Dan Sanford

Sports Editor

das6267@psu.edu

The Penn State Nittany Lions football team emerged victorious once again on Saturday Sept. 18th, defeating the Auburn Tigers for the second time in their history. Penn State fans resumed their white-out tradition for the 2021 season for the Lions’ 28-20 victory, which was their first match against the Tigers since the 2003 Capital One Bowl, and their first victory over them in over 25 years at the 1996 Outback Bowl.

The score was close throughout the game. Penn State picked up a touchdown in each quarter and while Auburn was unable to reach the end zone in the first and fourth quarters, kicker Anders Carlson converted on two field goal attempts, one in each of those quarters.

Sean Clifford turned in a dominant performance. The Penn State redshirt senior completed 28 of 32 passes for 280 yards and two passing touchdowns that evening. Even Clifford’s one interception at the end of the second quarter was the result of a pressured throw caused by a rare offensive line breakdown throughout that night. Other than that play, both the Nittany Lions’ and Tigers’ offensive lines were stellar; neither team was able to register a sack on their opposing quarterback.

Clifford’s primary target, senior wide receiver Jahan Dotson, showed prowess reminiscent of Clifford’s chemistry with KJ Hamler two seasons ago. Dotson caught 10 passes for 78 yards, and scored one of Penn State’s four touchdowns. Auburn provided a much more stout defense on the rush. Noah Cain was held to only 45 yards on the ground over 19 carries, but contributed one rushing touchdown. 

Tight ends played a huge role in Penn State’s win. Although he had only four receptions, redshirt sophomore Brenton Strange made the most of his opportunities. He hauled in 23-yard and 40-yard catches, as well as a 2-yard touchdown pass as part of a 71-yard night. True freshmen Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren, as well as senior John Lovett, each made excellent runs on their only catches of the game for 37, 22 and 18 yards, respectively. Warren also contributed a 1-yard rushing touchdown on a wildcat play in which he leapt over the Auburn defensive line for the score.

Unlike the Nittany Lions, Auburn’s strengths lied more heavily on their rushing game. Cartavious “Tank” Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter found more and more holes in Penn State’s defensive line as the game progressed, recording 102 and 63 yards over 23 and 9 carries, respectively. Bigsby scored the Tigers’ two touchdowns of the evening, one each in the second and third quarters. Smoke Monday and Chandler Wootten showed up big on defense for Auburn, stymieing the Penn State rushing game behind the line of scrimmage numerous times. 

The officiating drew attention around the NCAA for exceptionally poor officiating that evening. The cross-conference referees were Southeastern Conference natives, the same as Auburn’s home conference. Calls were made on both sides which drew disagreement and shock from the ABC commentators. The most egregious officiating call was an intentional grounding penalty on one of Clifford’s four incomplete passes of the evening. The play, on a first down series, resulted in a pass by Clifford where no one was in the vicinity due to a miscommunication with receiver Parker Washington. However, the ball went well over the line of scrimmage, and Clifford was not under imminent pressure. Thus, he should have been ineligible to be called for that penalty. The foul was called anyway and “they talked to each other, they all agreed,” according to Penn State head coach James Franklin, who persistently attempted to argue with the officials that the call was incorrect.

The line judge, who had already changed to second down following the incompletion, erroneously switched the sign to third down after the wrongly-administered penalty resulted in a loss of down by rule. The next play was a pass from Clifford to Dotson which yielded only five yards, and the confused line judge and officiating crew ruled that it was fourth down. Penn State was forced to punt when the situation should have, in fact, been third down.

With the lead 21-17, Penn State attempted a fake punt on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter from within Auburn territory. Penn State appeared to have gained enough ground for a first down, but the whistle was blown due to forward progress and the Nittany Lions were ruled short of the first down. On the ensuing drive, the Tigers pulled within one point with their second field goal of the evening.

The questionable officiating did not end there. Auburn also got a smaller taste of poor referee decisions when linebacker Zakoby McCain was flagged and ejected for a tackle judged to be predatory in a targeting call. With about 13 minutes remaining in the game, McCain made head contact with Washington as he dove to stop him from crossing into the end zone. The play was reviewed, and although the hit did not look as if it was intentionally aiming for Washington, it could have been argued that the hit was dangerous enough to be penalized somehow. After mandatory review of the foul, McCain doubled over in shock when the referees announced the call had been upheld. Penn State would find the end zone on the next play, and though Auburn made a valiant effort, the score would remain 28-20 after one final defensive stop on the Tigers.