Five things to know about the Penn State Nittany Lions
After two games against overmatched opponents, Auburn will be looking to get revenge Saturday against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Both teams are 2-0 on the season but have gotten their quite differently. Penn State beat Purdue 35-31 on a last-minute touchdown to open their season and blew out Ohio 46-10 last week.
Auburn took care of Mercer 42-16 but narrowly beat San Jose State 24-16 last week. Auburn has put the disappointing win behind them and is now focused on the Nittany Lions and getting revenge from their 28-20 loss last season in Beaver Stadium.
Here are five things to know about Penn State ahead of the game, which is set to start at 2:30 p.m. CT in Jordan-Hare Stadium and will be on CBS.
They are the first Big Ten team to play in Jordan-Hare
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For the first time since Jordan-Hare Stadium opened Auburn will be playing an active member of the Big Ten conference at home. Maryland, Nebraska, and Rutgers have each come to Auburn but were a member of a different athletic conference at the time of the game.
Overall Auburn has a 12-11-2 record against the Big Ten, you can read more about their history with each opponent here.
Penn State could use multiple quarterbacks
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While Sean Clifford is entering his sixth season and has won plenty of games for Penn State he can be inconsistent and with a five-star freshman backing him up, fans have been clamoring for Drew Allar to get a shot. Part of this is because the ceiling Clifford has while Allar is perceived to be a more talented but raw quarterback.
Allar has appeared in both games this season, briefly taking over for a banged-up Clifford against Purdue and in mop-up duty over Ohio. He has completed 8-of-12 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns and has shown flashes of why he is the future. If Penn State struggles he could be sent out to try and spark the offense.
New DC Manny Diaz has had succes against Auburn
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It’s obviously a new coaching staff but Manny Diaz, the Nittany Lion’s new defensive coordinator, has had success against Auburn. The former Miami Hurricanes head coach is in his first year at Penn State but faced Auburn in 2010 and 2015 when he was the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State.
Auburn’s offense struggled in each game, the Bulldogs held Cam Newton and Co. to 17 points and forced two turnovers as Auburn pulled out the 17-14 win. In 2015, Auburn managed just nine points and fell to the Bulldogs 17-9 in Jordan-Hare.
They have several talented skill position players
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Penn State lost their No. 1 wideout from last year Jahan Dotson to the NFL but they still have a talented group of skill position players. Their three other top receivers from a season are all back in Parker Washington, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and tight end Brenton Strange. The trio combined to catch 16 passes for 147 yards and one touchdown in last year’s game.
They also went out and landed a No. 1 wideout in Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tinsley, who already has 10 catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
At running back they are led by a former five-star Nicholas Singleton. The freshman ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns last week on just 10 carries.
Expect more quick passes
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Penn State used quick passes to great success last year against the Tigers and Auburn is fresh off a game where they struggled to guard them. These short passes were a major reason Clifford competed 87.5% of his passes last season and prevented Auburn from generating pressure.
Auburn will have to show they have adjusted to these since San Jose State used them last week or you can expect the Nittany Lions to keep calling them.
