Penn State starts off the season with a 35-31 victory over Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Penn State and Purdue traded blows all night in a season-opening, inter-conference heavyweight bout at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Thursday night’s contest was decided by a Sean Clifford two-minute drill, 35-31, in favor of the Nittany Lions (1-0, 1-0 Big Ten). It took eight plays for Penn State to go 80 yards, capped by a 10-yard toss to running back Keyvone Lee. The game-winning throw was Clifford’s career-high-tying fourth touchdown of the game.

» READ MORE: Penn State commit Ejani Shakir is a speedy receiver who’s finding his place at Winslow Township

There wasn’t a dull moment in West Lafayette, with the momentum switching to the tune of four lead changes.

“Offensively, we were either three and out or drives for touchdowns,” said coach James Franklin. “We’ve got to be more consistent. We got to make more plays… And then really the same thing on defense. We had some chances for interceptions and big plays.”

Clifford — whose sixth NCAA opener went through fits and starts — posted two touchdowns in under two minutes, one on the ground and one through the air. That tipped the pendulum in favor of the visiting team heading into halftime. The Boilermakers (0-1, 0-1 Big Ten) responded with two touchdowns of their own — a King Doerue 2-yard rush followed by an Aidan O’Connell 7-yard pass to a wide-open Charlie Jones.

The sixth-year Nittany Lions quarterback tossed another touchdown to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, then airmailed a throw over the middle, which was turned around for a 72-yard pick-six by Purdue safety Chris Jefferson.

“I’m proud of what we did today,” Clifford said. “I think we have a lot to improve on, starting with myself. Fingers pointed right here. But I’m just happy to start 1-0 because you can’t go 2-0 without starting 1-0.”

Clifford battled back from injury sustained in the game, completing 20 of 37 pass attempts for 282 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Mitchell Tinsley needed one play to record his first reception and first touchdown since transferring from Western Kentucky.

Midway through the second quarter, Clifford took an hard hit to his left leg. He appeared shaken but flashed a thumbs up to the sideline. He stayed in the game for the ensuing two possessions before following trainers to the locker room soon after halftime. Later it was clarified by Franklin that Clifford was suffering from cramps.

“He came back, then started to cramp up again,” Franklin said. “I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to go so I got Drew going again but I thought Drew did some great things.”

True freshman quarterback Drew Allar was named Clifford’s backup earlier in the week. He made his Nittany Lions debut in the win. Allar completed 2 of 4 pass attempts for 26 yards, displaying a bit of previously unseen arm strength.

Clifford returned midway through the third quarter. He continued to take a beating with little time in the pocket the rest of the way.

Manny Diaz wasn’t shy calling his first game as Penn State’s defensive coordinator. From the first possession, he shuffled quick substitutions and blitzed early and often.

“We had a plan to rotate,” Franklin said. “I am determined to develop depth. Last year obviously we weren’t able to do that and it cost us. We are going to develop depth by playing guys. If you think we played a lot of guys this week, we plan on doing it again next week.”

Creating turnovers has been his hallmark. It only took one half of football for Penn State to force its first, courtesy of Zakee Wheatley, the “Takeover King.”

Trailing by four, Purdue’s TJ Sheffield coughed up the ball just outside the red zone, changing possession with 30 seconds to go. Nittany Lions coach James Franklin could have opted to kneel, taking a lead into halftime. He didn’t. He went for it in the season opener, calling the play that led to a 67-yard Brenton Strange touchdown.

Porter nearly walked into a pick-six on the game’s second drive before bobbling it into Sheffield’s hands, resulting in a first down. Four plays later, Ji’Ayir Brown unsuccessfully jumped a deep ball.

Purdue’s offense was able to capitalize off a few over-aggressive Nittany Lion defenders. O’Connell, who finished with 356 yards, completing 29 of 58 passes with one touchdown during his sixth season opener, was decisive, firing the ball quickly.

A few depth chart mysteries were revealed Thursday night.

Lee got the start at running back. Penn State’s second drive belonged to Nick Singleton, who flashed big-play potential. He was followed by freshman Kaytron Allen. Rinse and repeat every three possessions with Devyn Ford sprinkled in. Allen led that group with 31 yards on eight attempts followed by Singleton, who had 30 on nine.

Middle linebacker was one of the preseason’s closest positional battles. Tyler Elsdon, the expected starter, took a majority of the reps with Kobe King next in line. Imhotep Charter alumnus Keon Wylie was thrown into the mix sporadically.

» READ MORE:

What originally was expected to be a safety rotation with Brown on one side and a three-man revolving door opposite him turned out to be a two-spot, four-man rotation between Brown, Wheatley, Keaton Ellis, and Jaylen Reed.

Franklin mentioned earlier in the week that Maryland transfer Chop Robinson was expected to see a bulk of the reps whether or not he started. That held true. Incumbent defensive end Nick Tarburton got the start opposite Adisa Isaac, but Robinson spent plenty of the night on the field.