PENN ST-AUBURN: Big plays elude Tigers in close loss

By TIM GAYLE

For three quarters, 22nd-ranked Auburn handled everything 10th-ranked Penn State could throw at them.

The Tigers handled the crowd of 109,958 fans at Beaver Stadium, the largest crowd to ever watch Auburn play a football game. They handled the intimidating “White Out” by the fans and the Nittany Lions’ defense. 

 But when it counted most, Auburn couldn’t make a play, falling to Penn State 28-20 on Saturday night.

In the end, a botched trick play by the Tigers led to a Penn State touchdown and a fourth-and-goal play from the Penn State 2 turned the ball over on downs, followed by a crucial pass interference call that allowed the Nittany Lions to take the clock to under a minute before punting the ball back to the Tigers.

“I felt like we put ourselves in position to win and didn’t,” said Auburn coach Bryan Harsin, losing for the first time as an Auburn coach. “So that hurts. It should. Now we have to take that and learn from it.”

The Tigers trailed by four but had the ball to start the second half. A play designed for Auburn receiver Kobe Hudson turned into a nightmare as Hudson lost the handle on the ball (as well as 10 yards), turning it over on the Auburn 20. The Nittany Lions turned the mistake into points as tight end Tyler Warren, a former high school quarterback, scored from Wildcat formation on a 2-yard dive to give the Nittany Lions a 21-10 lead.

“We thought we had something (from) watching film,” Harsin said. “It was going to be a good call for us. And we fumbled the ball. Any time there’s a turnover in a game that becomes a major factor. That did not get us off on the fast track that we wanted coming out.”

Auburn would come back and score the next 10 points to pull within 21-20, only to see Penn State score another touchdown. Auburn marched into the red zone, but facing fourth and goal at the 2, Bo Nix lofted a pass for the back right corner of the end zone as Hudson became entangled with a Penn State defender at the goal line and both fell to the ground. 

“I have to go back and look at it on exactly what happened and see where we can play at to get the result that we wanted,” Harsin said. “There are four options, really five, and Kobe was one of them. I’ve got to go back (and watch film) before making any comment on whether that was the right decision. We've got to go back and watch and see where the progression starts. And that's really the one things with the quarterback position, sometimes those plays don't work out and the main question is whether he made the wrong read.”

Auburn got the ball back in the final seconds, but didn’t have enough time to make a serious threat at tying the game. For the Tigers, there was some frustration in the fact the offense had some success running the ball, but didn’t stick with it; had some success passing the ball but couldn’t consistently make plays; and never seemed to put much of a pass rush on Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, who was 28 of 32 for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“There was one (play where) he stood back there for what seemed like about 10 seconds early in the game,” Harsin recalled. “I thought we got a better pass rush after that. You got to find ways to get after the quarterback and you got to find ways to get the ball off his hand.”

Linebacker Chandler Wooten, who led the Tigers in tackles, said Auburn’s defense needed to be more assertive.

“We didn't stop the pass efficiently enough, allowed too many explosive plays,” he said. “We didn't stop the run the way we wanted to. We all have to be better -- safeties, corners, linebackers -- it's not just a one-person game.”

Clifford, as expected, praised his offensive line 

“They came in clutch,” he said. “I mean, it's hard to actually say they came in clutch because they do it every day. I have so much trust in those guys. I really believe they are the best in the country and they showed it on a national stage tonight.”

Bo Nix completed 21 of 37 passes for 185 yards, while Tank Bigsby rushed for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries. Jarquez Hunter added 63 yards on nine carries.

“We needed to get some explosive (pass) plays, get opportunities to do that,” Harsin said. “We needed to catch the ball and we needed to be in the right areas in the pass concept, so that just goes back to that those are things that we have to work on on this team. We'll work on it to get better at it. There will be other opportunities and games moving forward as well. Explosive plays become a difference in any game, not just this game, but you can hit some of those explosives in the pass game. We did - we had a few of them. We want to create more of those and give ourselves some opportunities to do that.”

As the Nittany Lions replayed a defensive strategy employed in a season opening win against Wisconsin, the red zone defense turned out to be the deciding factor in Saturday’s game. 

“Defensively, we bend but don't break,” he said. “And we, for the most part, keep people out of the end zone and we make big time plays at critical moments. I think we have a really good mentality on defense. I think our leadership is really good. I think we're a mentally tough football team. I think we're a physically tough football team. We give up some yards, but we make critical plays when it matters most. And we're able to either get turnovers or hold people to field goals more times than not.

Penn State (3-0) remains home to play undefeated Villanova next week. Auburn (2-1) returns home to face Georgia State at Jordan-Hare Stadium.