Penn State's Sean Clifford, defense bounce back with win over Minnesota [updated]

Oct. 23—The White Out crowd of 109,813 at Beaver Stadium booed sixth-year quarterback Sean Clifford during pregame introductions Saturday night.

By the end of Penn State's 45-17 victory over Minnesota, they cheered him loudly.

Clifford completed 23-of-31 passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns to lead the 16th-ranked Nittany Lions to a convincing bounce-back victory.

"He's just resilient," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "He's done it for a long time here. He's battle-tested. I'm proud of him. I love him. And his teammates have his back. It was great to see him play well tonight."

One week after a 41-17 debacle at Michigan, Penn State (3-1, 6-1) avoided back-to-back losses with a dominant performance and sent Minnesota (1-3, 4-3) to its third consecutive defeat.

With Gophers starting quarterback Tanner Morgan out with a concussion, the Lions made life miserable for backup Athan Kaliakmanis and contained running back Mohamed Ibrahim most of the way.

Ibrahim topped 100 yards for the 15th straight game, but not until the middle of the fourth quarter when the contest had already been decided. He finished with 102 yards, well below his season average of 138.8.

Clifford, whose status was in question after he left the Michigan loss with an apparent shoulder injury, threw touchdown passes to tight ends Tyler Warren and Theo Johnson in the first half and wide receivers Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley in the second half.

"If you look around the country, there are a lot of programs that would be super excited and happy about Sean Clifford being the quarterback," Franklin said, "and what he was able to do tonight against one of the better defenses in the country."

Former Gov. Mifflin star Nick Singleton ran for a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter and a 30-yard score in the fourth for Penn State, which will face second-ranked Ohio State next week at home.

The Gophers began the night ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense (11.7 points per game) and sixth in total defense (263.7 yards). The Lions finished with 479 total yards and had a 175-165 advantage in rushing yards.

Linebackers Curtis Jaocbs and Abdul Carter, a freshman who made his first start, led the charge on defense. Jacobs had 14 tackles and Carter had eight for the Lions, who had seven stops in the backfield one week after Michigan ravaged them for 418 rushing yards, the third-most by a Penn State opponent since 1947.

"We consistently did our job," Franklin said, explaining the defense's performance. "You have to own your gap. We were really consistent in doing that tonight."

The Lions also spoiled the return of Kirk Ciarrocca, their offensive coordinator in 2020 who returned to the Minnesota staff this season after serving in that role from 2017-19.

With Penn State leading 17-10 early in the third quarter, Clifford lobbed a pass under pressure to Washington, who leaped in front of a Minnesota defender and brought it down in the end zone for a 35-yard score.

"I saw that it was going to be one-on-one with Parker," Clifford said. "Just wanted to give him a chance. When it comes to Parker, that's one of his best shots if you can put it up in the air and let him jump for it. Definitely proved it with that one.

"I didn't see it. I actually flipped upside down, which was funny."

In the first half, Clifford gave his critics even more ammunition by throwing an interception, which Justin Walley returned 37 yards to the Penn State 14. The Lions held and forced the Gophers to settle for a field goal.

"We played probably our first complete game of the year, which was nice," Clifford said. "I thought that, other than my interception, there weren't really many flaws."

Clifford responded to his interception by completing a pair of passes to Johnson for 43 yards. Three straight runs netted 7 yards before Jake Pinegar drilled a 41-yard field goal to tie it.

Penn State scored touchdowns on its next two possessions to take a 17-3 lead. Clifford threw a 22-yard screen pass to Singleton and then found Warren behind the Minnesota defense for a 38-yard score.

Kaytron Allen made two strong runs for 23 yards before Clifford connected with Tinsley for 30 yards and then to Johnson for an 18-yard touchdown.

To that point, the Lions had held Minnesota to 56 total yards. But the Gophers climbed back in it with a nine-play, 90-yard drive that Ibrahim capped with a 3-yard score to make it 17-10 at the half.

Kaliakmanis completed just 2-of-8 passes in the first 30 minutes, but he hit Lemeke Brockington for a 33-yard gain on third-and-8 from the Minnesota 12. Kaliakmanis scrambled twice for 27 yards before Ibrahim scored.

Penn State found itself in a battle despite outgaining the Gophers 252-146 in the first half. The Lions, though, broke it open with three touchdowns in the third quarter.

"I'm just proud of the entire staff and the players to come out here and play a complete game," Franklin said. "We started a little slow, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But overall (I'm) very, very pleased with how we played tonight."