Penn State football can’t complete comeback against Nebraska, falls to 0-4 on the season
The Penn State Nittany Lions continued to slide further toward rock bottom on Saturday afternoon with a 30-23 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. This marks just the second 0-4 start to a season in program history for the Nittany Lions.
Once again, Penn State didn’t appear ready to play from the opening kick. Two first half turnovers — an interception by redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford that was returned for 55 yards and a fumble by Clifford returned for a touchdown early in the second quarter — helped Nebraska gain momentum. By halftime, the Nittany Lions were in a 21-point hole.
Backup quarterback redshirt sophomore Will Levis came in for Clifford early in the second quarter and had some success, but it wasn’t quite enough. Clifford finished five-of-eight passing for 37 yards, an interception and a fumble. Levis ended the afternoon 14-of-31 passing for 219 yards, while adding 61 yards on the ground on 18 carries.
Penn State is now 0-4 for the first time since 2001, while Nebraska moves to 1-2.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
QB Will Levis: Though the Penn State coaching staff seemed hesitant to let Levis air it out at first, the 6-foot-3, 222-pound quarterback didn’t look bad when he did throw it down the stretch.
In the Nittany Lions’ second drive of the third quarter, Levis had a turning point when he completed a 21-yard pass to junior receiver Jahan Dotson. The completion allowed Penn State to march into Nebraska territory. Two plays later, freshman running back Keyvone Lee capitalized off that momentum with a 31-yard touchdown run to cut his team’s deficit to 14 points with 7:51 to go in the third quarter.
On Penn State’s first play of its next drive, Levis had a nice pass to freshman receiver Parker Washington for an 11-yard gain. Levis also rushed for 25 yards on that possession. He did enough to allow junior kicker Jake Pinger to drill a 27-yard field goal, making the score 27-16 toward the end of the third quarter.
And then with about 10 minutes left in the contest, Levis rolled left out of the pocket to evade pressure and launched a bomb down the field to junior tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 74-yard completion. The play set up a five-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore running back Devyn Ford two plays later and cut the Cornhuskers’ lead to seven.
PLAY OF THE GAME
LB Ellis Brooks’ sack in third quarter: After Lee’s 31-yard dash to the end zone made it a two-possession game, the question became whether the Penn State defense could hold its own to give the Nittany Lions a legitimate chance at a comeback.
Penn State’s defense responded.
Redshirt junior linebacker Ellis Brooks helped force a three-and-out for the defense by dropping Nebraska quarterback Luke McCaffrey for a loss of four yards on a sack. It forced the Cornhuskers to punt for just the second time all game. But more importantly, it marked the first time that Nittany Lions players were visibly excited on the field and on the sideline.
Dotson returned the punt that followed for 21 yards. It capped off arguably the best sequence of the season for the Nittany Lions.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
QB Will Levis’ accuracy: After Levis first came in for the benched Clifford at the 11:29 mark of the second quarter, he only threw five times for the rest of the quarter. But after halftime, Penn State’s coaching staff allowed Levis to start airing it out. And Levis delivered in crucial moments.
Two plays that stick out in particular are his 74-yard pass to Freiermuth and a clutch completion to freshman receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith on 4th-and-five with less than seven minutes left in the contest and the Nittany Lions down by seven points.
Levis has received praise for his bulldozing ability as a runner — which was also on display Saturday — but he showed he can get it done with his arm, too. And his performance might just have been enough to keep Clifford on the bench for the rest of the season.
UP NEXT
vs. Iowa: Even though the result was the same for Penn State yet again in its fourth consecutive loss, the Nittany Lions have reasons to be optimistic moving forward with their second-half performance with Levis leading the way.
Penn State will try to carry that momentum into its matchup with Iowa next Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 3:32 PM.
