No. 11 Penn State football handles Ball State as fans return to Beaver Stadium, 44-13
Penn State football (2-0) played at Beaver Stadium in front of a full crowd for the first time in nearly two years on Saturday and put on a show for the 105,323 in attendance. The Nittany Lions took down the visiting Ball State Cardinals (1-1), 44-13, to earn the victory.
They outpaced the Cardinals early on in the game, getting up 14-0 in just over nine minutes of game action on the back of an efficient offense and dominant defense.
Redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford and the offense relied on big plays against Wisconsin in the team’s season opener, but looked much more methodical Saturday afternoon against Ball State. The unit put together a 13-play drive, two 8-play drives and a 10-play drive to score its first 24 points of the game.
While the Nittany Lions controlled the game offensively, it once again led to a relatively low time of possession, given the flow of the game. They finished with 34:09 minutes of possession, only 8:18 more than Ball State.
The win moves Penn State to 2-0 as it navigates a difficult first six weeks of the season that will continue next week against the No. 25 Auburn Tigers at Beaver Stadium.
Player of the game
RB Keyvone Lee: Penn State was able to run the ball well against Ball State in large part because a second option behind starter Noah Cain took a step forward. Sophomore Keyvone Lee showed up in a big way for the Nittany Lions, carrying the ball eight times for 68 yards, while adding one reception for 24 yards as a receiver.
He struggled against Wisconsin because he tried to do too much and was often caught for a loss. Against Ball State, he occasionally made the same decision, but instead moved sideways, rather than backward, as he navigated the Cardinals’ defense for openings. Lee will have a chance to spell Cain more frequently if he can keep earning tough yardage while not risking big losses.
Play of the game
Jesse Luketa’s pick-six: With 5:56 left to go in the third quarter, Ball State began a drive with a chance to cut the Penn State lead to two possessions, but that opportunity quickly dissipated. Ball State quarterback Drew Plitt dropped back and tried to find running back Donny Marcus on the outside to pick up some yardage.
Penn State DE/LB Jesse Luketa quickly saw the play develop and abandoned his pass rush, dropping into the area between Plitt and Marcus. The Ball State quarterback tried to get the ball to his running back anyway, but instead Luketa was able to tip the pass to himself for a one-handed interception that he ran back 16 yards for a touchdown to make the score 31-6 and ice the game.
Turning point
The opening kickoff: For a game that was supposed to be a trap for Penn State, it sure seemed over quickly. The Cardinals were over-matched from the start of this one and never made it seem particularly close. The Nittany Lions scored twice in the game’s first 10 minutes to make it 14-0 and it never got closer than two scores again for Ball State.
Penn State put together a complete performance on both sides of the ball and dispatched its opponents in short order, dominating from start to finish.
Stat of the game
6.2: That’s how many yards per play the Nittany Lions averaged in the game. The team’s offense was able to get whatever it wanted throughout the game, and the 6.2 yards per play exemplifies just how helpless the Ball State defense was for most of the game.
Penn State will need to continue proving it can put that kind of performance together against more difficult opponents, but it’s always a good sign when your offense takes care of business when it’s supposed to. Against the Cardinals, the Nittany Lion offense did just that and was able to eliminate any chance of an upset.
Up next
vs. Auburn: Penn State will host its first fully attended White Out game for the first time since 2019 next week when the Nittany Lions take on the Auburn Tigers. The Tigers have been impressive through two weeks, but have faced little to no resistance in their first two game. Wins over Akron and Alabama State have given Auburn its 2-0 record, but provided very little in the way of clarity about the team.
The matchup between the Nittany Lions and Tigers will be both teams’ third game of the year and should be a highly anticipated matchup between two 2-0 Power-5 teams.
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 7:10 PM.
