It is often said in football, that the final score was not indicative of how close a game was. Central Michigan played a very tight game with Penn State through most of the first half. The PSU Defense rose to the occasion in the 2nd half. The Nittany Lions Defense pitched a shutout in the 2nd half and PSU came away with a hard fought 33-14 victory Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium.
Penn State only outgained CMU by 40 yards and had only 1 more first down. There was also less than a minute difference in time of possession between the two teams. The key to the game was the four turnovers forced by Penn State. A muffed punt by Central Michigan early in the third quarter was the turning point of the game. It led to a Penn State touchdown to make it 27-14 and the Nittany Lions never looked back.
Kaytron Allen led the Penn State ground game with 111 yards and a TD. Sean Clifford was efficient going 22-34 for 217 yards and three short TDs. One of the defensive stalwarts was Sophomore LB Curtis Jacobs. Curtis was solid all game long and recovered a muffed punt on special teams. Penn State has been the beneficiary of eight turnovers the last two games.
Penn State started strong. The Nittany Lions opening possession ended with a Sean Clifford to Mitchell Tinsley short TD toss
Here is the Clifford to Tinsley score to make it 7-0 https://t.co/LOW6O1roLa pic.twitter.com/8Y5ttOnxW8
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
Penn State continued to execute well on offense. It became 14-0 as Clifford hit Brenton Strange
Here was the toss to put PSU up 14-0 https://t.co/ikgD4q0eyT pic.twitter.com/pse201PzRe
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
Central Michigan began to have success in quarter two. CMU pulled even with Penn State with 4:25 remaining in the first half.
Here is the video highlight https://t.co/IXc4zV6FKK pic.twitter.com/QvlKP4DoTk
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
Here was @CMU_Football 2nd TD of the first half. https://t.co/BdPOdTYBJJ pic.twitter.com/hZjgc3O3Cn
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
Penn State grabbed back momentum going into halftime on this Kaytron Allen scamper.
Kaytron Allen’s late first half TD was huge for PSU. https://t.co/1Th6Z0lH1b pic.twitter.com/gT5hhb36Cl
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
Early in the Third quarter Penn State recovered a punt and quickly took advantage. Another short TD pass from Clifford to Strange made it 27-14.
A quick score in the 3rd quarter kept all the momentum with Penn State. https://t.co/mTSUQzBJAf pic.twitter.com/jw2dCrc5UE
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
The defense for the Nittany Lions had a great second half. Here is a 4th down stop near the goal line in quarter three
The Penn State D was big time in the 2nd half. https://t.co/WSMyQNMaF9 pic.twitter.com/ql7WIbkCyj
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
Sean Clifford snuck one across to make it a 33-14 as we entered quarter four. The Nittany Lions D did the rest.
The @PennStateFball D has come up big in the 2nd half. Big sack here by Dani Dennis-Sutton and PSU pulls away from @CMU_Football and notches a 33-14 victory today @PremiunSports @BruteAthApparel @BadgleyBruce pic.twitter.com/FS4SQOnXyJ
— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) September 24, 2022
