STATE COLLEGE — On a day when Sean Clifford made history and Nick Singleton ran rampant, Penn State proved it was a class above Maryland.

Let’s get right to our takeaways from the Nittany Lions’ 30-0 win on Saturday.

Clifford’s record-setting night

Quarterback Sean Clifford didn’t play well. He overthrew a flea-flicker touchdown. He missed a couple more obvious opportunities downfield. He completed only 12 of 23 passes for 139 yards and left at least 100 yards on the table.

However, in his penultimate game at Beaver Stadium, Clifford made history. His 16-yard completion to Brenton Strange on the opening drive moved him past Trace McSorley into possession of Penn State’s all-time passing yards record. Later, Clifford became the first Penn State quarterback to eclipse 10,000 passing yards.

You can debate the merit around that record all you want. Clifford was afforded an extra year of eligibility due to the covid-affected 2020 campaign; McSorley was not. And yet, McSorley was the first to congratulate Clifford on his achievement, tweeting: “Records were meant to be broken.”

Even though he could have played better against Maryland, Clifford’s going to look back on and appreciate this game — and everything that built up to it — for a long time.

“It’s a lot of hard work with a lot of guys,” Clifford said. “It’s not about the record. It’s not about the yards. It’s about the journey. It’s about the guys that I’ve come in contact with. When I was told about it at the end of the game, because I honestly forgot, it’s more so about me thinking back to all the teams I’ve been on and appreciating the moment and appreciating everybody that’s had my back. Very cool.”

Penn State’s depth showing up

The Nittany Lions were dealt a bad hand before the game started. Two possible first-round picks — cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and left tackle Olu Fashanu — were out. Fashanu picked up an injury against Ohio State while Porter is dealing with a “non-football injury,” Franklin said. “Hopefully, we’ll have Joey back soon.”

Those weren’t the only absences. Starting linebacker Curtis Jacobs and running back Keyvone Lee didn’t play. Plus, Franklin announced earlier in the week that starting guard Landon Tengwall is out for the season.

Some teams would crumble without a few of their top players. And yet it didn’t seem to faze the Nittany Lions.

Kalen King, Johnny Dixon and Marquis Wilson stepped up in man coverage at cornerback. Outside linebacker Abdul Carter lived in Maryland’s backfield. And the offensive line was solid in pass protection, allowing zero sacks, and opened holes for Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who combined for 195 yards.

Franklin said earlier in the week that Penn State’s next-man-up mentality has been impressive this season. That trait popped up again Saturday.

Singleton more than speed

Early in the season, Nick Singleton’s and Allen’s running styles seemed clearly defined. Singleton was the home-run hitter, while Allen was more of a power back. Allen still is that crafty, patient freight train. But Singleton recently has established himself as a guy who can lower his shoulder and bull through defenders, too.

We saw it last week at Indiana. And we saw it against Maryland.

Singleton trucked a Terrapin defender on his first carry. He fought for tough yards. His speed was on full display on his 45-yard breakaway touchdown. But his unwillingness to go down was evident on his 27-yard score when he dragged Maryland defensive back Deonte Banks into the end zone with him.

Clifford said Singleton always has been “an angry running back.” But it’s showing up more and more as the season progresses, which is kind of unusual for a freshman. That’s great for Penn State as it leans on Singleton, Allen and the ground game en route to what should amount to a 10-2 season.

“Being able to run the ball at times when everybody in the stadium knows you’re going to run the ball, you know, that’s when you know you’ve got a chance to be pretty good on the offensive side of the ball from a balance perspective, from a running game perspective,” Franklin said. “And when you’re able to hand it to guys who are able to turn a 6-yard run into a 12-yard run or turn a 12-yard run into a 50-yard run, we’ve got guys who can do that. They’ve been really good complementary pieces.”

Penn State-Maryland not a rivalry

Not that many people consider it as such. But if there were any stragglers, anyone still willing to die on that hill, look only at what Terrapins coach Mike Locksley said last week: “It’s not a rivalry game. Obviously we have to compete a little better to get it to that level.”

On Saturday, it wasn’t competitive. Not even a little bit.

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