No. 16 Penn State (6-1, Big Ten 3-1) made easy work of Minnesota (4-3, Big Ten 1-3) on Saturday night, taking the Gophers down 45-17 in front of a Beaver Stadium White Out crowd of 109,817.
After a slow start, Sean Clifford finished his day completing 23-of-31 passes for 295 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Running back Nicholas Singleton ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow freshman Kaytron Allen rushed for 77 yards. And the Nittany Lion defense rebounded from a tough outing by holding Minnesota’s potent rushing attack in check for most of the night.
The Beaver Stadium crowd also helped force five false start penalties on Golden Gophers, as Penn State rebounded from last week’s rough outing on the road at Michigan.
How It Happened
After receiving the opening kickoff, a failed third down conversion led to some miscommunication. As the offense stayed on the field for a presumptive fourth down attempt, the punt team also took the field. Somehow the Nittany Lions were able to get the punt off without burning a timeout.
Minnesota — which started freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis in place of injured veteran Tanner Morgan — began its first possession with a false start. After the Golden Gophers went nowhere on first and second down, Beaver Stadium forced another false start to set up third and 17, which the Gophers could not convert.
Penn State followed up with another three-and-out, after the offense failed to bounce back from a stuffed Nick Singleton run on first down. Though Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim started generating a rhythm on 17 yards, the Nittany Lions’ defense held strong forcing a punt around from their 42-yard-line.
On the second play of Penn State’s drive, Sean Clifford launched a deep ball beyond the reach of Parker Washington and Minnesota’s Justin Walley intercepted it in stride, returning the ball to Penn State’s 14-yard-line. Manny Diaz’s defense forced the Golden Gophers backward on the ensuing drive, only allowing a 35-yard Matthew Trickett field goal. Minnesota took a 3-0 lead with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.
After a stuffed Kaytron Allen rushing attempt and a bad Clifford incompletion, the sixth-year senior quarterback found Theo Johnson for a big 25-yard reception. Two plays later, Clifford and Johnson reconnected – this time for 18 yards. Returning from the quarter break, a pair of sputtering runs from Singleton led to a 42-yard field goal from Jake Pinegar. Penn State tied the game at three apiece just one minute into the second quarter.
A Charlie Katshir tackle for loss and a Daequan Hardy sack forced a quick Minnesota three-and-out. The Nittany Lion offense pieced together a string of quick plays in response, opening up the door for a 22-yard sideline run from Singleton. Two plays later, Clifford dropped a deep pass into the arms of a wide-open Tyler Warren for a 38-yard touchdown. Pinegar’s successful extra point put the Nittany Lions up 10-3 with nine minutes left in the half.
Minnesota picked up its fourth and fifth false start penalties on consecutive plays, turning a third-and-10 into a 3rd-and-20. A long punt from Mark Crawford put Penn State’s offense back on its own 14-yard line. Allen opened up the Nittany Lions’ ensuing drive with three runs, including a 10-yard run punctuated by a truck and subsequent first-down pickup. A beautiful 30-yard pass from Clifford to Mitchell Tinsley, who made a terrific one-handed grab — came on a free play.
Penn State then expanded its lead on an 18-yard pass from Clifford to Theo Johnson – the tight end corps’ second of the day. With Pinegar’s extra point, the Nittany Lions took a 17-3 lead with four minutes left in the half.
Heavy pressure from the defensive line forced another Minnesota three-and-out. On the subsequent second down, Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich dialed up another deep shot. This time, Minnesota’s coverage forced a timing-based incompletion and a third down that went unconverted. Barney Amor punted to Minnesota’s 20-yard line, but another Golden Gophers penalty pushed it back to the 10.
Minnesota’s Kaliakmanis couldn’t connect on a deep, second-down pass, after Joey Porter Jr. made a diving breakup. Shortly after, Kaliakmanis finally got one past the Nittany Lions’ defense, finding Le’Meke Brockington for a difficult sideline catch 33 yards downfield. Three consecutive run plays by the Golden Gophers eclipsed 10 yards and they began their second red zone possession of the game. Running back Mohamed Ibrahim barreled forward for gains of four, eight, and three yards, with the last bringing about Minnesota’s first touchdown to cap off a 90-yard drive. Penn State held a 17-10 lead with 32 seconds remaining in the half and that’s where it would stand heading into the locker room.
Kaliakmanis completed a 19-yard pass on the opening drive of the second half, but Penn State’s defense rallied to force another punt. Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca broke through the protection on the punt to get his hands on the ball, which would take a Minnesota roll before being downed at the Nittany Lions’ 36-yard line.
A 15-yard Singleton run encouraged the Nittany Lions’ offense to get aggressive. Three plays later, Clifford stared down oncoming pressure and tossed Washington a 50-50 ball. Penn State’s wide receiver high-pointed the ball in front of his defender in the end zone and pulled it down for six. The Nittany Lions extended their lead to 24-10 with 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Penn State’s defense committed its first penalty of the night on Minnesota’s followup drive, but it wasn’t enough for the Gophers to get going. Kaliakmanis threw a weak ball downfield, which was intercepted by Ji’Ayir Brown for his third pick of the season. Allen’s 14-yard run and a later pass interference call on Minnesota allowed the Nittany Lions to continue their march. On a handoff from the 16-yard line, Singleton bounced outside and took it to the house. Penn State led 31-10 with six-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter.
A quick three-and-out brought Clifford and the offense back onto the field. Over 11 plays, the Nittany Lions tallied 32 yards on the ground and 38 yards through the air, en route to a 20-yard touchdown catch by Tinsley. Minnesota’s blown coverage and Pinegar’s extra point gave Penn State a 38-10 lead with less than 30 seconds in the third quarter.
Short offensive plays helped Minnesota’s offense slowly move down the field, until Kaliakmanis found Brevyn Spann-Ford for 28 yards after the tight end hurdled a closing Nittany Lion defender. Ibrahim immediately bounced off of two consecutive Penn State tackles to bring the Golden Gophers to the 1-yard line. Diaz’s defense stopped a pair of plays short of the end zone, before finally allowing a Spann-Ford touchdown catch, cutting the lead to 38-17 with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Drew Allar eventually replaced Sean Clifford, and Nick Singleton scored his second touchdown of the game on a 30-yard burst up the middle to bring Penn State’s lead to 45-17 in the middle with 6:35 left in the game. Penn State defense denied Minnesota the rest of the way, and the Nittany Lions became bowl eligible at 6-1 heading into next weekend’s clash against No. 2 Ohio State.
Takeaways
- After a bad interception in the first quarter, starting quarterback Sean Clifford bounced back in a huge way. Clifford ended his night completing 23-of-31 passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns. The sixth-year senior entered the game with a questionable bill of health, having left last week’s Michigan contest with an undisclosed injury, but Clifford’s clinical performance was a key to Penn State’s White Out victory.
- After a series of quiet weeks from Penn State’s tight ends, the room had something of a coming-out party. Sophomores Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren combined for 104 yards and a touchdown each. Scoring the team’s first two touchdowns, the tight ends served as catalysts for Penn State’s snowballing momentum. The diversification of the pass attack was critical to the Nittany Lions’ early lead and systematic control of Minnesota’s defense.
- Despite Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim coming into the game averaging 6.7 yards per carry, Penn State’s defense was able to hold him to just 3.4 per carry. Ibrahim still finished the night with 102 yards and a touchdown, but the Nittany Lions’ run defense was a far cry from the abomination that was last week’s performance.
- Facing backup quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, the raucous crowd noise was crucial to disrupting the Golden Gophers’ flow. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz’s chaos-based defense also leveraged the ear-splitting ambience, forcing one sack and a 15.3% third-down conversion rate.
What’s Next
Penn State stays home next week, hosting Big Ten rival Ohio State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. The game is set for a noon kickoff and will be broadcast on FOX, as part of the network’s Big Noon Kickoff programming.
