PISCATAWAY, N.J. — After the worst start in school history, Penn State is starting to play like the Nittany Lions of old.
Sean Clifford threw a 29-yard touchdown and Penn State's defense set up three scores with stops or takeaways on Saturday in a 23-7 victory over Rutgers that gave the program its 900th win.
Penn State (2-5, 2-5 Big Ten) dominated both sides of the ball, outgained Rutgers 381-204 and held the Scarlet Knights to a season-low for points. The win was the second straight for the Nittany Lions and their 14th in a row over the Scarlet Knights (2-5, 2-5).
"This program is not a losing program, this is not who we are," said Clifford, who was 15 of 22 for 133 yards and an interception on a cold, windy day. "We had a rough start and a lot of things factor into that, but we know that we're not a losing program. We didn't come here to lose. It's just getting back to ourselves. It was five weeks in a row that we were completely out of whack."
Clifford opened the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown pass to true freshman Parker Washington with 3:32 left in the first quarter. It came after the Nittany Lions stuffed Johnny Langan on a fourth-and-1 from the Rutgers 45 on the Scarlet Knights' opening possession.
A second stop on a fourth-and-1 from the Rutgers 45 in the second quarter led to a 7-yard touchdown run by Devyn Ford for a 17-0 halftime lead.
Coach James Franklin has seen improvement the past two weeks, especially from his defense, particularly in short yard situations.
"I just think that we've gone back to play playing how we played for it over six years, which is, you know, making sure to limit explosive plays." he said.
