No. 22 Penn State heads to the road on Saturday to take on Auburn with many expecting a close game. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on CBS. This will be the fourth time in program history the Nittany Lions will take on the Tigers. Penn State earned a 28-20 victory over Auburn last year at Beaver Stadium. Quarterback Sean Clifford threw for 280 yards while tossing touchdowns to Jahan Dotson and Brenton Strange.
Penn State vs. the SEC
The Nittany Lions hold a 24-24 record against current members of the SEC. 21 of the 48 matchups have come in bowl games with the most recent in the 2022 Outback Bowl against Arkansas. The Razorbacks won that game 24-10. Penn State is 11-16 in the regular season against the SEC.
Offensive distribution and the running game
Penn State’s quarterbacks and the running game sparked a route of Ohio University on Saturday. Sean Clifford, Drew Allar and Christian Veilleux completed passes to 17 different receivers. Clifford alone connected with 10 different receivers in the first half. Receptions by 17 different players is a program record in a game.
No running back had more than 31 yards rushing in the season opener against Purdue. Freshmen Nick Singleton changed that by rushing for 179 yards on 10 carries while adding two touchdowns on the ground. The Nittany Lions totaled 234 rushing yards and Singleton’s performance is the most by a player in a Beaver Stadium debut. Singleton scored on carries of 70 and 44 yards, while also adding a 48-yard rush. He’s the first Nittany Lion with multiple 40+ yard touchdown runs and the first since 2002 with three 40+ yard runs in a game. Larry Johnson accomplished that feat at Indiana during the 2002 season.
Auburn Tigers
The Tigers moved to 2-0 last Saturday after a 24-16 home win over San Jose State. Auburn rushed for 210 yards on the ground and tallied 378 total yards of offense. Tank Bigsby, Jarquez Hunter and TJ Finley each scored a rushing touchdown. Multiple quarterbacks saw action as TJ Finley threw for 167 yards and Robby Ashford used his mobility to gain 61 yards on seven carries. Finley has completed 65 percent of his passes in the early stages of the 2022 season.
With kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, it’ll mark the 26th time in program history that Penn State will be on CBS. The Nittany Lions are 15-10 all-time when televised on CBS, including 4-1 in bowl games.
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