Blue White Illustrated

January 2023

Penn State Sports Magazine

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J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 3 3 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M touchdown would make it a two-score game with less than five minutes to play. Franklin decided to go for it. Penn State turned to its oft-used T-forma- tion but then burst out of it with the play clock dwindling. Clifford fired a bullet screen to Singleton, who had a clean lane into the end zone to help ice the game in Penn State's favor. 3. Lee scores the winning touch- down at Purdue. Game-winning plays always deserve a place in postseason recognition, and this one is no differ- ent. Clifford rolled right with less than a minute to play in West Lafayette and found the sophomore running back in the end zone to deliver Penn State a 35- 31 comeback victory. Top Three Defensive Plays Of The Year 1. Brown's scoop-and-score at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights had hung in there with Penn State for much of the first half, and the Nittany Lions still hadn't taken full control of the game in the third quarter. With Rutgers just 20 yards away from trimming PSU's lead down to 11 points, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz called for a blitz on third- and-10. Sophomore linebacker Curtis Jacobs and Brown delivered the play that put Penn State in command. Jacobs came rushing up the middle unblocked and hit Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt just as he was attempt- ing to pass. The ball came loose while Wimsatt was still bringing his arm back. It took a few bounces before ending up in the hands of Brown, who dashed 70 yards in the opposite direction. The score gave Penn State a 35-10 advantage in what would become a 55-10 victory in Piscataway. 2. Kalen King puts Central Michi- gan away. In a game that was prob- ably closer than Penn State would have liked, the sophomore cornerback deliv- ered a shot from which the Chippewas couldn't recover. With the visitors facing first-and-30 after a pair of holding penalties, King stripped wide receiver Carlos Carriere at the Penn State 22-yard line and then fell on the ball to finish the play. Ending Central Michigan's threat in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, the play opened the door to an appearance by freshman quarterback Drew Allar. 3. Zakee Wheatley notches an eye- popping interception at Auburn. The play wasn't necessarily game defin- ing, but Penn State's redshirt freshman safety, described by the coaching staff throughout the offseason as a turnover machine, offered evidence of his poten- tial in the first quarter. Tigers quarterback T.J. Finley was scrambling to escape a blitzing Brown, but his attempt to throw the ball away was thwarted by Wheatley, who laid out fully to pull in the interception. It was the first of 12 picks by Penn State during the regular season. Offensive Breakout Players Of The Year Singleton was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year in November, and he certainly deserved the recognition as he zeroes in on a 1,000-yard season in Penn State's date with Utah in the Rose Bowl. But, coming from the reigning Gatorade National High School Foot- ball Player of the Year, that performance might have been expected. Allen, on the other hand, didn't ar- rive at Penn State with a lot of fanfare, but he has enjoyed a breakout season comparable to Singleton's. Together, Allen and Singleton are the first pair of true freshman teammates in Big Ten history with more than 800 rushing yards apiece in a single season. The potency of their one-two punch has been critical to the team's offensive suc- cess this season. Defensive Breakout Player Of The Year Abdul Carter gets the nod here, and it isn't particularly close. He needed to overcome a setback on his very first play of the season to do so, though. Charged with a targeting penalty on a tackle attempt on his first defen- sive snap at Purdue, the true freshman needed to sit out until the next week be- fore beginning his steady rise as one of Penn State's key defensive performers. Carter finished the regular season with 55 tackles, including 6.5 sacks, a team- high 10.5 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fum- bles and 4 passes broken up. ■ Freshman linebacker Abdul Carter has enjoyed a spec- tacular debut season. Although he didn't earn his first start until Week 7, he leads the Nittany Lions with 10.5 tackles for loss. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE

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