Penn State has spent two seasons in the second or third tier of the Big Ten, passed by Michigan State, Iowa and Wisconsin, and lapped several times over by conference powers Ohio State and Michigan.
Hopes that this year will find the Nittany Lions back near the top of the league and in the mix for the New Year’s Six aren’t necessarily validated by Thursday’s 35-31 win at Purdue, one of the top teams from the Big Ten West.
But in escaping what would have been a colossal setback to start the season, PSU stayed on course to compete for a major bowl, avoided a burgeoning quarterback controversy and pulled out the sort of narrow win that eluded last year’s team.
Rather than spend the next week in the national spotlight, the Nittany Lions and coach James Franklin can focus on an upcoming schedule of games — Ohio, Auburn, Central Michigan and Northwestern — that could leave the team still unbeaten heading into a key matchup against Michigan in October.
Senior quarterback Sean Clifford tossed a pick-six earlier in the fourth quarter, pushing Purdue ahead 31-28, but then led PSU on an 8-play, 80-yard drive lasting just under a minute to retake the lead.
While not perfect, Clifford’s 282 passing yards, four touchdowns and late heroics should quiet some of the calls to hand the offense over to true freshman Drew Allar, a top prospect.
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The Nittany Lions are joined by Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh and others on the list of winners and losers from the first Thursday night of the 2022 season:
WINNERS
Oklahoma State
There was a thought that Central Michigan could give the No. 11 Cowboys a game — after all, the Chippewas won the last time these two met, back in 2016, albeit with some late-game controversy over poor officiating. By and large, that wasn’t the case: Oklahoma State had a 21-point second quarter lead and led 44-15 at halftime, though CMU scored 29 points in the second half in the 58-44 final. Quarterback Spencer Sanders threw for 406 yards, ran for 57 yards and accounted for six total touchdowns.
Pittsburgh
The return of the Backyard Brawl went according to script. After an 11-year absence in this heated rivalry, No. 16 Pittsburgh and West Virginia went back and forth — the game was tied at 10-10, 17-17, 24-24 and 31-31 — until the Panthers’ 56-yard interception return with under thre