Penn State postgame updates: A new Sean Clifford, offense? How they crush Minnesota

Sean Clifford and Penn State offense rises up, recovers, dominates

Another distasteful beginning was wiped away and forgotten with the victory fireworks and smoke that ended a late-night Penn State performance.

Who would have predicted what we saw tonight after a dreadful first quarter?

But Sean Clifford and this stuck-in-the-mud offense freed itself and revved the rest of the night against a beaten up but hard-fighting Minnesota Golden Gophers team.

Clifford hung in and began rifling passes to his forgotten tight ends and his scoreless No. 1 receiver. Then his running backs got rolling and ...

The Nittany Lions sprinted away from Minnesota, 45-17.

Clifford produced a highly-efficent 23-of-31 passing effort for 295 yards and four touchdowns with just that one early interception. Rookie running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton combined for 156 rushing yards and the Lions piled up 479 overall.

Meanwhile, Penn State's defense harassed Gophers' rookie QB Athan Kaliakmanis from beginning to end in his first college start. He hung in, too, to his credit and never folded. But he only completed 9-of-22 passes and couldn't begin to keep Minnesota running even in the White Out.

The Lions improve to 6-1 and should move up a bit in the Top 20 before super-star Ohio State comes to Beaver Stadium next Saturday.

Drew Allar in relief, Nick Singleton runs it up

Rookie Drew Allar took over at quarterback to the fans' delight with about nine minutes to play tonight.

He fired a completion to tight end Theo Johnson, for sure.

But his best play?

That was bringing down a high snap and simply handing it off to sports car, Nick Singleton.

The other rookie took the ball and stepped on his jets. He blew through a well-blocked hole in the middle of the line and took off for 30 yards to the end zone.

His touchdown answered a futile Minnesota score a few minutes earlier.

Despite the recovery of Sean Clifford and the pass game, Penn State's freshman runners were thriving tonight, as well.

Kaytron Allen: 15 carries for 77 yards.

Singleton: 13 carries for 79 yards and two scores.

Lions lead, 45-17 with 6:35 to play.

Sean Clifford goes from goat to unstoppable in a night

He started the game with another big mistake and paltry production and even boos from this White Out crowd.

They wanted rookie Drew Allar at quarterback.

And then what happened?

The sixth-year senior steadied himself, began finding his tight ends and then his wideouts. Before long, even his running backs began finding space and openings.

Try these numbers on for Clifford: 23-of-31 passing for 295 yards and four touchdowns.

Yes, four TDs.

The Nittany Lions led 38-10 with still the fourth quarter to play.

Ji'Ayir Brown, Nick Singleton help put away Gophers

There was still more than a quarter to play but Penn State put the hammer down on the Gophers.

Game-ending kind of swings, it felt like.

First, do-it-all safety Ji'Ayir "Tig" Brown made his third interception of the season with Minnesota driving and trying to make it a one-score game again.

The Lions promptly drove the field with short passes and some tough running. A pass interference penalty, though, was a killer for Minnesota (8 penalties overall, 52 yards).

Penn State took advantage. A perfectly-executed run play to Nick Singleton left open space to cover to his left. Singleton accelerated and cruised into the end zone.

He and Kaytron Allen were beginning to steamroll the Minnesota defense, Allen approaching 100 rushing yards on the night.

Penn State leads 31-10 with more than four minutes left in the third quarter.

Sean Clifford to Parker Washington, unreal

It was the kind of play Penn State has simply not produced all season.

Sean Clifford, under duress, chucked the ball high and long in the direction of Parker Washington in the end zone.

The Lions' No. 1 receiver boxed out his defender, leaped and held onto a stunning catch for a 24-10 lead. Has a Penn State receiver won one jump-ball pass all season? We don't think so. The best probably was Mitch Tinsley's sideline catch in the first half, one he pulled in with just one hand.

Plus, this was Washington's first touchdown of the entire season.

What a time for it as the Lions won back momentum lost at the end of the first half.

Minnesota pounds PSU defense, holds on at halftime

Penn State's defense had another big stop within its grasp.

But it allowed a rookie quarterback to drop a perfect long throw down the left sideline for a dramatic catch and first down.

And, in a sense, maybe a lot more.

The play immediately ignited Minnesota's lost offense and it promptly ran itself down the field and drove in a touchdown just before halftime.

The Gophers have only 45 passing yards through two quarters − 33 on that one play. No matter, they need to run the ball behind QB Athan Kaliakmanis making his first college start during a White Out.

Lions lose one of their own:Former Penn State linebacker Bani Gbadyu dies after recent cancer diagnosis

The Mo Ibrahim TD run cut the Penn State lead to 17-10. And the Gophers get the ball back to start the second half.

Ibrahim has struggled to get untracked but he will keep pounding. His 18 first-half carries for 68 yards is below his impressive standards, at least for now.

Penn State, meanwhile, must continue to build on its sudden offensive diversity. Its tight ends had four first-half catches for 99 yards, which sparked the entire attack.

Boos to cheers, Sean Clifford, offense re-invent themselves

It happened in mere moments, it seemed.

Sean Clifford found one tight end throwing, then another, then Penn State scored a touchdown.

And then everything appeared to suddenly work better: the running of Kaytron Allen, a trick play to rookie Omari Evans, a beauty of a sideline throw-and-catch to Mitch Tinsley.

The killer was yet another tight end strike, this time a touchdown down the middle to Theo Johnson.

Suddenly, Clifford looks like an efficient QB again. He's 12-of-17 passing for 175 yards and two touchdowns.

Penn State leads, 17-3. Nine minutes before halftime.

Theo Johnson, Brenton Strange ... then Tyler Warren

Penn State apparently has one of the top-talented tight end rooms in the Big Ten, if not the country.

We wouldn't have known it. At least until tonight.

What a change for the offense and quarterback Sean Clifford and coordinator Mike Yurcich. So far in the first half vs. Minnesota, Lion tight ends have caught three passes, including a wide-open, 38-yard catch-and-run for third-string Tyler Warren.

Earlier, Theo Johnson had his first two big receptions of the season. Rising star Brenton Strange, maybe the team's most improved player, had a reception wiped out by a penalty.

Penn State leads 10-3 with half of the second quarter to play.

Penn State offense hits new lows

Sean Clifford seems to be falling apart with this offense.

After two quick three-and-out series, the senior QB threw long into double coverage and was intercepted. Worse yet, Minnesota returned inside the the 15 yard line.

The Penn State defense has definitely shown up big so far, at least. They have contained star tailback Mo Ibrahim and have made things untenable for rookie quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis.

But the Gophers, gifted that great field position, kicked a mid-range field goal. They lead 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Sean Clifford, Penn State offense starts slow again

It took a sold-out, White Out crowd two failed offensive series and less than seven minutes of game clock.

Boos began drifting over Beaver Stadium as Sean Clifford and his mates left the field.

Hard to blame them, in a sense. Or, at least we understand the impatience. This offense has been stuck in neutral for most of the past month − through two sleepy victories and that demolition defeat at Michigan.

At some point, there needs to be a spark.

So far, Clifford has completed all four of his passes, but for just 18 yards.

Penn State missing players vs. Minnesota

We're scoreless.

The Nittany Lions look to be without their best pass rusher and one of their starting offensive lineman for tonight's White Out vs. Minnesota.

Defensive end Chop Robinson did not go through pregame warmups leading up to the game and was seen wearing sweat and sneakers. Same for starting guard Landon Tengwall, who suffered an undisclosed injury while warming up for Michigan last week.

Though Robinson does not have big stats so far (3.5 tackles for loss, one sack) he has applied the best, consistent pressure on quarterbacks through the first six games. He's a sophomore transfer from Maryland.

Tengwall seemed to be just building into a consistent starter before the injury.

Meanwhile, quarterback Sean Clifford was warming up and appears ready to start again for the Lions, despite an apparent shoulder injury he suffered near the end of the loss to Michigan.

PSU linebackers, defense must lead recovery

James Franklin's teams have not responded well to defeat in the past.

Tonight offers a critical if not imperative means to change that.

Can Penn State afford anything else against Minnesota in the annual White Out game? For Franklin's head coach reputation and for the state of another once-promising season?

Previously highly-regarded Nittany Lion teams followed a crushing defeat with another: Make that four of the past years, starting in 2017.

Penn State is favored by less than a touchdown tonight against a Minnesota team that's lost its past two games and may be without its senior quarterback to injury.

The Lions, with the uncertain health of Sean Clifford, is in a similar position.

Need a victory? All-powerful Ohio State comes to Beaver Stadium next week.

Bani Gbadyu needs help:Nittany Lion fights for life: 'All (he) ever wanted was to put his happiness on everyone.'

And, no matter if Clifford or rookie Drew Allar is leading the team, Penn State's most important recovery must come on defense. The Lions' were repeatedly gashed by Michigan's brute-force run game, for a stunning 400-plus yards.

Minnesota offers a similar power running attack.

"The biggest thing is we're gonna take this one in, we're gonna learn from [it], we're gonna grow from it, and then we're gonna throw it away," defensive end Nick Tarburton said this week. "The biggest thing is just looking forward, man, and growing from your past."

That means playing more duty and detail-oriented at the point of attack. And being able to tackle more soundly and efficiently, particularly in the linebacking level.

Penn State must continue to get big performances from their top-three tacklers and producers − safety Ji'Ayir Brown, rookie linebacker Abdul Carter and defensive tackle PJ Mustipher. They are leading the way each week but need better support.

Starting linebackers Curtis Jacobs, Tyler Elsdon and Jonathan Sutherland have only 3.5 tackles for loss combined. They must be able to force the issue better at scrimmage and must lead the way to slowing down Minnesota tailbcks Mo Ibrahim and Trey Potts.

Follow along here all evening for Frank Bodani's instant updates, analysis and opinion from the Nittany Lions' White Out extravaganza vs. Minnesota.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football: Big Ten White Out vs. Minnesota, Sean Clifford