Auburn's week three foe, Penn State, had an abysmal rushing attack vs Purdue

Every Auburn fan has the week three matchup between the Tigers and the Penn State Nittany Lions circled.

Since Bryan Harsin and his Auburn football team fell short against the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley last season, Auburn has been looking forward to the opportunity to find some revenge this season.

Based on the performance in Penn State's Thursday night 35-31 win against the Purdue Boilermakers, the Auburn Tigers may be able to make their Big 10 foe one-dimensional.

Penn State ran for just 98 yards across 32 carries. That's an average of 3.1 yards per carry.

Looking at the PFF grades from Penn State's offensive tackles for their season opener, they are not great.

Left tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu had a 51.7 running blocking grade. Right tackle Caedan Wallace was given a 58.3 run block grading by PFF.

If Auburn can dominate and set the edge consistently with Derick Hall, Eku Leota, Colby Wooden, and Jeffrey M'ba, Penn State will have to rely on Sean Clifford to carry the offense through the air.

Penn State had to pass the ball more than they threw it due to the lack of production on the ground.

Penn State's passing attack was actually at its worst when Purdue just sent four defenders and didn't blitz. The Nittany Lions were 13 of 24 passing for two scores and an interception when Purdue dropped seven players into coverage.

Clifford was under pressure on 35% of the dropbacks Thursday night.

Based on Auburn's defense a year ago, that will probably be how the Tigers defend Penn State in a few weeks. They'll aim to just send four and drop seven into coverage.

it's fun to look ahead, but first things first, Auburn takes on Mercer on Saturday.

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