UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Noah Cain ran for a 3-yard touchdown to put Penn State ahead, and Jaquan Brisker broke up a pass on the last play of the game to preserve a 28-20 victory against Auburn on Saturday night at a raucous Beaver Stadium.
An announced crowd of 109,958 for White Out night rocked and swayed and saw the Nittany Lions beat Auburn in the Tigers’ first trip to a Big Ten Conference stadium in 90 years.
“Our fans were incredible tonight,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “The atmosphere was amazing. We beat a good Auburn team today. It wasn’t easy but we got the job done.”
Cain's touchdown with 10:48 left in the fourth quarter capped a 75-yard drive that that showed the flexibility of offensive coordinator Mike Yurchich's playbook. If Cain's run didn't elicit the most enormous roars of the night, then it was Brisker’s break-up of Auburn quarterback Bo Nix’s desperation heave to Demetris Robertson on the 2 to seal the win.
“I love how our defense is playing,” Franklin said. “When our defense plays this well it allows us to get aggressive on offense.”
Penn State (3-0) plays host to Villanova at noon Saturday. Through three games, Franklin is delivering on a promised redemption tour for the Nittany Lions, who stumbled to a 4-5 record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Here are a few observations on how Penn State held on against Auburn:
Jahan Dotson does it again.
Dotson caught a 4-yard pass from Nittany Lions quarterback Sean Clifford to give Penn State a 7-3 lead with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter. Dotson has a receiving touchdown in each of Penn State's games this season. He has five consecutive games with touchdowns going back to last year. The junior wideout finished the game with 78 yards on 10 catches.
“Jahan is one [of] our best players. We have to get him involved early and often for our offense to perform at its best,” Clifford said.
Oh, if the receiving wasn't enough, he completed a 22-yard pass. Dotson’s completion was the first time a non-quarterback completed a pass for Penn State since Saquan Barkley did it in 2017 against Michigan State. Barkley was in the house for the “White Out” win.
Penn State leans on Dotson. He's their best player, and he came through in a big way.
The offensive line is playing well.
Clifford threw for 280 yards with 28 completions on 32 attempts. The junior quarterback had time to throw because the line gave it to him. He completed passes to seven receivers. The improvement came quickly for a unit that looked overmatched two games ago against Wisconsin.
Tight ends got involved.
Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren combined for three catches and 77 of Clifford's 280 yards. The tight ends didn't see much action receiving in the first two games. The unit did well with its opportunities against Auburn.
Bigsby is a bad man.
Auburn running bak Tank Bigsby lived up to all the acclaim coming into the game. Bigsby scored two touchdowns. He racked up 102 yards on 23 bruising carries. There were so many plays where either Jesse Luketa, Brandon Ellis or any Nittany Lions defender made initial contact early, and Bigsby bounced off the first tackle. It's not that Penn State's line or linebackers played poorly; Bigsby is that good.
Creativity
One of the most memorable plays from the night was a 2-yard touchdown run on a Wildcat play. Clifford went wide early in the third quarter on 2nd-and-goal from the 2. Warren took the direct snap in for a score that put the Nittany Lions ahead, 21-10. Warren played quarterback in high school, but hadn't taken a snap behind center for Penn State.
Nubyjas Wilborn: nwilborn@post-gazette.com and Twitter: @nwilborn19.
First Published: September 19, 2021, 4:08 a.m.
