Instant Impressions

[aubiefifty 18,236]

Instant Impressions: Penn State 28, Auburn 20

ByNathan King

6-7 minutes

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Auburn showed plenty of fight, but also missed on too many opportunities late to complete the comeback.

After a number of impressive possessions on both sides of the ball to stay in the game the whole way, Auburn failed to convert a fourth-and-goal from 2 yards out late in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers fell 28-20 at Penn State on Saturday night in Happy Valley.

Here are Auburn Undercover’s quick takeaways from the first loss of the Bryan Harsin era.

AUBURN GETS ITS SHOT(S)

With Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford sizzling all night — and Auburn having lost its two leaders at linebackers in Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain to an injury and a targeting call on the previous drive, respectively — the Tigers faced an uphill climb on a key defensive possession with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Capped by a backfield stop by senior linebacker Chandler Wooten, however, Auburn got a huge three-and-out, stopping a third-and-2 to give its offense the ball back with 7 minutes left — trailing 28-20.

With 75 yards to go, Auburn quickly got into Penn State territory following a couple Tank Bigsby runs and a late hit call on a Bo Nix scramble.

But it appeared the Tigers got hit with disaster two plays later. Nix hit Shedrick Jackson on a quick screen, but Jackson fumbled, and Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr. scooped it up and took it back for a touchdown, seemingly icing the game.

Upon a quick review, however, it was obvious Jackson was down, and Auburn instead got a first down inside Penn State’s 35-yard line with 5 minutes left.

Freshman running back Jarquez Hunter then gave Auburn a first-and-goal thanks to an eye-popping hurdle. Auburn got close with a flare out to tight end John Samuel Shenker, but he was just short, setting up a fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line.

But it all came to a screeching halt. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo called an end-zone fade from 2 yards out, which came nowhere near being completed. Bigsby and Hunter had been running effectively up to that point, particularly in the second half, and averaged more than 5 yards per carry combined on the night.

Auburn’s defense got a stop, though, using two timeouts to give Nix and the offense another chance with less than 40 seconds left. Nix hit on three quick throws to set up a final play from 26 yards out but couldn't get in the end zone on a throw to Demetris Robertson. Game over.

NOT CONTAINING CLIFFORD

Derek Mason’s defense got off on the right foot on the road, forcing a turnover on downs and a three-and-out on its first two series of the game. Once Clifford got clicking, however — primarily with his favorite target, Jahan Dotson — the Nittany Lions were much tougher to stop.

Despite Auburn winning the field-position and time-of-possession battles in the first half, Clifford led Penn State on a pair of long drives — 88 and 91 yards. He missed on only two passes in the first half with two touchdowns, while Dotson was catching everything thrown his way — and he threw for a 26-yard gain on a double pass, too.

Auburn responded to Penn State’s first touchdown drive with one of its own — 75 yards, capped off by Bigsby. And the Tigers even got helped by the officiating crew, which accidentally took a play away from Penn State after an intentional grounding call. The Nittany Lions punted a play later.

But Auburn’s pass rush wasn’t able to get much pressure on Clifford bringing only three or four players, therefore the pass defense suffered, too. Clifford was accurate on shallow routes, as the Nittany Lions next drove 91 yards and retook the lead.

Despite an apparent injury heading into halftime to his throwing arm, Clifford came out in the third quarter with the same sharpness. After his interception before the break, hauled in by Roger McCreary, Clifford hit on his next 10 throws for 112 yards, including a wide-open completion to tight end Brenton Strange for 40 yards to put Penn State in position to tack on another touchdown to go up 28-20 with 10 minutes left in the game.

Clifford finished 28-of-32 for 280 yards, with the two touchdowns and one interception.

TIGERS STAY IN IT AFTER BIG MISTAKE

Auburn nearly made a huge mistake before the half, when Nix threw it right to Penn State cornerback Brandon Smith with less than a minute left. Smith bobbled the ball five or six times before dropping what surely would have been a pick-six.

But Auburn’s defense bailed it out, as McCreary picked off Clifford on an overthrow to avoid any further damage before halftime.

Out of the break, Harsin said he was confident in the adjustments and felt the Tigers were ready to drive down the field and score. Instead, Auburn handed Penn State points.

On a trick play — an apparent wide-receiver pass — Kobe Hudson elected to tuck the ball and attempt to take off, but he dropped it, untouched, and gave PSU possession on Auburn’s first play from scrimmage in the second half. The Nittany Lions scored a touchdown to go up 21-10 five plays later.

28COMMENTS

But Auburn stayed in it. Thanks to a 15-play drive, 12 of them on the ground, Auburn responded yet again with a touchdown. Bigsby had eight carries for 37 yards and a score on the drive that took more than 7 minutes off the clock.

Then the Auburn defense got another fourth-down stop. Penn State tried a fake punt on fourth-and-short in Auburn territory, but the spot ruled the Lions short. Auburn added another Anders Carlson field goal to trim the lead to 21-20 at the start of the fourth quarter.

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