It helps that Penn State has one of the best defenses in the nation, and it certainly doesn’t hurt any that Rutgers is Rutgers and not Ohio State.
But the Nittany Lions quite literally toughed out a win Saturday afternoon en route to a 28-0 victory over the Scarlet Knights — and the flu.
“We had 35 guys out for one reason or another. Twenty-one guys because of the flu; 14 guys who had the flu and played through it,” Penn State coach James Franklin said after the game. “Thursday, it looked like a hospital ward in there. There were IVs everywhere. Friday was the same way; we didn’t have a scholarship quarterback at Friday’s practice. We weren’t sure what was going to happen. So, the way the guys stuck together, a bunch of guys that played and hadn’t played all year long in significant roles, I’m just really proud.”
Health drama, especially in a COVID-19 world, is nothing new for a Penn State team that has had to tackle its fair share of injuries this season, but it was clear even before the game started that something was afoot. Franklin had noted earlier in the week that a handful of starters were battling the flu, and it looked as though quarterback Sean Clifford was set to join that list as he failed to make an appearance during pregame warmups.
Clifford would eventually appear for his portion of Senior Day celebrations but he looked tired and, according to Franklin, the three-year starting quarterback missed warmups because he was hooked up to an IV, the second one in a 24-hour span. With just minutes to go before the game, Clifford warmed up in the end zone with receiver Jahan Dotson and gave his coach the green light.
But Clifford only lasted for a few series, struggling to hit his targets and slow to get up after a few hits, eventually going 2-for-8 before Franklin finally made the change to freshman Christian Veilleux.
“[Clifford] felt like he could go; the doctors and trainers felt like he could go,” Franklin said. “Obviously, he missed practice time. He hadn’t eaten, the IVs, the whole deal. Again, we felt like he gave us the best opportunity based on experience and not having a whole lot available behind him. And then obviously Veilleux was able to go, and Sean wasn’t able to go anymore. He came to the sideline after the third series or whatever it was. I said ‘Sean, I’m gonna go with Veilleux. He goes, ‘Yeah, I get it.’”
Clifford would head down the tunnel and not return, spotted in streets clothes after the game looking slow and tired.
For the entire Nittany Lions’ roster it had been a wild ride over the past several days, especially as Saturday drew closer and closer. At one point, according to Franklin, Penn State was prepared to start third-string quarterback Mason Stahl by virtue of the fact he was the only healthy quarterback on the roster. Clifford was restricted to bed, Veilleux was under the weather, Ta’Quan Roberson was unavailable (and not on the sidelines Saturday) and Rutgers was just around the corner.
“Curtis [Jacobs] was one of these guys that literally at breakfast, [Tyler] Elsdon starts to throw up and Curtis starts to throw up,” Franklin said. “They hadn’t had it. So it was like the defense got hit with it early in the week and then they were able to get through it and then the offense got hit late in the week.”
Even Penn State’s eventual savior in Veilleux, who went 15-for-24 for 235 yards and three touchdowns, was an unknown on Friday. Everything was up in the air.
“Weren’t sure if Christian was gonna go last night,” Franklin said. “It was gonna be Mason Stahl. Mason Stahl took all the reps, and then Friday morning, I’m like sitting in the hallway [at the hotel] and as they come down, and they’re all going over to get temperatures to see if they can get cleared and it’s like ‘Veilleux’s cleared,’ then he goes in to have breakfast. And then Sean, they just let stay up [in bed]. So I mean, literally, it was that, it was like up to the hour so we were gaining guys and we were losing guys that became sick.”
“I’m telling you guys, between throw up and the IVs it was an interesting week,” Franklin added with a laugh. “Literally I’ve never been through something like this, especially at this point in the season when you’re already banged up. So just ton of respect for our guys and how they handled it.”
For a Penn State team that has come out on the wrong end of its fair share of adversity this season, Saturday’s win may have been over a traditionally inferior opponent, but the Nittany Lions hung tough all the same. They could have packed in it, but they didn’t, and they could have folded when Clifford headed down the tunnel, but they didn’t do that either.
And for a Nittany Lions’ coaching staff that has been criticized for the perception it does not always adjust well to sudden change, offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich called a productive and practical game for the young Veilleux, who stood tall and poised in the pocket all afternoon long.
A gutsy win, perhaps in some of the wrong ways.
“Literally, guys left it all [out there] when you talk about leaving it all on the line, a lot of guys did that today.” Dotson said after the game, alluding to the possibility not everyone played on a full stomach.
