Clifford's toughness a big key for Penn State

Sean Clifford takes a massive hit from Auburn's Owen Pappoe during the first quarter of the Lions' 41-12 victory.ALTOONA, Pa. -- Goodness, this hit was vicious. It looked bad live, then on replay looked like ... well, if we're being honest, it looked like an annihilation assassination.

Here's the replay:

But instead of being knocked out cold, as one might have expected, Sean Clifford got back up, stayed in the game and actually ran a quarterback sneak on the next play trying to convert a 4th-and-1.

Now, the play call on that 4th-and-1 was incredibly dumb, given that Clifford had just been destroyed by Auburn's Owen Pappoe. Clifford was stopped on the ensuing QB keeper, Auburn took over on…