STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Jaquan Brisker broke up a desperation pass toward the end zone by Auburn’s Bo Nix as time expired and No. 10 Penn State held on to beat No. 22 Auburn 28-20 on Saturday night.
Sean Clifford completed 28 of 32 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns as Penn State (3-0) welcomed back its white out crowd to Beaver Stadium for a rare visit from a Southeastern Conference teams.
Jahan Dotson added 10 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown, tight end Brenton Strange caught a touchdown and tight end Tyler Warren and Noah Cain ran for scores to help the Nittany Lions beat an SEC opponent for the first time since.
Penn State had to make two late defensive stand to make the lead hold. First, they kept Auburn (2-1) out of the end zone after a first-and-goal at the 10. An incomplete fade from the 2 on fourth down with 3:08 left gave Penn State the ball back, but the Nittany Lions could not run out the whole clock.
Auburn managed to get to the Penn State 23 with 3 seconds left. Nix fired deep down the middle but Brisker cut in front Demetris Robertson a few steps in front of the goal line and knocked it down.
Tank Bigsby scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and Anders Carlson added two field goals for the Tigers, who lost their 10th straight road game to a top-10 team since 2014.
Penn State had no white out last year because the pandemic meant no fans. The Nittany Lions broke it out early this season for Auburn’s first trip to a Big Ten stadium since 1931 against Wisconsin.
A sea of white with specks of Auburn orange was hyped throughout, pom poms waving and singing along to “Sweet Caroline” to start the fourth quarter.
Despite the raucous atmosphere made up of more than 109,000 fans, the Tigers never looked rattled.
Bisgby ran for 102 hard yards and Nix was 21 for 37 for 185 yards and no turnovers.
UP NEXT
Auburn: Hosts Georgia State.
Penn State: Hosts Villanova.
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