Penn State 33, Central Michigan 14: What Twitter Had to Say

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Early on it looked like Penn State would do exactly what you want to see against an inferior MAC opponent. The Nittany Lions completely dominated the first quarter of the game, allowing them to jump out to a two score lead over Central Michigan.

On Penn State’s second defensive series of the game, the turnover king struck again as Zakee Wheatley intercepted a pass to set up the offense with a short field.

This was the second week in a row that Wheatley intercepted a pass and he accounted for a turnover in each of the team’s first three games of the season. Thus far, he has lived up to the turnover king moniker he earned in spring ball and fall camp.

The short field that Wheatley’s interception set up led to a quick score for the Nittany Lions. Sean Clifford would find Brenton Strange, who entered the day leading Big Ten tight ends in receiving yards, for a touchdown, making the score 14-0 Penn State.

After struggling last season, Strange was in dire need of a big 2022 season. So far, he has responded with just that. Both with his blocking and his receiving.

With Penn State hanging around with Central Michigan and the game tied at 14 in the second quarter, Barney Amor did his thing. Amor dropped a dime of a punt that went out of bounds inside the Penn State 5-yard line.

This punt flipped field position and helped Penn State regain the game’s momentum. After a strong punt return by Parker Washington, the Nittany Lions took the lead back on a rushing touchdown by Kaytron Allen.

Before the half, the Nittany Lion forced another turnover. Cornerback Johnny Dixon, who had probably the best game of his collegiate career, made a great play to pull in the second interception of the half for Manny Diaz’s defense.

Unfortunately, Penn State could not capitalize as Sean Clifford would have a woeful drive going into the locker room missing multiple open wide receivers. This included an egregious miss of a wide open Parker Washington that would have gone for a touchdown. This led to a lot of fans, and rightfully so, becoming frustrated with the Nittany Lion quarterback and calling for Drew Allar.

After Penn State punted to start the half, the Barney Amor Weapon struck again. He drilled another punt that Central Michigan attempted to field inside the 5-yard line. However, the Chippewas muffed it setting up Penn State with 1st and goal.

This set up Strange’s second touchdown catch of the day, making the score 27-14 Nittany Lions. Strange finished the game with five receptions for 42 yards and a pair of scores.

If the last two weeks were the coming out party for Nick Singleton, then Saturday was Kaytron Allen’s coming out party. His big day continued in the second half as he posted his first career 100-yard game.

Allen finished the game with 111 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. This gave him a healthy 8.5 yards per carry on the day.

It wasn’t always pretty, but a win is a win. The Nittany Lions are 4-0 and will now be full steam ahead into Big Ten play. Next Saturday, Northwestern comes to town to battle the Nittany Lions.

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