Highs and Lows: Rutgers

Penn State football had its work cut out for it Saturday against Rutgers,. hobbled by injury and illness.

Hosting the Scarlet Knights for senior day at Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions showed it.

Trudging through a slog of a first half, including the departure of starting quarterback Sean Clifford to injury, on top of a rash of absences along the Nittany Lions’ offensive line, Penn State eventually emerged.

Led by a solid first game experience for true freshman quarterback Christian Veilleux, Penn State pushed ahead to secure a 28-0 win to improve to 7-4 on the 2021 season. The performance was the Nittany Lions’ second shutout of the year.

Here, a look at the highs and lows from the game:

PLAYER OF THE GAME Christian Veilleux performed more than just serviceably in relief of a sick and hurt Clifford Saturday afternoon. Completing 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns, the true freshman signal-caller helped deliver a desperately needed win to the Nittany Lions in their final home game of the 2021 season.

PLAY OF THE GAME Veilleux’s throw under duress, and Parker Washington’s contested catch, were both remarkable on Penn State’s second touchdown of the afternoon Saturday. Slowly plodding up the field, the Nittany Lions hit paydirt when the QB and receiver connected for a 17-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to take a 14-0 lead. 

BEST PASS Facing a critical juncture in the game, Veilleux delivered a picture-perfect touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson with 1:03 left to play in the first half. Rolling to his right on third-and-goal from the 8-yard line, the true freshman flicked one right on target to the senior receiver to give the Nittany Lions their first score and a 7-0 lead.

BEST RUN Keyvone Lee’s 7-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter was only the 11th rushing score of the season for the Nittany Lions. Taking the pitch from Veilleux, Lee trotted into the end zone as Penn State fans headed for the exits at Beaver Stadium, feeling secure with a 28-0 lead. 

BEST CATCH The catch itself wasn’t necessarily difficult, but since Washington already staked his claim to the Play of the Game, we’re going to give Malick Meiga’s first career touchdown the nod here. Finding himself wide open behind the Rutgers’ defense, the redshirt freshman receiver reeled in Veilleux’s easy pass to convert a 67-yard touchdown and take a 21-0 lead late in the third quarter.

WORST DROP Had Kalen King made the play, his near-interception late in the first quarter might have been the play of the game. With nothing but open field in front of his jumped route, the freshman corner was unable to haul in the pick en route to the end zone. 

BEST SACK Coziah Izzard notched Penn State’s first sack of the day when he caught up to a scrambling Noah Vedral at the sideline right in front of the Nittany Lions’ bench. The 6-yard loss sent the Scarlet Knights into a second-and-21 situation midway through the second quarter.

BEST HIT Protecting its shutout with Rutgers threatening points early in the fourth quarter, the convergence of Jaquan Brisker and Arnold Ebiketie on Vedral ended that particular prospect for the Knights. The sack-fumble delivered possession to the Nittany Lions at the 15-yard line with 12:34 remaining in the game. 

BEST EFFORT Penn State’s defense was again as good as advertised, no matter the illnesses, injuries, and absences, or the heavy lift it has to perform in light of the Nittany Lions’ offensive deficiencies. On Rutgers’ 12 offensive possessions, the Scarlet Knights reached the red zone just once.

BEST KICK Four times on Saturday, Rutgers’ starting field position was inside their 10-yard line as a result of outstanding punts from Penn State senior specialist Jordan Stout. None were nicer than his third-quarter effort pinning the Scarlet Knights to their 3. 

BEST DECISION The decision behind Penn State promoting Veilleux to the second-string job behind Clifford ahead of Ta’Quan Roberson may or may not have been difficult for James Franklin and his coaching staff. Still, it proved to be the necessary, correct call on Saturday afternoon against Rutgers. Though a drastically different caliber opponent than what Roberson faced in relief of an injured Clifford at Iowa, Veilleux’s performance was what Penn State needed to secure a critically necessary win.

MOST TELLING MOMENT At 12:44 p.m., with eight seconds remaining on the clock in the first quarter, Veilleux took his first career snap as a Nittany Lion. In the game in relief of Clifford, who spent pregame warmups hooked up to an IV, then exited to the locker room late in the quarter, Veilleux was the Nittany Lions’ best option at the position and met the moment with a performance free of major mistakes and a few very nice throws and decisions.