10/22/2022 football Edit

Takeaways from Penn State's rout 45-17 of Minnesota

Dylan Callaghan-Croley • Happy Valley Insider

Editor

One week after being embarrassed in ann Arbor by the Michigan Wolverines, the Penn State Nittany Lions bounced back with one of their most complete games of the season on Saturday evening against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Behind a fantastic day from Sean Clifford and a strong bounce-back effort from the defense, the Nittany Lions routed

the Golden Gophers 45-17. Here are our takeaways from the game.

1. A slow start for the offense but they get it going

Early on, it looked like Penn State's offense was going to be in for another long day, their first three drives resulted in two three-and-outs as well as a poor Sean Clifford interception. Their final drive of the first quarter, however, is when everything started clicking for the Nittany Lions.

From that point on, the Nittany Lions would score on seven of their last ten drives which includes their 32-second drive right before halftime. The Nittany Lions got on the board early in the second quarter thanks to a Jake Pinegar 41-yard field goal and would roll from there.

That momentum and success would carry over to their next two drives as well, going 76 yards on seven plays and 86 yards on eight plays to take a then 17-3 lead. After posting just 66 yards of offense in the first quarter, a majority of that coming on that final first-quarter drive, the Nittany Lions would have 186 total yards in the second quarter.

Parker Washington would open the scoring in the third quarter on a fantastic effort before Nick Singleton (twice) and Mitchell Tinsley both added touchdowns of their own.

Overall, Penn State's offense totaled 479 yards of total offense in the game including 175 rushing yards.

2. Sean Clifford's big day in his final White Out

Outside his lone interception, Sean Clifford had one of the best games of his career in his final White Out game.

The sixth-year quarterback went 23-for-31 in the game for 295 yards and four touchdowns. From the end of the second quarter through the end of the third quarter, Clifford was magnificent, completing 11 of his last 13 attempts for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

He completed 14-of-21 passing attempts for 195 yards and two touchdowns. The sixth-year senior started off completing seven of his first eight passes, albeit five of those were for six yards or less. After throwing three straight incompletions including the interception, he would finish off the first half going seven for his last ten.

While Clifford's career has been defined by his ups and downs, his final performance White Out performance was one to hang his hats on.

3. Penn State's run defense bounced back strong

The big question coming into this week was if Penn State could slow down the Minnesota rushing attack. The answer was a resounding yes. While the Gophers totaled 165 rushing yards in the game, they averaged just 3.6 yards per carry for the game. Gophers star running back Mohamed Ibrahim was silent for most of the night as the Nittany Lions allowed him to total just 102 yards on 30 carries for an average of 3.4 yards per carry.

The Nittany Lions slowing down Minnesota's run game was one of the biggest keys to success in this one and they did a strong job of doing that.

Quick hits:

- Curtis Jacobs had a tough game against Michigan but bounced back with one of his better games as a Nittany Lion. He totaled 14 tackles including two tackles for a loss.

- After mostly not being used in the last three games, Penn State's tight end room was a major part of their success in the first half. Theo Johnson had three receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown while Tyler Warren had a 38-yard touchdown reception of his own.

- Abdul Carter got his first career start for the Nittany Lions on Saturday night and looked strong doing so. He finished with

- Parker Washington's touchdown reception early in the third quarter was one of the better catches we've seen out of a Nittany Lion in a while. Also thought it was a funny coincidence that ESPN had just shown Allen Robinson's legendary catch in 2013 just seconds before. While not along the sideline, the two plays were pretty similar.

- The Ji'Ayir Brown interception early in the third quarter was a big one despite it being a two-score game. Minnesota was driving and was very much taking back the momentum Penn State had just received off the Parker Washington touchdown. That interception took away any sort of momentum that the Gophers were building.

- Nick Singleton had himself a nice day with his pair of touchdowns with 13 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns. It was a tough last few games for the talented true freshman but like the entire team, he had a strong bounce-back performance.