Game Recap: Penn State wins thriller over Auburn, 28-20

Penn State pulled out all the stops in its White Out matchup against Auburn on Saturday night. The Nittany Lions tried a reverse on their opening play, an option pass, two direct snaps to a tight end and another to a defensive tackle.

Some of those plays worked, some didn’t. But ultimately, what made the difference for the Lions were the last two stops they pulled out. They got a couple of defensive stands late in the fourth quarter to secure a 28-20 victory over the Tigers in a much-hyped Big Ten-SEC battle.

The Lions made an eight-point lead hold up, first stopping Auburn 2 yards from their goal line on a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone, then forcing an errant throw on the final play of the game with the Tigers having reached the 26-yard line.

“I thought we played really good complementary football,” head coach James Franklin said. “The offense scored enough points to win and created some explosive plays. I think we can be a little more efficient in the running game, but I thought we protected well, and I thought Sean [Clifford] managed the game really well.

“Defensively, we’re bend-but-don’t-break. For the most part, we keep people out of the end zone. And we make big-time plays at critical moments.”

The 10th-ranked Nittany Lions improved to 3-0 heading into the final nonconference game of the season next Saturday against Villanova. Here’s a look at the good and the bad.

• Was this the best game of Clifford’s career? It would be hard to dispute that contention based on the numbers or just on the determination he showed in shrugging off several hard hits by Auburn’s formidable SEC-bred defensive front. Clifford completed 28 of 32 passes for 280 yards, with touchdown passes to senior receiver Jahan Dotson and sophomore tight end Brenton Strange.

One of those hard hits came on a deep throw late in the second quarter, and Clifford seemed to be in considerable pain as he headed to the locker room at halftime, but he was even more accurate in the second half than he was in the first.

“He managed the game really well,” Franklin said. “He’s taken some criticism, so I’m super happy for him. He’s a tough-minded guy. He’s physically tough. He made the plays that he should have made tonight, and I also thought he made a couple of [additional] plays. … I’m really proud of him.”

• Echoing his performance against Ohio State last year, Dotson enjoyed another star turn on a prime-time stage. He had a 4-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring for Penn State, made a ridiculous one-handed grab in the second quarter and finished the game with 10 catches for 78 yards. Dotson even had a 22-yard pass completion to redshirt freshman tight end Tyler Warren to set up a touchdown.

• After combining to make three catches for 39 yards in Penn State’s first two games, the tight ends had a big night against Auburn. Sophomores Brenton Strange and Theo Johnson combined with Warren to make six catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.

In addition, Warren, a former high school quarterback, scored on a direct snap early in the third quarter.

“I don’t want to it be one week on, one week off,” Franklin said. “I think we’ve got a really talented tight end room, and we want to keep them involved.”

• Penn State got its first look at running back John Lovett, and the senior transfer from Baylor looked like the kind of player who will make an impact down the road. He only had two carries for 9 yards, but he added an 18-yard catch to lift the offense.

• Senior Jordan Stout averaged 50.0 yards on his four punts. In one of the game’s key moments, punting from deep in Penn State territory in the final minute, he had a 49-yarder that was fair caught by Demetris Robertson. A shanked kick would have been disastrous in that situation, but Stout got it off beautifully, forcing Auburn to start at its own 38-yard line with 38 seconds left.

• Penn State’s offense struggled in key short-yardage situations, including two failures to convert on fourth down and a 5-yard loss by Dotson on third-and-1 with the Lions trying to protect their lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Penn State didn’t find much running room between the tackles no matter what the down-and-distance situation. Seven PSU ball carriers averaged just 2.5 yards per carry. The three running backs – junior Noah Cain, sophomore Keyvone Lee and Lovett – combined to average 3.0 yards.

• For the first time this season, the Lions didn’t win the turnover battle. The play that could have ended up haunting them came late in the second quarter when junior linebacker Brandon Smith juggled, then dropped a potential interception after stepping in front of an ill-advised Bo Nix pass.

That said, the Lions didn’t lose the turnover battle either. Each team had one takeaway, and Auburn’s interception late in the first half didn’t put Penn State’s defense in a difficult spot.

• One second-quarter Penn State drive was wrecked by a bizarre intentional grounding call on what was clearly an instance of miscommunication on a downfield shot rather than an attempt to avoid a loss. Adding to the weirdness, Penn State was then robbed of a play in that possession by the officiating crew when the officials lost track of the downs.

Franklin declined comment when asked about the sequence by ABC’s Holly Rowe as he came off the field at halftime.

The Nittany Lions will conclude their nonconference season next Saturday when they host unbeaten Villanova of the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Wildcats are coming off a come-from-behind 34-27 victory over visiting Richmond in their league opener. It was a game of wild momentum swings, with the hosts scoring the first 13 points of the game, then allowing the Spiders to score 24 points in the third quarter alone. Villanova trailed 27-13 early in the fourth quarter before scoring three touchdowns in the final five minutes to clinch the victory.

Villanova is led by senior quarterback Daniel Smith, who has completed 64.3 percent of his attempts through three games for 598 yards, with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Senior running back Justin Covington has totaled 307 yards and two touchdowns and is averaging 7.0 yards per carry, while junior wideouts Jaaron Hayek and Rayjoun Pringle have combined for 346 yards and six of Villanova’s nine touchdown catches.

Villanova hasn’t played Penn State since 1951 and hasn’t played atPenn State since 1949. The Wildcats won both of those games, but, as evidenced by the scene at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night, a lot has changed since then.

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