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5 Things to Know About Penn State

Jahan Dotson is one of the best wide receivers in the country.
Jahan Dotson is one of the best wide receivers in the country. (Steve Manuel/BWI)

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It was announced Sunday afternoon that Arkansas will face Penn State for the first time ever in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1.

Considering how unfamiliar the two schools are with each other, HawgBeat decided to throw together a few key notes you should know about the Nittany Lions’ season in 2021…

1. Close Losses to Top-25 Teams

By most standards, Penn State had a disappointing season. Ranked No. 19 in the preseason AP Poll, the Nittany Lions were picked second in the Big Ten East, but instead finished fourth with a 7-5 overall record.

However, a closer look at their season shows that they were much closer to living up to those expectations than the final record indicates. Four of Penn State’s five losses were to teams in the top 15 of the final College Football Playoff rankings and each of them were by single digits, including three by four or less.

The Nittany Lions got all the way up to No. 4 in the AP Poll with a 5-0 start, but then lost to current No. 15 Iowa 21-17 in what was then a top-5 showdown by giving up 13 unanswered points. They also lost to current No. 6 Ohio State 33-24 in a game that was tied midway through the third quarter, to current No. 2 Michigan 21-17 on a touchdown with 3:29 remaining and to current No. 10 Michigan State 30-27 in a game they led until late in the third quarter.

Three of those games - Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan State - were on the road, as well.

2. New Overtime King

Sandwiched between the road losses to Iowa and Ohio State, Penn State hosted Illinois for what many expected to be an easy win. The Nittany Lions were at home and favored by 24.5 against a team that was just 2-5 with a close win over Charlotte on its resume.

Instead, Bret Bielema’s squad fought back from an early 10-0 deficit to tie the game and force overtime. The two teams exchanged field goals in each of the first two overtime periods before they started the 2-point conversion portion of overtime. The Illini finally won 20-18 in the ninth overtime.

It was the longest game in NCAA history, surpassing the seven overtimes that Arkansas set in 2001 against Ole Miss and matched two years later against Kentucky. The Razorbacks won both of those games. That record was matched again by North Texas and FIU in 2006, Western Michigan and Buffalo in 2017 and Texas A&M and LSU in 2018.

It was after that Texas A&M-LSU thriller that the NCAA adjusted its overtime rules to require teams to run one play from the 3-yard line (essentially a 2-point conversion) beginning in the fifth - and then changed to the third after one year - overtime.

3. Common Opponent

Despite playing in different conferences, Arkansas and Penn State do share a common opponent this season: Auburn. The Nittany Lions hosted the Tigers on Sept 18, while the Razorbacks hosted them four weeks later on Oct. 16.

Penn State won a tight game in its matchup. Auburn pulled within one point on a field goal early in the fourth quarter, but the Nittany Lions answered with a touchdown to make it 28-20. That was the final score, as Bo Nix’s pass on fourth-and-goal from the 2 fell incomplete with about 3 minutes left.

The Tigers’ trip to Fayetteville went much differently. After the Razorbacks went 2-for-1 to end the first half and start the second half, Auburn outscored them 24-6 to come away with a 38-23 victory. It was Arkansas’ third straight loss to cap a grueling four-game stretch.

4. Heralded Wide Receivers

Assuming both of them play, NFL scouts will have their eyes on the Outback Bowl because two of the best wide receivers in college football will be on the field in the same game.

Penn State’s Jahan Dotson and Arkansas’ Treylon Burks are among the top six draft-eligible wide receivers and projected first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay.

Most prospect lists have Dotson ranked higher. A senior who’s seen his production increase each year, he’s caught 91 passes for 1,182 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. Burks is just a junior, but has similar numbers with 66 receptions for 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Whether or not both of them actually play remains to be seen. Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said he doesn’t anticipate having any opt outs and all of Burks’ comments would seem to indicate he’ll play, but that might not be the case for Penn State. Head coach James Franklin said there are “on-going conversations” about that and Dotson said following the regular-season finale that he hadn’t yet made a decision regarding the bowl.

5. Arkansas Connections

Even though the schools are a time zone apart, in different conferences and separated by more than 1,000 miles, Arkansas actually has a pair of connections to the Penn State program.

The Razorbacks’ tight ends coach, Dowell Loggains, was actually an offensive analyst at Penn State for a few months earlier this year before returning to his alma mater as an on-field assistant. It was his first taste of college coaching, as his entire career up to that point had been spent in the NFL, where he was an offensive coordinator for several teams.

“That would certainly be something we talk to him about to see,” Pittman said. “Might be more personnel driven than anything, but certainly we would ask him about (Penn State). We have 12 videos, 12 films, 12 games as well, but he might know something a little bit more about personnel.”

Arkansas also landed a transfer from Penn State over the offseason. Trent Gordon, a former four-star recruit from Texas, originally signed with the Nittany Lions in the Class of 2018, but decided to transfer after playing only 246 defensive snaps over three seasons. Injuries hampered him for much of this season, as he’s played only eight defensive snaps for the Razorbacks and primarily been a special teams since returning from injury.

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