By Brant Daughtry

Happy Valley, Loveliest Village

James Franklin is in his 9th season as the coach at Penn State, a feat that should be admired. Any head coach that can stay at a big time program for more than five years has done some impressive things. And Franklin’s resume certainly fits that bill. Playing in the same conference as teams like Ohio State and Michigan, Franklin has three finishes in the top 10 with the Nittany Lions, and won the conference in 2016.

Auburn and Penn State are playing the second leg of a home-and-home, and the two matchups prior to this both were in Bowl games in Orlando, Florida. As of the time of this writing, Auburn in 1-2 all time against them.

Penn State had a decent start to the season last year starting 5-0, including beating Auburn in a hyped out-of-conference showdown, but stumbled down the stretch to finish 7-6, including a blowout loss to Arkansas in the Outback Bowl.

This season, Penn State is 2-0, grinding out a tough win over Purdue in week 1 and running away from overmatched Ohio in week 2. Quarterback Sean Clifford is in his 3rd season as the starter for Penn State, and despite the grumblings of some fans, has performed pretty well, and looks to have improved incrementally this season. This season, Clifford is completing 61% of his passes, and has thrown five touchdowns to 1 interception.

Last season against Auburn was one of the best games of his career, as he went 28-of-32 for 280 yards and two touchdowns. Auburn did a poor job of pass rushing in that game, something the Tigers will have to improve on in this matchup.

Their defense has yet to be really tested this season, and it can be argued they won’t have a super intimidating test this week, but they have performed up to expectations. They’ve held opponents to an average of 20 points per game, and forced one turnover.

Players to Watch For: 

Wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley, #5- Auburn fans may remember Johan Dotson from last years’ Penn State game. He caught 10 passes for 78 yards and one score in that contest, and while Dotson is off to the NFL, the Lions are attempting to replace that production with Tinsley. Tinsley is in his first season with Penn State, but the graduate transfer was a standout over the past few seasons with Western Kentucky. He’s been Clifford’s favorite target this season, catching 10 passes so far for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

Safety Ji’Ayir Brown, #16- Brown doesn’t have too many stats to speak of, although he is second on the team with 10 tackles. Last season, however, Brown led Penn State with six interceptions to go along with 73 tackles, good for third on the team.

Personally, I think this is a matchup that will be dictated by quarterback play. Auburn quarterbacks half to limit the mistakes they’ve made, and Auburn has to adjust to avoid the mistakes it made last year that allowed Sean Clifford to look dominant. I think this will be a very close, competitive game, that’s won by the team that makes fewer mistakes. As every great game should be.