Penn State Football: causes for concern for Nittany Lions’ road trip to Auburn

This week, Penn State Football heads south to take on the Auburn Tigers in what will be one of the biggest swing games of the Nittany Lions’ season. The outcomes of games like this are the difference between 10-2 and 7-5.

Penn State is currently a slight road favorite, is the more talented team on paper, and has already been road tested in their win at Purdue; but nevertheless, there are still some causes for concern for fans in this marquee non-conference matchup.

Let’s take a look at the three biggest causes for concern for Penn State Football this weekend when they do battle with the Auburn Tigers.

Cause for concern #1 – Penn State’s run defense vs Auburn’s running game

Through two games, Penn State Football has faced two pass-happy offenses. That’s all going to change in week three, as Auburn likes to run the ball, and they do it very well.

The Tigers are led by a two-headed monster in Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter at running back.

Last season, the Nittany Lions held Bigsby well below his season average. He averaged 8.8 yards per carry in 2021, but averaged just 4.4 against Penn State. On the flip side, Hunter averaged 5.1 yards per carry last season, but averaged 7 at Penn State.

This is a new season, though, and there are many new faces on this Penn State defense.

So far, the linebackers seem like the biggest weakness of the unit, leading to some concern as to just how well they’ll be able to contain Bigsby and Hunter. Through two games, Bigsby is averaging 6.8 yards per carry and Hunter 4.7.

Additionally, backup quarterback Robby Ashford is second on the team in rushing with 129 yards at a 9.9 yards per carry clip. Surely the Tigers will look to get him involved to some degree, though exactly how much remains to be seen. One thing is for sure though, when he is out there, it will be that much more difficult for Penn State to slow down the running game; and if it’s effective, they’ll likely stick with it until the Nittany Lions prove they can stop it.

This was a cause for concern going into last year’s matchup against the Tigers, but the Nittany Lions were able to limit the running game enough to come away with the win. Hopefully that’s the case again this time around.