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Instant Reaction: Penn State beats Villanova in fashion 38-17

Sam Dehring
·2 min read

Penn State has defeated the Villanova Wildcats in fashion with a score of 38-17 for their 20th straight non-conference home win. After a late game scare of what was thought of a touchdown, Villanova struggled all game to get the ball moving.

The run game still continues to struggle, but we saw tons of involvement from the passing game. Sean Clifford threw an early deep touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson, who is picking up right where he left off from last week’s game against Auburn.

Clifford continues to play with confidence, recording 401 passing yards and four touchdowns on the day.

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We also saw some big plays from Parker Washington, who turned on the jets for two big plays, including one in the second quarter.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith even caught a touchdown pass late in the game. Despite the run game struggles of the run game, the passing game continues to shine every week.

One point worth noting though is that Penn State still saw struggles converting on third down. By halftime, they were just 39% for 3rd down conversions.

The defense is continuing to put themselves on the map. They held Villanova to just 222 yards passing on the day. Ji’Aiyir Brown had two tipoff interceptions while the rest of the guys like Jaquan Brisker and Tariq Castro-Fields played lights out. We still saw plays late in the game, including a late touchdown pass by Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith, although Penn State was playing with backups for the large majority of the fourth quarter.

Next week Penn State will once again be at home to host the Indiana Hoosiers, who have started to play better football these past two weeks but have already lost two games this season against Iowa and Cincinnati.