A total of 109,958 fans celebrated the return of the White Out, the 10th most attended game in Beaver Stadium history, and the largest post-pandemic crowd in college football. Auburn came out strong in the first half, but that didn’t last long. In the first play of the second half, Auburn fumbled the ball, and Penn State recovered. The Tigers never did recover, suffering their first loss of the season on Saturday night to No. 10 Penn State, 28-20.
Auburn was lucky enough to have Tank Bigsby, but Penn State had a more poised offense. The Nittany Lions had a steadier offensive game plan, and they were able to keep Auburn guessing. Penn State Football’s starting quarterback, Sean Clifford likely had the best game of his career, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns with an 87.5% completion rate. Jahan Dotson had an outstanding night as well, drawing in 10 passes for 78 yards, including the first touchdown of the night. Auburn’s shining feature back, Tank Bigsby finished with 102 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Bigsby’s performance was not enough, and the visitor’s offense came up just short of a victory.
Defensively, Penn State’s Brandon Smith had a big night leading the team with 10 tackles, sic of them being solo tackles. The Penn State defense was able to hold Bo Nix, Auburn’s starting quarterback, to only 185 yards and no touchdowns, however, they did struggle. Auburn’s offense, thanks to Tank Bigsby, averaged 9.78 yards per rush, to just 4.6 on the night.
Penn State had a comfortable 21-10 lead in the third quarter, but Auburn cut the deficit to 21-20 after a touchdown at the end of the third quarter. Auburn started the fourth quarter with a field goal, and the Nittany Lions did not take long to answer. The Lion’s running back, Noah Cain, had a 3-yard touchdown run, making it 28-20 with ten minutes left to play. It was the final touchdown of the game. Penn State’s defense made their last impression while holding the advantage with a goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter, followed by Auburn’s final desperation attempt.
Penn State head coach James Franklin said this game against Auburn demonstrated his team’s physical and mental toughness. Franklin didn’t mention either one explicitly, but he was likely referring to the extreme pre-game speculation and incredibly poor in-game officiating.
Penn State expanded their offense against Auburn, and Clifford finally played to his potential after having to bounce back from an unreliable intentional grounding call. Defensively, Penn State must improve against the running game, however, Tank Bigsby is likely the toughest running back the Nittany Lions will have to face this season.
The Penn State Nittany Lions overcame questionable calls, but luckily the officiating didn’t cost Penn State the game. This team has plenty more time to prove itself this year, and they’re successfully making a case as the Big Ten’s best team. Now ranked #6 in the latest AP poll, Penn State is focusing its attention on Villanova for a noon kickoff on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
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