Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1486024
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 3 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE BEST PLAYERS 1. Ji'Ayir Brown | S | Sr.+ Brown has had a fantastic season. The Nittany Lions' leading tackler with 66 stops, he's been a big beneficiary of first-year coordinator Manny Diaz's aggressive schematic approach, which has allowed him to make plays at every level of the defense. How's this for versatility: In addition to leading the Nittany Lions with 3 interceptions, Brown is also tied for the lead in quarterback hurries (5) and has totaled 5.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. During his time at Lackawanna College and Penn State, he's gone from an unheralded college prospect to a Senior Bowl invitee and a likely draft pick next April. 2. Abdul Carter | LB | Fr. Carter just keeps getting better and better. In the Nittany Lions' regular- season finale against Michigan State, he finished with a team-high 7 stops, including 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. "He's getting more and more confident within the scheme, which not only is helping our defense play better, but it's also putting him in position to make more and more plays," coach James Franklin said. "His ability to burst and chase the quarterback or burst and chase running backs on the perimeter or within the box — it's impressive. "He's got the ability to find the ball, and when he gets there, he's got bad intentions. It's been fun to watch his development from the beginning of the year to now." 3. Sean Clifford | QB | Sr.+ On the final throw of his last regular-season game for Penn State, Clif- ford tossed a 35-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wideout KeAndre Lambert-Smith. It was a fitting bookend to a career that began against Pitt in 2018, a game in which Clifford threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Bran- don Polk on his first collegiate attempt. He's had his ups and downs this year, just as in previous years. But de- spite a couple of disappointing losses to the two best teams on its sched- ule, Penn State has exceeded most people's preseason expectations. It would have been awfully hard to do that without a capable starting quar- terback running the offense. 4. Kaytron Allen | RB | Fr. Allen showed his toughness against Ohio State when he muscled into the end zone on a 1-yard fourth-down run to give PSU a 21-16 lead early in the fourth quarter. That lead quickly disappeared, but Allen didn't. After totaling a team- best 76 rushing yards against the Buckeyes, he finished as Penn State's top ball carrier in three of its last four games, with 86 yards and three scores against Indiana, 117 yards against Rutgers and 82 yards against Michigan State. He's been gaining ground on fellow freshman Nicholas Singleton, having totaled 830 yards on the season to Singleton's 941. 5. PJ Mustipher | DT | Sr.+ The big guys in the trenches tend to go unnoticed. They're in the middle of the scrum on most every play, and they rarely rack up big individual numbers. Mustipher is no different; he's seventh on the team in tackles with 34 and has just 1 tackle for loss and no sacks. But Penn State was outstanding against the run in November, with its final four opponents averaging 49 yards on the ground. Mustipher, who started all 12 games after missing the second half of the 2021 season with a leg injury, was a big part of that effort. KEY MOMENT For the second time this season, Penn State bounced back from a dis- appointing loss by overwhelming a less-talented opponent, in this case Indiana. Just a week after collapsing in the fourth quarter against Ohio State, PSU put together a 17-point second quarter highlighted by Allen's 2 touchdown runs. The Lions went on to claim a 45-14 victory. If that sounds like exactly what you would expect from a Penn State- Indiana game given the Lions' 23-2 advantage in the series going into the latest meeting, consider that three times in the previous five seasons, PSU followed a loss to the Buckeyes with another loss. BEST HIGHLIGHT People sometimes wonder why coaches use starting running backs to re- turn kicks. This is why. After spotting Rutgers an early 3-0 lead, Penn State turned Singleton loose and watched as he sprinted 100 yards on a kickoff return to put the Nittany Lions back on top. It was only the third 100-yard kickoff return by a PSU player since 1975. BOLD PREDICTION It's hard to make a prediction, bold or otherwise, without knowing Penn State's postseason destination, or its opponent, or which of its draft-wor- thy players will end up sitting out. So, we'll just say this: The Nittany Lions will fare better in their upcoming game, no matter where it is, than they did last year in a lackluster 24-10 loss to Arkansas in the Outback Bowl. Penn State is trending in the right direction, and it has a number of high- ceiling freshmen in key roles who will benefit greatly from the opportunity to participate in bowl practices. The future is looking up. — Matt Herb Sixth-year senior Sean Clifford has thrown 22 touchdown passes this year and is tied with Purdue's Aidan O'Connell for the second-highest total in the Big Ten. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE PENN STATE FOOTBALL SUPERLATIVES GAME 8-GAME 12