Five Nittany Lions who impressed against Auburn
During James Franklin’s tenure in Happy Valley there’s been few wins that were as thorough as the Nittany Lions 41-12 beat down of Auburn on Saturday.
James Franklin and his program rolled into The Plains and used a huge second half effort to embarrass the Tigers en route to a 41-12 victory. The Nittany Lions never allowed the sold out Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd to get into the game, making a rather loud venue seem pedestrian.
There’s no doubt about it, the win was a true complete team effort. You can look up and down the box score and there would be a large group of players who played smart, rather mistake free football for quarters. That being said, we’ve singled out five Nittany Lions who made a big impact in Saturday’s 41-12 win.
1. RB Nick Singleton
Singleton had his college welcoming party against Ohio last week and then had his national breakout party against Auburn. The former four-star running back out of Shillington (PA) was a threat for a touchdown every time he touched the ball against the Tigers.
After his 10 carries for 179 yards and two touchdowns against the Bobcats, Singleton torched the Tigers defense to the tune of 124 yards and two scores on just another 10 rushing attempts. The stage didn’t seem to big for Singleton nor did the “SEC speed” that Auburn has on the defensive side of the ball. Anytime Penn State’s offense gives Singleton a hole, he has an opportunity to score.
The Nittany Lions offense hasn’t had this type of dynamic running back since Saquon Barkley, no disrespect to Journey Brown or Miles Sanders. Singleton is simply a game changer that only comes around seemingly once in a generation for most programs.
Through his first three college games, Singleton has 30 carries for 334-yards and four touchdowns. If you’re wondering that’s a 1,336 yard and 16 touchdown pace.
2. The entire Penn State offensive line
Kind of a cheating here since this is a position group but they deserve a lot of credit for their performance. Penn State’s offensive line was a huge question mark entering the season and the first two weeks of the season did little to inspire any confidence. Saturday’s performance against Auburn should do quite a bit to change that.
The Nittany Lions pass protection was strong throughout their 41-12 win, not allowing Sean Clifford to be sacked at all in the game. Against Auburn’s run defense, the Nittany Lions offensive line wasn’t perfect but consistently opened up big enough holes that allowed Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to both have a great deal of success.
There’s still things to clean up and the right tackle spot remains an area of concern but overall it was a strong performance from Phil Trautwein’s group.
3. LB Abdul Carter
Cater was pegged as a player who could make an immediate impact for Penn State this season and Saturday was his coming out party on a national stage. The freshman linebacker played fast and ferociously, consistently finding himself around the ball.
Manny Diaz was creative in his usage of Cater which included him rushing the passer several times, picking up a sack and batting down a pass in the process. For a true freshman, Carter plays with an extremely high Iq and is able to read and react like a third-year starter. You simply don’t see many freshmen linebacker play with the speed thst we’ve seen out of the Philadelphia (PA) native the last two weeks.
He could begin to push for starting time and with two easier matchups on paper against Central Michigan and Northwestern coming up, it could be the perfect time to ease Carter into a starting role.
4. DE Adisa Isaac
Coming back from an Achilles injury is never easy but for pass rushers it can be especially tough. Over the first two games of the season. Isaac showed flashes but was still working back into form.
After Saturday, there’s no doubt he’s back to form or at least close to. The redshirt junior was consistently in the Tigers backfield throughout the game and appeared to have no troubles with quickly changing direction and finishing off huge plays whether it was for a sack or a tackle for a loss.
If this is what Penn State can expect out of Isaac on a week in and week out basis, the Nittany Lions ceiling on defense is much higher. The combination of Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac is one that will surely keep offensive coordinators up at night.
5. S Ji’Ayir Brown
It wasn’t the best of starts to the season for Brown, his first two games against Purdue and Ohio weren’t necessarily poor but were not up to expectations either. However, as he often does, he stepped when the stage was big.
Brown was everywhere for Penn State’s defense on Saturday and he did a little bit of everything. He was strong against the run, fantastic in his pass coverage, and showed off his pass rushing abilities. His final stat line was an impressive five tackles, one sack, one interception, and one forced fumble.
A leader of the Nittany Lions defense, Brown put together one of the more complete games of his career. Penn State will need him to have similar performances as the season goes on if they hope to continue their winning ways.
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