Penn State football 44, Ball State 13: Here’s what happened and what we thought
CDT staff reports
Follow along as Centre Daily Times writers Jon Sauber and Kyle J. Andrews critique Penn State football’s home opener against the Ball State Cardinals at Beaver Stadium, and visual journalist Abby Drey captures scenes from on the field.
Penn State dominated Ball State on both sides of the ball on Saturday, rolling to a convincing 44-13 victory over Ball State in its home opener in front of 105,323 fans.
Here’s what happened:
Penn State is now 2-0 after taking down Ball State, 44-13, at Beaver Stadium. Next up is Auburn in the White Out.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Roberson hits a wide open Theo Johnson for a 23-yard touchdown to make it 44-13.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Caziah Holmes is in at running back.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
And here comes Roberson. https://t.co/JPtTLWY9Q6
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Ball State's first touchdown of the day comes with 6:58 left in the game. Freshman RB Carson Steele takes it in to make it 37-13.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Tyler Rudolph has been disqualified for targeting. He'll miss the first half of next week's game against Auburn.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Stout continues to hit from in close this week, making that field goal from 22 yards out to make it 37-6.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
This just in: Jahan Dotson is very good.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
Hardy did a nice job of tracking that ball in the air and beating the receiver to the spot. https://t.co/zGF6uALOd9
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Stout converts on 26-yard field goal for Penn State. 1:53 remaining in the third quarter and it's 34-6 Penn State. 5-play, 63-yard drive.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
We didn't see Sean Clifford take off much last week but that's now two big runs for him today.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Great play by Tiig Brown to come all the way across the field and break up the Ball State deep shot.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Jesse Luketa just earned Penn State's first defensive touchdown of the year. Tipped Plitt's pass to himself and ran it back 16 yards to make it 31-6.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Today's attendance: 105,323.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Jordan Stout misses a 45-yard field goal. 12-play, 70-yard drive.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
Well, Penn State stopped handing it to Lee and the drive ended with a missed field goal. https://t.co/PKHXMSDaVw
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Second half about to get going! #WeAre https://t.co/TcxBdxH3wP
— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) September 11, 2021
My mistake - 24-6 at the half! Sorry about that - need some water!
— Abby Drey (@ADreyPhotos) September 11, 2021
Penn State has 261 total yards to Ball State's 153. 11.1 yards per completion for the Nittany Lions to the Cardinals 7.9 ypc. Ball State has actually led the time of possession, but it's more or less due to Penn State scoring quickly -- 15:42 to 14:18.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
Ball State settles for a field goal once again from in close after Penn State's defense tightens up in the redzone. 24-6, Penn State leads at the half.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Marquis Wilson has gotten snaps at both WR and CB in this one.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Credit to the right side of the offensive line for getting out and blocking on the screen to spring Dotson.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
There's a Cam Sullivan-Brown reception.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Dotson split the coverage, but Clifford didn't lead him enough on that one.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Curtis Jacobs just got through untouched to bring down Drew Plitt. Looked like a stunt from the defensive line to open the gap for Jacobs.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Brandon Smith just met Carson Steele in the hole and absolutely planted him.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State will punt for the first time today after a three-and-out. Those drives will happen with the tempo Yurcich employs.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Ball State is doing everything it can to get Justin Hall going but Penn State continues to swarm him on every touch.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Stout hits from 45 yards out to make it 17-3.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Clifford just missed KeAndre Lambert-Smith there. Ball State pressure forced him to get rid of it quickly.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Marquis Wilson getting some snaps at WR to start the drive.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State gets the stop and holds Ball State to a field goal to make it 14-3. Cardinals got Justin Hall more involved there, as they should. He's their best weapon and should finish with 15+ targets.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Really good first quarter for Penn State that could look even better if the defense manages to hold up in the redzone to start the second.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
With 35 passing yards on the first drive, Sean Clifford became the 10th Penn State quarterback to reach the 5,000 career passing yards mark.
— Kris Petersen (@GoPSUKris) September 11, 2021
Ball State showing signs of life on offense, picking up four first downs so far on this drive.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Most importantly for Penn State, Sean Clifford has looked comfortable from the jump in the first 9+ minutes of the game. A far cry from last season and the first half of last week.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Surgical.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
Penn State goes on an 8-play, 76-yard drive with a 1-yard Sean Clifford rushing TD. XP is good by Stout and the Nittany Lions lead 14-0 with 5:53 remaining. Clifford made a few plays with his arm and now is up to 9-for-10 on passes for 103 yards.
Stout hits another extra point. Penn State doing a good job of improving off its flaws from last week so far.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State is imposing its will on both sides of the ball at this point. This was a potential trap game, but any notion of that coming to fruition is essentially gone.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Oregon just knocked off Ohio State at The Horseshoe with the Buckeye defense looking less than stellar. That's good news for Penn State.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State's defense is still excellent. That is all.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Drew Plitt and company can't get the Ball State offense going. It's their second consecutive three-and-out and Penn State has a chance to put some more heat on them.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
13 play, 78-yard drive resulting in a touchdown for Penn State. XP is good by Jordan Stout and the Nittany Lions 7-0 with 10:01 remaining in the first quarter. Noah Cain scores on a 5-yard rushing touchdown. He currently has 5 carries for 23 yards and a touchdown. 1 rec, 15 yards
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
Jordan Stout hits the extra point to make it 7-0. Penn State couldn't have started this game any better.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State faced almost no resistance on its way to that touchdown. That kind of sustained drive was something the offense lacked in the opener.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Chalking up to be a pretty big game for Noah Cain. He's been heavily involved in the game so far.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
@therealnoahcain STRIKES a TD on @PennStateFball's first drive
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) September 11, 2021
E L E C T R I C crowd at Beaver stadium. ️ pic.twitter.com/xUMqDBJDU4
Noah Cain's balance once again gets him extra yards. He's nearly impossible to bring down in the open field with an arm tackle.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State forces a quick 3-and-out. Defense already building off what it did last week.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Jordan Stout just sent the ball into the Blue Band with his kickoff for a touchback.
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
Penn State will defer to the second half. Ball State will open the game with the ball.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State takes the field in front of a full Beaver Stadium crowd for the first time in nearly two years. pic.twitter.com/NTcgFeT4mM
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
LG Eric Wilson announced as a starter for Penn State.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
DT Hakeem Beamon is also not wearing pads. He didn't travel last week, along with Ellis and Lovett.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Penn State safety Keaton Ellis is not in pads during warmups.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
Fans sure are happy to be back in Happy Valley today! Views from team arrival, https://t.co/6pZ3E1tjZt pic.twitter.com/fKXPgpfoyZ
— Abby Drey (@ADreyPhotos) September 11, 2021
Beaver Stadium pic.twitter.com/rI4Ork3tTo
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 11, 2021
It’s been 651 days since the last Penn State team arrival. pic.twitter.com/bSjBNbNEhR
— Elton Hayes (@EHDC12) September 11, 2021
It’s already rocking here. #PennState pic.twitter.com/XitV7kyeUh
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) September 11, 2021
Some pregame reading before kickoff.
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) September 11, 2021
3 questions that will determine the game:https://t.co/3uDrCpvwGv
What to know before traveling here:https://t.co/MJgeohx8WB
How Arnold Ebiketie plans to build off his big Penn State debut:https://t.co/yfiutPX9gE
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 1:32 PM.