Freshman QB Christian Veilleux makes his debut as Penn State football shuts out Rutgers on Senior Day
Penn State football earned a win on Senior Day Saturday afternoon, taking down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 28-0, in Beaver Stadium.
The teams’ two offenses were anemic to start the game, with both posting three three-and-outs each in the game’s first quarter. Penn State redshirt starting quarterback Sean Clifford struggled to hit open receivers in the early part of the game and eventually went into the medical tent.
The redshirt senior left the tent and went straight into the tunnel, spurring the debut of true freshman quarterback Christian Veilleux with eight seconds left in the first quarter.
Veilleux didn’t have much luck at first, fumbling a snap in the second quarter, but found a rhythm to break the scoreless tie late in the first half. The true freshman completed three out of three passes for 34 yards on the Nittany Lions’ first scoring drive of the game. He appeared to audible to a play at the line of scrimmage and found senior wide receiver Jahan Dotson open on the move to make it a 7-0 game.
That drive featured the only score of the first half for either team.
Things changed for Penn State in the third quarter when Veilleux was able to get comfortable. The true freshman was able to disperse the ball to open receivers, finishing the game completing 15-of-24 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns.
His performance in the second half helped the Nittany Lions outscore the Scarlet Knights 21-0 in the game’s final 30 minutes.
That allowed Penn State to close out the 28-0 win and move to 7-4 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten on the season.
Player of the game
True freshman Christian Veilleux: With Clifford banged up and forced to leave the game, Veilleux was forced into the first game action of his career and he delivered. The offense didn’t suddenly become prolific but it did become competent after he settled into the game. Outside of a dropped snap in the second quarter, Veilleux played well, finding his open receivers and giving them an opportunity to make plays. This was arguably the best a Penn State quarterback has played since Clifford was injured against Iowa on Oct. 9. The fact that it was Veilleux’s first game action in college makes that even more impressive.
Stat of the game
1,045: That’s how many receiving yards Jahan Dotson has this season. The senior wide receiver eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in the second quarter when he caught a 14-yard pass. He began the game with 993 yards on the year and nine touchdowns, both career highs. Dotson has been by far Penn State’s best receiver this season and by far its best offensive player. He’s been dynamic with and without the ball this season, drawing so much attention that it has opened up space for other players to operate in, even if his teammates haven’t always paid that off with real production.
Dotson is one of the best wide receivers in Penn State program history and may even be at the top of the list by the time he leaves this year.
Up next
at Michigan State: Penn State will close out its regular season next week on the road when it travels to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans have been one of the best teams in the Big Ten this season, defeating Michigan earlier in the year.
They entered the weekend 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big Ten. They were ranked as the No. 7 team in the country in the latest version of the College Football Playoff rankings.
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 3:14 PM.
