Observations: Penn State 28, Auburn 20

The Tigers dropped the ball in Happy Valley on Saturday night, falling short to Penn State in a game they will feel like they could've won.

(Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics)

It was never going to be easy. Regardless of how one felt about the advantage of the “White Out” crowd in Beaver Stadium, Auburn was walking into an infinitely tougher test than any it had faced so far under Bryan Harsin.

There were big mistakes. There were costly decisions. And there were successful moments against a talented team that will fight to stay in the top 10.

But there wasn’t nearly enough in the latter category for Auburn to win Saturday night, dropping a 28-20 loss to Penn State in primetime. There were plenty of questions about the team’s quality after just having two incredibly lopsided home wins in paycheck games.

Now, Auburn knows a lot more about where it stands with just two weeks left before eight straight SEC games. And, as Harsin said afterwards, everyone involved with Auburn football has room to improve after this showing on the road.

Here are the five major Observations from the game, along with Nerd Stats, a handful of Quick Reads …