Penn State Football grades: Sean Clifford powers in over Michigan State
Penn State football stacked their third consecutive victory Saturday, defeating Michigan State 39-24 and keeping the Land Grant trophy home in State College.
Penn State football overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit Saturday afternoon, roaring back to defeat the Spartans 39-24 and keeping the Land Grant trophy at home in Happy Valley.
Things looked dicey after two quarters in which the Penn State defense was chopped up by Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne for two long touchdown passes. The Nittany Lions did well with halftime adjustments on both sides of the ball, locking the Spartans up in the second half, holding them to three points. A key red zone stand late in the third quarter by the defense holding the Spartans to a field goal kept the lead at one score, allowing the offense to stay in the game.
Quarterback Sean Clifford and the Nittany Lions’ offense picked up the defense, responding with a 49 yard touchdown pass to freshman Parker Washington to take the lead and never look back. Special teams got in on the fun as well, when junior Jahan Dotson took a punt back for an 81 yard punt return touchdown, putting the Nittany Lions in the lead for good.
Here are three player grades from Saturday’s win and a game MVP:
WR Parker Washington
Grade: A-
The freshman from Sugar Land, Texas has been all the coaching staff could have hoped for and then some, after naming him a starting wide receiver week one coming out of camp.
Washington was on the receiving end of both of Clifford’s touchdown passes Saturday, finishing the game with four receptions for 95 yards and two scores.
His first one came on a crucial drive to begin the second half, down 11 the Nittany Lions needed a score and Washington responded. The freshman went up and got an eight yard pass from Clifford in the back of the end zone on second and goal to cut the lead to a field goal.
Down six early in the fourth quarter, Penn State Football got the ball back needing a score to take control and Washington caught a 49 yard touchdown pass on a nice play design by offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. Clifford pump faked a screen pass and Washington released up the field, caught the ball in space and then made two defenders miss, zig zagging his way into the end zone.
The Clifford to Washington connection gets better every week.