5 Penn State players to watch against Iowa this Saturday

Defensive end who was sprinter in high school among key players on No. 4 Penn State

Oct. 4, 2021 4:29 pm, Updated: Oct. 5, 2021 10:56 am

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Jahan Dotson (5) makes a catch in the open during the second quarter of their Big Ten Conference college football game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — It’s been a while since a team as talented as No. 4 Penn State has come to Kinnick Stadium.

The Nittany Lions are the highest-ranked team to visit the 92-year-old facility since 2017, when then-No. 3 Ohio State came to town.

That means there will be no shortage of talented Penn State players to watch on Saturday. Here are five who will be especially interesting to watch.

QB Sean Clifford

The Sean Clifford Iowa fans are familiar with from the Hawkeyes’ 41-21 win over Penn State last season is not the Sean Clifford who has showed up so far in 2021.

The quarterback completed just 59.1 percent of his passes in last year’s Iowa-Penn State game and had as many touchdowns — two — as interceptions.

Through the first five games of ’21, Clifford has been one of the better quarterbacks in the Big Ten. Many would have said the same about the last two Big Ten quarterbacks Iowa’s defense has shut down, though.

Clifford’s passer rating of 160.5 and 67.3 percent completion rate are third-best in the Big Ten.

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Sean Clifford (14) looks to pass in the second quarter at an Iowa Hawkeyes football game with the Penn State Nittany Lions at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

One Pennsylvania outlet even talked about him being a long-shot candidate for the Heisman Trophy although he is far from the favorite for the prestigious award.

Clifford can make plays with his feet, too. He was the Nittany Lions’ second-leading rusher in their 24-0 win over Indiana last weekend. He also has ran for 15-plus yards on at least one carry in three of Penn State’s five games this season.

He’s coming off an iffy passing performance against the Hoosiers, though. He completed just 51.5 percent of his passes and threw for fewer than 200 yards for the first time since Dec. 5, 2020.

WR Jahan Dotson

Few players in college football have higher expectations than Penn State’s Jahan Dotson.

ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Dotson last week as the eighth-best prospect in the 2022 draft class. That’s eight spots higher than any player in the Big Ten West — Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum is ranked 16th — and better than all but one player on college football juggernaut Alabama’s roster.

Dotson, Kiper said, “is on pace for a spectacular season.”

More than a third of Clifford’s completions this year have gone to Dotson, who has also recorded at least one touchdown in his last six games dating back to the 2020 season.

The 18 touchdown throws from Clifford to Dotson in their collegiate careers are the most in Penn State history, breaking a record that stood for almost four decades. They still have seven regular-season games to add to that total, too.

S Ji’Ayir Brown

Ji’Ayir Brown has progressed significantly since Iowa’s last game against Penn State.

In 2020, he had just one tackle and was otherwise nonexistent in the box score. He hadn’t started a collegiate game, nor grabbed an interception at that point.

About 11 months later, he’s a key part of one of the best secondaries in the country.

Brown is tied with Iowa’s Riley Moss for the most interceptions in the Big Ten with three.

Only two Power Five athletes have more interceptions. South Carolina’s Jaylan Foster and Oregon’s Verone McKinley III each have four picks.

DE Arnold Ebiketie

Arnold Ebiketie is quite the athlete.

In high school, he was a linebacker and wide receiver in football, a power forward in basketball and a high jumper and sprinter in track and field, according to his player bio.

Now, he’s Penn State’s 2021 leader in sacks, tackles for loss and quarterback hurries.

He has three of the Nittany Lions’ eight sacks this season. None of his teammates have more than one sack.

Ebiketie spent 2017-20 at Temple and was an All-American Athletic Conference second-team honoree in 2020.

WR Parker Washington

Dotson isn’t the only Penn State wide receiver worth keeping an eye on. Parker Washington has developed into a solid No. 2 option for Clifford.

Washington has recorded at least four receptions in four of Penn State’s five games while averaging 13.2 yards per catch. He also has recorded at least one 20-plus-yard catch in four out of five games.

His breakout game this season came Sept. 25 against Villanova, an FCS team. Washington finished with five receptions for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He had two 50-plus-yard catches, including a 52-yard touchdown where most of the yards came after the catch.

A week later, he had a quieter game against Indiana, recording two receptions for 30 yards.