By: Pasquale Tartaro, GoPSUSports.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Coming off of a win over the Auburn Tigers, Penn State players and coaches met with the media as they shift their focus to an in-state foe, the Villanova Wildcats.
Senior long snapper Chris Stoll spoke about the atmosphere surrounding the program following Saturday's Penn State White Out win: "The vibes were great, we were all excited to go 1-0 against a big-time SEC opponent. Obviously, Sundays are the time to recap the game, go over corrections and what we need to do better. So, we enjoyed the win like we always do, and now we're on to Villanova."
For Penn State's coaching staff, one of the players who immediately jumped off of the tape during Sunday's film session was defensive tackle and Duke transfer Derrick Tangelo.
Tangelo recovered a fumble on Auburn's first play of the second half, which put the Nittany Lions in position to score a touchdown to take a 21-10 lead.
Later in the fourth quarter, Tangelo chased down Auburn's Jarquez Hunter at the 10-yard line to prevent a touchdown: "Those are the types of plays that we make in practice all the time. Our coaches really preach running to the ball… and they really preach playing with effort. I was doing what I was taught…. Just keep getting to the ball and ultimately I made the tackle."
Four plays later, on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard-line, Auburn's Bo Nix threw an incomplete fade attempt to Kobe Hudson, and Penn State took over on downs.
The senior will look to make more impact plays against the Wildcats this Saturday.
Moving forward, head coach James Franklin expressed the level of confidence he has in quarterback Sean Clifford: "Coming into last year, he was viewed as of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten and one of the top quarterbacks in the country, and my view of him never really changed. Obviously, there's ups and downs and twists and turns in everybody's career, but this is the Sean Clifford that I've always expected and anticipated."
Clifford was nearly flawless in Penn State's 28-20 victory over Auburn on Saturday night; the third-year starting quarterback completed 28 of 31 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns.
In Penn State's seven-game winning streak dating back to last season, Clifford has tossed 12 touchdowns as opposed to just three turnovers.
Sophomore tight end Theo Johnson is pleased with his positional group's progression thus far, but doesn't think it has scratched the surface of how good it really can be: "We know all of the things we are capable of in our tight end room. I think there's a lot of expectations for us from the team because of all the talent we have in our room… but I think that's probably the most exciting part, that we're doing so well right now and we're nowhere near what we're capable of as an offense"
Johnson's lone catch against Auburn was a 37-yard grab that positioned the Nittany Lions inside of Auburn's 5-yard-line late in the first quarter.
As for his counterparts, Brenton Strange caught four passes for 71 yards and a score. Tyler Warren took a direct snap and ran for a touchdown later in a drive in which he also caught a 22-yard pass from wideout Jahan Dotson.
