Saturday, September 24
University Park, Pa./Beaver Stadium
Noon
Central Michigan University
1-3 , 0-0
14
at
33
Penn State
4-0 , 1-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Central Michigan
0
14
0
0
14
Penn State
14
7
6
6
33
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Football: Miscues, Yes; But Plenty To Build On After Loss To No. 14 Penn State
9/24/2022 4:36:00 PM | Football
Chippewas open MAC play next week at Toledo
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Certainly not the worst performance that Central Michigan could have turned in.
But against the No. 14 team in the nation, the Chippewas needed more, and they needed to be nearly perfect.
Penn State took advantage of every CMU miscue on Saturday in handing the Chippewas a 33-14 nonconference loss before 106,624 at Beaver Stadium.
"I'm proud of the way our team fought," CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "I thought the guys never quit; that team on the other side knew what the Chippewas were all about towards the end of that game and that's something that makes me proud."
The Chippewas turned it over four times, muffed a punt on their own 10-yard line, and had two touchdowns wiped out by penalty in falling to 1-3. They open Mid-American Conference play on Oct. 1 at Toledo.
"Now quarter one's over for us and we head into quarter two and that starts league play and we're excited to make that happen," McElwain said. "We've got to get ready to get on a bus and go play the best team in our conference on the road right off the bat."
Penn State (4-0) went 59 yards in nine plays on its first possession for a 7-0 lead. On the Chippewas' ensuing possession, the Nittany Lions returned an interception to the CMU 15 and scored three plays later for a 14-0 advantage midway through the first quarter.
The Chippewas responded with back-to-back scores as Daniel Richardson tossed a 2-yard TD pass to freshman Finn Hogan on fourth down to cut it to 14-7. Richardson then connected with tight end Joel Wilson for a 14-yard TD to tie the game with under four minutes to play in the half.
Penn State re-took the lead, for good as it turned out, on a 14-yard TD run by Kaytron Allen with 1:38 to play in the half.
That capped a 34-yard drive made possible when the Chippewas, needing to move the ball and keep the clock running to get the halftime tied, failed to do so and were forced to punt from their own end zone.
It was in the third quarter that the mistakes began to take their toll on the Chippewas.
• CMU forced a Penn State punt on the first drive of the third quarter. CMU return man Jordyn Williams muffed the catch and Penn State recovered at the 7. Two plays later, the Nittany Lions were in the end zone again and the deficit grew to 27-14.
"We said going into the game we need to play field position and at the end of the day they got their points on short fields," McElwain said, alluding to the fact that three of Penn State's five scoring drives covered 7, 15 and 34 yards.
• The Chippewas then had a TD nullified – the first of two on the day – by an offensive pass interference penalty. Another penalty on the same drive pushed the Chippewas farther back and they failed to convert on fourth down, coming away empty after sitting at first-and-goal and still very much in it down two scores.
• Trailing 33-14, the Chippewas had another TD pass wiped out by a penalty, this time a hold. One play later, CMU fumbled the ball and Penn State recovered at its own 23.
"You can literally call a penalty on every play if you wanted to, right?" McElwain said. "It's the choice and the decision on when. I'm not blaming (the loss) on that; don't get me wrong. It's pretty amazing how that stuff works when you're playing on the road and your guys are fighting their tails off. That's what it is when you're on the road. That's the way it works."
Said CMU wide receiver Carlos Carriere: "We know what we're capable of, we've just got to start fast and not beat ourselves like we did a couple of times. We don't take moral victories, but it was encouraging. You want to play well against a team like that."
The Defense
Kyle Moretti led the Chippewa defense with eight tackles, while Ronald Kent Jr. and Justin Whiteside added seven each. Dakota Cochran had a sack.
The Chippewas held Penn State's Nicholas Singleton, who was averaging more than 10 yards per carry, to 42 net yards, a 3.5-yard average. Kaytron Allen led the Nittany Lions with 111 yards on 13 carries.
"I thought our defense competed their tails off against … they've got some big dudes over there," McElwain said. "We were afraid of their running backs and they got loose a couple times, but not like they have (earlier) this season. We didn't give up huge chunk plays and in the passing game we pretty much kept the ball in front of us."
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-34 passing. The Nittany Lions' longest pass play went for 29 yards and CMU defended the deep routes relatively well.
"We've got some good young players back there," McElwain said. "We knew we had good young players and yet sometimes you don't know until you get them tested and to see those guys get a little better while we're playing the game, it's great to see. We're going to be alright back there."
Big Day
Wide receiver Carlos Carriere, the transfer from Maryland in his first season at CMU, turned in his best game as a Chippewa with 10 catches for 111 yards. Both numbers are career bests.
The Numbers
Richardson completed 26 of 45 passes for 235 yards. He threw two TD passes and was intercepted twice.
CMU running back Lew Nichols III carried 13 times for 67 yards, an average of 5.2 yards per carry.
But against the No. 14 team in the nation, the Chippewas needed more, and they needed to be nearly perfect.
Penn State took advantage of every CMU miscue on Saturday in handing the Chippewas a 33-14 nonconference loss before 106,624 at Beaver Stadium.
"I'm proud of the way our team fought," CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "I thought the guys never quit; that team on the other side knew what the Chippewas were all about towards the end of that game and that's something that makes me proud."
The Chippewas turned it over four times, muffed a punt on their own 10-yard line, and had two touchdowns wiped out by penalty in falling to 1-3. They open Mid-American Conference play on Oct. 1 at Toledo.
"Now quarter one's over for us and we head into quarter two and that starts league play and we're excited to make that happen," McElwain said. "We've got to get ready to get on a bus and go play the best team in our conference on the road right off the bat."
Penn State (4-0) went 59 yards in nine plays on its first possession for a 7-0 lead. On the Chippewas' ensuing possession, the Nittany Lions returned an interception to the CMU 15 and scored three plays later for a 14-0 advantage midway through the first quarter.
The Chippewas responded with back-to-back scores as Daniel Richardson tossed a 2-yard TD pass to freshman Finn Hogan on fourth down to cut it to 14-7. Richardson then connected with tight end Joel Wilson for a 14-yard TD to tie the game with under four minutes to play in the half.
Penn State re-took the lead, for good as it turned out, on a 14-yard TD run by Kaytron Allen with 1:38 to play in the half.
That capped a 34-yard drive made possible when the Chippewas, needing to move the ball and keep the clock running to get the halftime tied, failed to do so and were forced to punt from their own end zone.
It was in the third quarter that the mistakes began to take their toll on the Chippewas.
• CMU forced a Penn State punt on the first drive of the third quarter. CMU return man Jordyn Williams muffed the catch and Penn State recovered at the 7. Two plays later, the Nittany Lions were in the end zone again and the deficit grew to 27-14.
"We said going into the game we need to play field position and at the end of the day they got their points on short fields," McElwain said, alluding to the fact that three of Penn State's five scoring drives covered 7, 15 and 34 yards.
• The Chippewas then had a TD nullified – the first of two on the day – by an offensive pass interference penalty. Another penalty on the same drive pushed the Chippewas farther back and they failed to convert on fourth down, coming away empty after sitting at first-and-goal and still very much in it down two scores.
• Trailing 33-14, the Chippewas had another TD pass wiped out by a penalty, this time a hold. One play later, CMU fumbled the ball and Penn State recovered at its own 23.
"You can literally call a penalty on every play if you wanted to, right?" McElwain said. "It's the choice and the decision on when. I'm not blaming (the loss) on that; don't get me wrong. It's pretty amazing how that stuff works when you're playing on the road and your guys are fighting their tails off. That's what it is when you're on the road. That's the way it works."
Said CMU wide receiver Carlos Carriere: "We know what we're capable of, we've just got to start fast and not beat ourselves like we did a couple of times. We don't take moral victories, but it was encouraging. You want to play well against a team like that."
The Defense
Kyle Moretti led the Chippewa defense with eight tackles, while Ronald Kent Jr. and Justin Whiteside added seven each. Dakota Cochran had a sack.
The Chippewas held Penn State's Nicholas Singleton, who was averaging more than 10 yards per carry, to 42 net yards, a 3.5-yard average. Kaytron Allen led the Nittany Lions with 111 yards on 13 carries.
"I thought our defense competed their tails off against … they've got some big dudes over there," McElwain said. "We were afraid of their running backs and they got loose a couple times, but not like they have (earlier) this season. We didn't give up huge chunk plays and in the passing game we pretty much kept the ball in front of us."
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-34 passing. The Nittany Lions' longest pass play went for 29 yards and CMU defended the deep routes relatively well.
"We've got some good young players back there," McElwain said. "We knew we had good young players and yet sometimes you don't know until you get them tested and to see those guys get a little better while we're playing the game, it's great to see. We're going to be alright back there."
Big Day
Wide receiver Carlos Carriere, the transfer from Maryland in his first season at CMU, turned in his best game as a Chippewa with 10 catches for 111 yards. Both numbers are career bests.
The Numbers
Richardson completed 26 of 45 passes for 235 yards. He threw two TD passes and was intercepted twice.
CMU running back Lew Nichols III carried 13 times for 67 yards, an average of 5.2 yards per carry.
Team Stats
CMU
PSU
Total Yards
363
403
Pass Yards
275
237
Rushing Yards
88
166
Penalty Yards
80
45
1st Downs
20
21
3rd Downs
5
5
4th Downs
3
2
TOP
29:33
30:27
1st Quarter
CMU 0, PSU 7
PSU - Tinsley,Mitchell 5 yd pass from Clifford,Sean (Pinegar,Jake kick) 9 plays, 59 yards, TOP 04:56
CMU 0, PSU 14
PSU - Strange,Brenton 4 yd pass from Clifford,Sean (Pinegar,Jake kick) 3 plays, 15 yards, TOP 01:11
2nd Quarter
CMU 7, PSU 14
CMU - Hogan,Finn 2 yd pass from Richardson,Daniel (Rolston,Josh kick) 11 plays, 45 yards, TOP 04:31
CMU 14, PSU 14
CMU - Wilson,Joel 14 yd pass from Richardson,Daniel (Rolston,Josh kick) 9 plays, 67 yards, TOP 03:21
CMU 14, PSU 21
PSU - Allen,Kaytron 14 yd run (Pinegar,Jake kick), 5 plays, 34 yards, TOP 01:38
3rd Quarter
CMU 14, PSU 27
PSU - Strange,Brenton 3 yd pass from Clifford,Sean () 2 plays, 7 yards, TOP 00:45
4th Quarter
CMU 14, PSU 33
PSU - Clifford,Sean 1 yd run (), 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 01:22
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
26
TD
2
YDS
235
INT
2
CMP
3
TD
0
YDS
40
INT
0
Players Mentioned
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RB
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