as they did and never allow the crowd to become a big part of the game was highly impressive. This Auburn team is likely going to finish with a losing record but at the end of the day, no road win in college football is easy, especially going to a place like Jordan-Hare Stadium.
41. I'll be interested to see how Penn State comes out next week against Central Michigan. Will there be a slow start after their big road win over Auburn?
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel