Penn State managed to close out its home schedule with a win on Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium. As I suspected it may be, it was a bit of a slow burn for Rutgers as Penn State pulled away in the second half after a sluggish start to the game. But what I didn’t see coming was a backup quarterback coming into the game to provide the much-needed spark on offense. Christian Veilleux was impressive in his first career game for Penn State and the defense was once again its dominant self as Penn State handled Rutgers, 28-0, to clinch a winning season.
Here are some of my initial takeaways from Penn State’s Week 12 win against Rutgers.
1. A look to the future with Christian Veilleux?
Fans love the backup quarterback, and Christian Veilleux gave no reason not to be looking forward to the future of the Penn State offense. For all of the focus that has been placed on Class of 2022 quarterback Drew Allar, it may be premature to completely forget about Veilleux too.
On Saturday, Veilleux quickly got himself adjusted to what he was facing from the Rutgers defense and ended his first career game with three touchdown passes and 235 yards. He also rushed for 36 yards on 10 rushing attempts.
2. It’s a shame Sean Clifford didn’t get to finish the game
I said after the Michigan loss last week that Sean Clifford was absolutely deserving of respect for his commitment to representing this program despite being as banged up as he has been and was against the Wolverines. I see no reason to back away from that stance this week. Clifford was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with an apparent arm injury, but he was also reportedly under the weather and not feeling great for the game. But on senior day, he wanted to get one final time to go out a winner in a Penn State uniform in Beaver Stadium.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get to do that quite in the way he would have liked. We’ll see if Clifford is available and back in the starting lineup next week when Penn State goes to Michigan State. If he is healthy, I see no reason James Franklin would not go back to Clifford. But if Clifford is not ready to play, then there should be no reason to hesitate to hand the starting job to Veilleux for the first time.
Arnold Ebiketie has been so much fun to watch this season
It seems as though Arnold Ebiketie has been involved in some big moments all season long for Penn State. And on a line that lost PJ Mustipher recently, having Ebiketie making plays is always welcomed. The former Temple player who transferred to Penn State appears to be taking advantage of the opportunity to be a defensive force in Happy Valley and scouts will surely be intrigued to see how he looks in the draft prep cycle.
Penn State’s other transfer addition on the defensive line, Derrick Tangelo from Duke, also had an early impact with some big plays to set the tone.
4. I still am in awe of Jordan Stout
Maybe I have been covering Penn State and Big Ten football too long, but I have really been enjoying the art of Penn State punter Jordan Stout. In a game of field position early on, Penn State and Rutgers were each well equipped in the punting department with two of the best punters in the nation showing off what they can do. Stout was pinning the Scarlet Knights offense deep in their own end throughout the first half, and he ended up getting more of a rest in the second half and the offense got going.
Having a punter like Stout is a luxury that can fly under the radar, but Penn State has one of the best punters in the country.
Let’s not revisit the Iowa game too much
Going back to Christian Veilleux, it is difficult not to go back to the Iowa game and wonder what could have been if James Franklin opted to go with Veilleux instead of Taquan Roberson when Clifford was knocked out of the game by the Hawkeyes earlier this season.
That is easy to do after witnessing what Veilleux did against Rutgers, but I have a feeling not much would have been different if Franklin had a do-over. Even if Veilleux was inserted in the game in place of the injured Clifford against Iowa, Veilleux would have been put in the same awful situation Roberson was. On the road against the Iowa defense off the bench would have been as stiff a challenge as you could be put in. Veilleux had a much better situation in front of him in Week 12 against Rutgers at home and with the benefit of roughly twice as many weeks’ worth of practices under this belt.
But still, it’s hard not to wonder what could have been. Could Veilleux have led Penn State to one scoring drive that would change the outlook of the game? Maybe, but there is no guarantee.
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