UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State football team closed out its home schedule with a 28-0 win over Big Ten foe Rutgers at Beaver Stadium on Saturday.
After quarterback Sean Clifford left the game in the first quarter, true freshman Christian Veilleux saw his first action as a Nittany Lion. Veilleux shined in his debut, completing 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns.
Three different receivers found the end zone on the day for the Nittany Lions on Saturday. In his final contest at Beaver Stadium, senior Jahan Dotson had three catches for 52 yards with an 8-yard touchdown. Freshman Malick Meiga recorded his first collegiate touchdown, connecting with Veilleux on a 67-yard score in the third quarter.
The Penn State defense shut down the Rutgers offense throughout the afternoon, holding the Scarlett Knights to just 165 yards. Jaquan Brisker led the unit with seven tackles. Senior captain Jonathan Sutherland capped off the victory with his first career interception in his final game at Beaver Stadium.
Prior to the game, Penn State honored 32 seniors in a pre-game ceremony. Those honored included S Jaquan Brisker, LB Ellis Brooks, RB Journey Brown, CB Tariq Castro-Fields, K Rafael Checa, LB Max Chizmar, QB Sean Clifford, WR Jahan Dotson, DE Arnold Ebiketie, WR Winston Eubanks, WR Henry Fessler, DL Fred Hansard, S Drew Hartlaub, K Vlad Hilling, OL Des Holmes, K Bradley King, OL Will Knutsson, OL Kaleb Konigus, RB John Lovett, LB Jesse Luketa, Jordan Miner, OL Mike Miranda, DT PJ Mustipher, P/K Jordan Stout, WR Cam Sullivan-Brown, S Johnathan Sutherland, DT Derrick Tangelo, DE Dan Vasey, WR Justin Weller, OL Anthony Whigan, WR Ben Wilson, OL Eric Wilson.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The contest remained scoreless for the first 29 minutes of play before Christian Veilleux connected with Jahan Dotson on an 8-yard touchdown pass to put Penn State up 7-0. It was the first touchdown pass of Veilleux's career.
Penn State held Rutgers to just 72 yards of total offense in the first half.
The Nittany Lions extended the lead with 3:32 in the third when Veilleux found Parker Washington in the end zone on a 17-yard score.
Later in the third, Veileux would find redshirt freshman Malick Meiga on a 67-yard catch and run for the score. It was the first touchdown of Meiga's career.
Keyvone Lee would extend the Penn State lead to 28-0 midway through the fourth, scoring on a 7-yard run.
The Penn State defense would force the game's first turnover with 6:20 remaining when senior captain Jonathan Sutherland picked off a Gavin Wimsatt pass.
