AUBURN | Sean Clifford had a lot of time in the pocket. Wait, scratch that. He had an eternity as Auburn's pass rush was nonexistent, unable to get within three yards of the Penn State quarterback for the entirety of the game.

"There was one he stood back there for what seemed like at least 10 seconds early in the game," Bryan Harsin said.

The result? Clifford finished 28-of-32 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, with his only mistake coming as he was hit at the end of the first half, his pass sailing high and coming down in the hands of Roger McCreary. Props to Clifford for the stellar performance, but this isn't exactly a quarterback that is high on any award lists. In fact, you could argue that the Tigers face at least three quarterbacks better than him later this season.

That's bad news for Auburn. All the talk about how solid the D-line was after two games quickly disappeared as they acted like hitting Clifford, or even breathing near him, would cost them running more stairs in the upper deck of Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sunday. The Nittany Lions' quarterback regularly had five or more seconds to make a decision and, with that time, found Jahan Dotson and other playmakers down the field.

Read that stat line again: 28-of-32. Clifford completed 87.5 percent of his passes. In the previous two years as a starter, he had a passing percentage of 59.8 percent.

Now, this can't all go down on the front four. Quite a few blown coverages, especially on the first touchdown drive of the game by Penn State, proved costly. Tight end Brenton Johnson found himself open for 23 yards. Another tight end, Theo Johnson, rumbled without any around for 37 yards on the very next play. It's worrisome for an Auburn secondary seen as the strength and backbone of the defense.

But the problems started all at the front as Derick Hall was nowhere. Neither were T.D. Moultry, Marcus Harris or Colby Wooden. All were pushed around, outworked and outmuscled as Clifford confidently sat in the backfield and picked the Auburn defense apart.

"You've got to find a way to get after a quarterback ... [Sean Clifford] escaped a couple of times that I remember and made some throws on the perimeter," Harsin said.

The bad news is that Penn State came in allowing 2.5 sacks per game, including three last week against Ball State, so this wasn't a monumental offensive line the Tigers faced on Saturday night. A supposed strength turned into a significant weakness in a matter of moments. It was apparent from the very first drive and continued for the next 28 minutes and 18 seconds that Penn State controlled the ball.

Auburn's defensive front made Penn State's offensive line look like an unassailable wall. The film won't be pretty, nor will the review of Nick Eason. Plain and simple, it has to get better. If not, it's going to be a long season for the Tigers in the trenches.