Penn State football: Three defining moments from Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas
Penn State Nittany Lions football suffered a 24-10 loss to Arkansas in the Outback Bowl, finishing its season at 7-6.
Let’s take a look at the three plays that defined the defeat for Penn State.
Bizarre sequence puts Razorbacks up on Penn State early
The game reached a pressure point early on, when the Razorbacks ventured into the Penn State red zone with the game still scoreless.
The Nittany Lions forced Arkansas into a fourth-and-2 situation, and Sam Pittman aggressively elected to go for it rather than taking the easy three points.
It appeared the Razorbacks had started early on the play, leading to some confusion on the Penn State defense.
The officials allowed the play to go ahead, and Arkansas picked up the first down.
Arkansas running back Rocket Sanders carried it in on the very next play to put the Razorbacks on the scoreboard first.
Arkansas sets the second-half tone
Penn State’s patched-together defense did about as much as you could ask from it in the first half, holding the Razorbacks to seven points and generating a pair of takeaways.
Arkansas broke through in the final 30 minutes, though, and showed its intent with the opening drive of the second half.
The Razorbacks ran the ball on all seven plays of the drive, marching 75 yards down the field for six points.
Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson finished off the drive with an eight-yard score.
It gave Arkansas a 14-10 lead, undoing all of the good work the depleted Nittany Lions did in the first half. It turned out to be all the points the Razorbacks would need.
Penn State went three-and-out on its ensuing offensive drive, and the Razorbacks kicked a field goal to make it 17-10.
Clifford interception seals the deal
Down 14 points with a defense struggling to keep the Arkansas running game at bay, Penn State needed points in the second half.
Sean Clifford used his legs to help maneuver the Nittany Lions into the Arkansas red zone for the first time in the second half at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Penn State had second-and-5 from the Arkansas 15-yard line, in a good position to cut the deficit to one score.
After nicely eluding an Arkansas defender in the backfield, Clifford tried to force a ball to Theo Johnson in the corner of the end zone that was intercepted.
It kept the Arkansas lead comfortable, and allowed the Razorbacks to take more time off the clock.
