College Football: 3 takeaways from Thursday night Week 1
Week 1 of the college football season started Thursday and it was exciting as Penn State football and Pittsburgh notched key victories.
College football might have returned last weekend, but when Week 1 of the season kicked off on Thursday night, that felt like the real start of the 2022 season.
It was awesome to see College Gameday at the Backyard Brawl and college football fans were treated to a few good games on Thursday night, including the two main attractions — Penn State football and Purdue, as well as Pittsburgh vs West Virginia.
Pittsburgh football and West Virginia is one of those great college football rivalries ruined by conference realignment. Oklahoma State, which scored 58 points but allowed 44 in a win over Central Michigan, will understand that soon as the rivalry with Oklahoma is dying.
The Cowboys, Panthers, and Deamon Deacons of Wake Forest were the three ranked teams in action, and each won. Pittsburgh football had a battle on its hands with West Virginia, while Penn State football rallied to beat Purdue in the game of the night.
At any rate, more college football is on tap tonight but here’s a look back at three key takeaways from the first Thursday night slate of the 2022 season.
Sean Clifford silenced some doubters
The quarterback has been a huge question mark for Penn State football all offseason. Fans wondered aloud if Sean Clifford was the guy and with five-star freshman QB Drew Allar backing him up, the pressure has only increased.
But Clifford, despite one ugly moment, led the Nittany Lions to a 35-31 win. Not only did he take Penn State football down the field for the game-winning drive which was capped on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keyvone Lee, but it was also his second TD pass of the fourth quarter and his fourth of the game.
Clifford threw a pick-six and that was bad. He’s not ever going to be perfect, but if he plays the way he did Thursday night and cuts down on the mistakes, Penn State football can be pretty good this season and they should certainly be in the Top 25 next week.