Tag: Keyvone lee

Report card: Grading Penn State’s Week 3 performance at Auburn

Report card: Grading Penn State’s big win at Auburn

Penn State handled Auburn last year in State College by winning by a mere eight points. That was not the case this year with the team traveling down to Jordan-Hare Stadium and laying the smackdown on the Auburn Tigers.

They become the first Big Ten to win a game in Jordan-Hare Stadium and they did so in an impressive fashion. The offense was clicking, the defense imposed their will after a slow start, and the special teams did great with what little they were asked to handle.

To kick things off, the quarterbacks played well across the board and deserve big praise to start this report card.

Quarterback

Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Grade: A+

[autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] last year picked apart the Auburn defense. After a slow start to the game he started to settle in after converting a major third down in the first half. He didn’t throw any touchdowns but he went 14/19 for 178 yards. He didn’t get flashy but he was efficient and kept the offense rolling.

We also got to see [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and [autotag]Christian Veilleux[/autotag] as they entered the game for some reps in the fourth quarter. No turnovers from any of them, perfect execution start to finish in today’s game.

NEXT: Running backs

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Instant reaction: Nick Singleton dazzles as Penn State overpowers Ohio

Instant reaction form Penn State’s blowout of Ohio, featuring a glimpse of the future

Penn State fans got a glimpse of the future of the Nittnay Lions, but maybe that future should be now. Freshman running back [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns to help Penn State overwhelm Ohio on Saturday, 46-10.

Penn State quarterback [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] passed for 213 yards and a touchdown before getting an early rest midway through the third quarter. Freshman [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] entered the game to get some in-game experience under his belt, and he took full advantage of it with a pair of touchdown passes.

Singleton became Penn State’s first 100-yard rusher in a game since [autotag]Keyvone Lee[/autotag] rushed for 134 yards against Michigan on November 28, 2020.

Penn State’s defense was locked in all game long as well. With the exception of one second-quarter touchdown drive by the Bobcats, and some late fourth-quarter action, Ohio’s offense was unable to get much pressure on the Nittany Lions defense. Penn State had just one sack in the game, courtesy of Johnny Dixon. The defense did not force any turnovers in the game, but there were some nice performances to take note of from players like [autotag]Adisa Issac[/autotag], [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag], and [autotag]Curtis Jacobs[/autotag].

Next up for Penn State is another road trip. The Nittany Lions head to Auburn in Week 3 for a mid-afternoon game on CBS next Saturday, September 17.

Ohio will be on the road as well next week with another game against a power conference opponent. Ohio visits Iowa State, who will be coming off their rivalry game with Iowa.

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Five reasons Penn State will win against Ohio

Penn State should come away with a win vs. Ohio. Here are five reasons why.

Penn State lost to Ohio the last time they played back in 2012. The situation surrounding the team at that time was one of turmoil and heartache but fast forward ten years and the program is exactly where they want to be.

Coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] has a strong staff supporting him, recruiting is at an all-time high, and the team is a perfect blend of new faces and veterans to thrive in the Big Ten and beyond.

Tomorrow against Ohio though, Penn State will be heavy favorites for al the reasons we just listed. Breaking down five specific reasons is what we are here for of course! Every aspect of this team if it’s offense, defense, and special teams, Penn State has the advantage. Specifically though there are certain players who make the biggest difference and specific play styles that present the biggest problem for the Ohio Bobcats.

Inside the box score: Key stats from Penn State vs. Purdue

Inside the box score: Key stats from Penn State’s season opener at Purdue

Penn State and Purdue packed plenty of fireworks in a game that ran off the rails in multiple ways. Penn State came out on top with a 35-31 victory that had seven lead changes.

Penn State’s Sean Clifford arguably came out on top in the battle of the sixth-year quarterbacks in the box score as well.

Here is a look at some of the key stats from Penn State’s Week 1 performance against the Boilermakers.

Report card: Grading Penn State’s Week 1 victory at Purdue

The grades are in! Grading Penn State’s Week 1 win at Purdue

To say Penn State’s season opener at Purdue was a roller coaster of emotion would be an understatement. A game with seven lead changes and decided in the final minute is a heck of a way to start a new college football season. Penn State came out on top in a tilt-a-whirl 35-31 victory on Thursday night to get an early jump on the Week 1 schedule.

Now comes the fun part: evaluating the performance.

Let’s go through the postgame report card to evaluate Penn State’s season debut for the 2022 season.

Quarterback

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Grade: B-plus

On a night when your starting quarterback turns in four passing touchdowns, runs for one and leads the drive of the game in the clutch, it is incredibly difficult to be too harsh with an evaluation. Was it a great game by Sean Clifford? Not at all. Clifford passed for 282 yards and four touchdowns, including a 67-yard pass to tight end Brenton Strange at the end of the first half to inflate the stats a bit. He completed 20 of 37 pass attempts. He also had a bad overthrow of Mitchell Tinsley in the fourth quarter that was picked off and returned for a touchdown that gave Purdue the lead in the fourth.

But you get credit for the toughness and guts in this situation. We can’t quite deliver an “A” here, but it’s darn close under the conditions.

Drew Allar played one series in place of Clifford in the third quarter. He completed two of his four pass attempts for 26 yards and showed off a solid arm. But he was clearly a freshman on the road in a tough spot. His time will come.

NEXT: Running backs

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Instant reaction: Sean Clifford delivers thrilling win for Penn State at Purdue

Instant reaction from Penn State’s wild 35-31 victory at Purdue to start the 2022 season

It certainly wasn’t looking pretty for Penn State after 55 minutes of football had been played. Fortunately for the Nittany Lions, college football is a 60-minute game, and quarterback [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] made the most of it with some late-game heroics. Clifford hit running back [autotag]Keyvone Lee[/autotag] for a 10-yard touchdown with 57 seconds left in the game to give Penn State a 35-31 victory at Purdue on Thursday night.

Clifford passed for four touchdowns and ran for one more in the victory. It all happened on a night when he temporarily left the game in the third quarter, and he ended his season debut with 282 passing yards and 11 rushing yards.

Penn State held a 21-10 lead at halftime thanks in large part to tight end [autotag]Brenton Strange[/autotag] scoring on a 67-yard pass in the closing seconds of the first half, courtesy of some broken tackles and solid blocking as he chugged the remainder of the field. But Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell led Purdue to a strong third quarter that saw the home team score two touchdowns and work the Penn State defense to perfection at times. Penn State’s offense was out of sync in the third quarter as Clifford left the game briefly for an undisclosed reason, leaving the keys to the offense temporarily in the hands of true freshman [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag]. Allar led the offense for just one series before Clifford returned for the remainder of the game.

A season after struggling to run the football, Penn State showed there is still room to improve with its running game in 2022. The Nittany Lions spread the ball around for most of the game and got four different running backs involved, including freshmen [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] and veterans [autotag]Keyvone Lee[/autotag] and [autotag]Devyn Ford[/autotag].

[autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag] scored his first Penn State touchdown in the second quarter, and [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] made a nice play to give Penn State a lead with a catch and run and broken tackles in the fourth quarter. On Penn State’s next offensive series after taking a 28-24 lead on Purdue, Clifford overthrew Tinsley over the middle and was easily picked off by Jefferson, who returned the interception for the go-ahead score and the play of the game at that point.

Next up for Penn State is the home opener at Beaver Stadium next Saturday against Ohio. Purdue will host Indiana State.

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Ja’Juan Seider teases what to expect from running game against Purdue

Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider seems excited to see what the Nittany Lions running backs will do in 2022.

For Penn State, the running game is going to be the straw that stirs the drink for this team’s offense.

When speaking to 247Sports this week, running backs coach [autotag]Ja’Juan Seider[/autotag] discussed how the team is planning to use the group of running backs they have this season. He acknowledged they will be using a committee.

“You can almost go into every year and have a good idea that we’re probably gonna play more than one back,” Seider said.

With [autotag]Devyn Ford[/autotag], [autotag]Keyvone Lee[/autotag], [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] all on the roster, the team has some tough decisions to make with carries. For coach Seider, he wants to see all of them in Week One.

Seider even offered a glimpse into what to expect in the season opener at Purdue next week.

“[You’ll] see four backs playing at some point in this game, and I’m not saying they’re all gonna be in the backfield,” Seider teased.

That approach makes the most sense but it also provides the best attack. This team doesn’t want Sean Clifford passing 25-plus times a game. Utilizing all four backs while also keeping each one fresh may be the best approach until someone separates themselves from the pack.

Among the four backs Penn State fans should expect to see will include a pair of freshmen, Singleton and Allen. Seider is excited about what those two bring to the table.

“The two freshmen are gonna play,” Seider said in the interview. “I’m high on them, very high.”

These two guys are going to change the direction of this program when it is all said and done.

Penn State opens the 2022 season on Thursday, September 1 at Purdue. The game will be broadcast nationally by FOX.

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2022 Penn State football: Nittany Lions’ running backs preview

Take a look at Penn State’s depth at the running back position heading into the 2022 season.

Penn State is prepping for a season in which the program hopes to redeem itself on the national stage. After back-to-back seasons of mediocre results, Penn State is aiming to bounce back and prove themselves worthy of being in the Big Ten championship hunt, if not a little bit more.

Penn State kicks off the 2022 season with a Thursday night primetime matchup at Purdue on September 1. When the season begins, Penn State is hoping to get the running game on track after a disappointing season rushing the ball in 2021. With a Doak Walker Award watch list player in Keyvone Lee and one of the top recruits in the Class of 2022 with in-state recruit Nick Singleton, and another quality addition with Kaytron Allen, hopes are high for Penn State to figure out things on the ground.

Here is a look at what Penn State has on the roster at the running back position for 2022, beginning with the expected stars of the ground game.

Penn State Top 25 players for 2022: Nick Singleton

He may be a freshman, but Nick Singleton is one of Penn State’s top 25 players to watch in 2022.

The running game has always been critical to the Penn State program in it’s history when it comes to finding success. In recent years they have shied away from that approach but with the recruiting of [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] that page may be coming back to being a focal point.

The 5-star recruit from Reading, PA hopes that he can rejuvenate the offense of the team he grew up rooting for. Singleton has the size and speed combination to be a real threat in not just the college game but eventually the NFL.

For now, Singleton will be sharing the load with Keyvone Lee as they work to bring some balance to the Penn State offense. Get an idea of what the 2022 season may look like for Nick Singleton though, it could be a special one.

Keyvone Lee named to Doak Walker Award watch list

Penn State running back Keyvone Lee named to the Doak Walker Award watch list for a second straight season.

For the second consecutive season, Penn State running back Keyvone Lee has been named to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award. The award for the nation’s top running back in college football had its watch list revealed on Wednesday, with Lee being the lone Nittany Lion on the initial watch list.

Players can be added to the watch list at any time, so it remains to be seen if any other Penn State player will receive watch list buzz once the season begins, including freshman [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag].

Lee was one of three Penn State running backs to appear on the watch list prior to the start of the 2021 season with [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] and Jonathan Lovett joining him. Cain, who transferred to LSU this offseason, did not appear on the watch list (nor did any LSU player for that matter).

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The only Penn State football player to win the Doak Walker Award was Larry Johnson, in 2022.

Other notable past winners of the Doak Walker Award includes Eddie Georgie (Ohio State), Ricky Williams (Texas, a two-time winner), LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU), Reggie Bush (USC), Rashaan Salaam (Colorado, betaing [autotag]Ki-Jana Carter[/autotag]), and Bryce Love (Stanford, who beat out [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag]).

Last year’s winner of the Doak Walker Award was Kenneth Walker III of Michigan State. A Big Ten plater has won the Doak Walker Award three of the past four seasons with Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin winning back-to-back awards in 2018 and 2019. Wisconsin has the most Doak Walker Awards in the history of the award with five, including two win by Taylor.

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford has also been named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien Award.

NEXT: The 2022 Doak Walker Watch List

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