Penn State starting lineup changes; 2 freshmen, including Christian Veilleux, debut, and more notes
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State leads Rutgers 7-0 at halftime.
The Nittany Lions were forced to make starting lineup changes due to availability issues prior to kickoff. Later, quarterback Christian Veilleux was forced into action. The home team still has a lead, though, despite all of that.
Here are our first half notes from Beaver Stadium.
What happened at quarterback for Penn State?
Starter Sean Clifford did not lead the Lions through warmups. Instead, Veilleux did, as Ta’Quan Roberson was not on the sideline for this game.
That news led many (including this reporter) to assume that Veilleuix would start. But, then, Clifford emerged in pads for the Senior Day ceremony and threw warmup tosses to Jahan Dotson. Big Ten Network reported that his earlier absence was due to the fact that he was receiving fluids prior to kickoff. Remember: James Franklin said that a non-COVID illness was impacting some members of the team earlier this week.
At any rate, Clifford started but was inaccurate. He engineered four drives for a total of 32 yards on 14 plays. He was two of eight for 23 yards when the last one ended. After it, he went first to the sideline injury tent and then to the locker room.
It meant that Veilleux, who has not taken a game snap since 2019 at any level, was forced into action at the end of the first quarter. The freshman from Canada completed his first pass in blue and white to Parker Washington and tossed his first touchdown to Jahan Dotson on an eight-yard strike late in the first half. He finished the first 30 minutes five of seven for 46 yards and a score.
We’ll see what happens in the second half, but it will more likely than not be No. 9 under center the rest of the way with Roberson seemingly not here and Clifford unavailable for at least the time being.
Penn State makes starting lineup changes
It’s unclear how many of the changes were made due to illness versus injury or availability, but there were many of them regardless.
The starting offensive line had been Rasheed Walker–Eric Wilson–Mike Miranda–Juice Scruggs–Caedan Wallace from left-to-right. Today, it was Bryce Effner-Wilson-Scruggs-Anthony Whigan-Wallace. Before long, though, Wallace would exit, Effner would move to the right side, and a new offensive lineman would be added to the mix. More on that below.
It should also be noted that, besides Roberson, back John Lovett was not seen on the sideline. Keyvone Lee unsurprisingly drew the start for Penn State at that spot. Finally, on defense, Jonathan Sutherland started at linebacker for Curtis Jacobs, who did not appear to be on the sideline, either.
Tengwall makes his debut, too
Franklin has said for weeks that freshman offensive tackle Landon Tengwall could make his debut in blue and white. Up until Saturday, it hadn’t happened.
The former four-star recruit has now seen the field, though. He came in for Wallace after the first Penn State drive and played each that followed at left tackle. Effner slid to the right side at that point.
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