Nittany Lions Survive in West Lafayette, Win 35-31

Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Pennsylvania Colleges

Michael Pietrangelo | September 2, 2022

Photo Paul Burdick

Penn State football is back, and boy was it a nailbiter.  The Nittany Lions had to rally late but got the win on the road in West Lafayette. Penn State beat Purdue 35-31 in an absolute thriller of a season opener. In a game that saw seven lead changes I was sure after the second quarter the Nittany Lions would run away with it, but the Boilermakers had other plans. To close out the first half, 6^th year senior Sean Clifford found Junior Brenton Strange for a 67-yard score and a 21-10 lead.

The Boilermakers would dominate the third quarter, putting up two touchdown drives and only allowing the Nittany Lions to muster 33-yards of offense, which gave them the lead 24-21. It was early in the fourth quarter that Penn State regained the lead when Clifford hit Sophomore KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a 29-yard touchdown.

Two minutes later, Purdue would be stopped on a three -and-out but Clifford would lob one over senior transfer Mitchell Tinsley’s head into the waiting arms of Purdue’s senior safety Chris Jefferson who returned the ball 72-yards for the pick six and a 28-24 lead. The Nittany Lions seem to lose steam on offense, but the defense came up big and didn’t allow the Boilermakers to put the game away. Sean Clifford came back in for one final drive and man was it special.  Starting from their own 20-yard line and 2:22 left on the clock he marched his team down the field in 8 plays. To cap off the drive Clifford would find sophomore Keyvone Lee for a 10-yard score and a 35-31 lead with only 57 seconds left to go in regulation.  Head coach James Franklin said, “It was very impressive. We work on the 2-minute drill all the time and it worked for us out there. You can learn a lot in games like this and I’d rather learn them with a win.”

PSU 0-21-0-14-35

PUR 3-7-14-7-31

Passing

PSU-Clifford 20/37 282 yds 4 TDs 1 Int, Allar 2/4 26 yds

PUR- O’Connell 30/59 365 yds 1 TD

Rushing

PSU- Singleton 10-31, Allen 8-31, Lee 9-30, Washington 1-4, Clifford 4-2 1TD

PUR- Doerue 15-57 2 TDs, Downing 4-14, Tracy 1-9, Sheffield 1-7, O’Connell 2-(-17)

Receiving

PSU- Tinsley 7-84 1 TD, Strange 2-77 1 TD, Lambert-Smith 4-58 1 TD, Washington 2-30, Warren 3-23, Lee 2-15 1 TD, Ford 1-12, Allen 1-9,

PUR- Jones 12-152 1 TD, Rice 3-59, Sheffield 4-49, Durham 3-43, Thompson 3-28, Tracy 2-17, Doerue 2-10, Downing 1-6

Players of the Game

Offense

PSU- Sean Clifford 20/37 282 yds 4 TDs

4 carries 2 yards 1 TD

PUR- Charlie Jones 12 catches 153 yards 1 TD

Defense

PSU- Joey Porter Jr. 8 solo tackles, 3 PD

PUR- Chris Jefferson 5 solo tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT, 1TD

Up Next: PSU is home against non-conference opponent Ohio Bobcats who begin their season on Saturday against FAU.  Purdue will also be home against Indiana State who is coming off an overtime 17-14 victory over North Alabama.

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