Third Quarter Dooms Penn State in Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas
TAMPA, FL - Despite holding a 10-7 advantage at halftime, the Penn State Nittany Lions were shutout in the second half and fell 24-10 to the Arkansas Razorbacks in front of 46,577 at the 2022 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.
“I thought our guys played extremely hard, but not well enough to win,” head coach James Franklin said. “We had a couple big plays in the first half and we didn’t make those plays in the second half.”
Penn State (7-6) opened the game with a promising nine-play, 43-yard drive but missed a 50-yard field goal. The Nittany Lions were then unable to capitalize on an interception in the endzone by Ji’ Ayir Brown before the Razorbacks (9-4) punched in the game's first touchdown as time expired in the first quarter to grab a 7-0 lead.
Redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford finished the contest 14-of-32 for 195 yards passing with one touchdown, a 42-yard toss to KeAndre Lambert-Smith early in the second quarter, proving to be the only time the Nittany Lions found the endzone.
Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson stole the show in the second half, finishing 14-of-19 passing for 90 yards while adding 110 yards on the ground en route to earning MVP honors.
“The biggest factor to me that stood out in the second half was the quarterback running game,” Franklin added. “They made an adjustment and a commitment to run the quarterback.”
Penn State was outscored 17-0 in the third quarter and was unable to overcome an injury to Clifford late in the game, allowing Arkansas to cruise to its first ever Outback Bowl victory.
“He made some plays, but I know there’s some plays he wants back,” Franklin said. “I think we can do some things to help him as well.”
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