Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529598
6 6 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State coach James Franklin was in a chatty mood during his news conference following a 49- 10 thumping of Purdue. Franklin raved about star senior tight end Tyler Warren, who he be- lieves should be in the Heisman Tro- phy conversation after amassing 190 all-purpose yards and 2 touchdowns against the Boilermakers, yet another big day in a record-setting season. Franklin also raved about the growth and consistency of junior quarterback Drew Allar in recent weeks. Allar hit 17 of 19 passing attempts for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns during the Nittany Lions' visit to West Lafayette, and Franklin was even happier about his demeanor than his stats. The second- year starter has become a calming presence for his teammates and a headache for opposing defenses. After Franklin finished, Penn State's players spoke to reporters and gave off the same relaxed vibe. Anyone who looked at this game ahead of time strongly suspected it would be a blow- out. The Boilermakers went into it with a 1-8 record and were in last place in the Big Ten standings. On this day, though, that wasn't the focus for Penn State. Instead, the Nittany Lions were thinking about how they were finally able to put a full 60 minutes together instead of a good half here or good quarter there. Against Purdue, the Lions scored in every quarter. Their starters shined, and many of the backups did, too. PSU didn't come up with any turnovers, but there wasn't much else that Frank- lin and his staff could or should have hoped for. With an opportunity to bolster their College Football Playoff hopes, the Li- ons came to town with a plan and ex- ecuted it, ensuring in the process that everything they want to achieve this season remains obtainable. "I thought that was the best game we played overall, in terms of four quarters — offense, defense, special teams, com- plementary football," Franklin said. "We were able to play 68 players in the game, which is great and is really going to help us from an experience standpoint. "Defensively, we continue to play dominant third-quarter football. [We allowed] 10 plays for 35 yards, but that also has to do with our offense sustain- ing drives. Tyler Warren continues to just make plays in a ton of different ways. I think he's part of the conversa- tion as one of the best players in all of college football, let alone the tight end position. "We needed to find a way to win this game and get better. I thought we did that tonight. We want to continue on that trajectory this week." The reality is that Penn State must continue on that trajectory. The Lions were set to visit Minnesota coming off their victory at Purdue, and they will finish their regular season against Maryland on Senior Day. With wins in those two games, a trip to the first 12-team playoff is assured. But wins are by no means certain. The Nittany Lions are a very good football team, but they are far from perfect, and to keep their season on track, they will need more efforts like the one we saw at Purdue. There were few mistakes. There were no coaching er- rors. And the Lions' best play- ers answered the bell. They'll need to keep doing so. The opposition going forward will be better than it was in West Lafayette, but a repeat ef- fort will help PSU put itself in a position to beat anyone it faces in the regular season and beyond. The Lions set the stage for their romp over Purdue by dominating Washington in the first half a week ear- lier. Penn State scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and led 28-0 en route to a 35-6 win. "I think we had a really good taste of what we can do last week when obvi- ously we had a good first half," junior offensive tackle Drew Shelton said fol- lowing the Purdue game. "The talk all week has just been, 'How can we sustain that for four quarters?' When we play games, they're going to need to be four- quarter games." Penn State has pushed all year long to put itself in the best position to finally make the postseason tournament. It could not beat Ohio State on Nov. 2 to fully control its own destiny, but it's been doing the next-best thing: beat- ing almost everyone on its schedule soundly. If it continues to do so, the praise and accolades will come. So, too, might the program's first CFP win. Taking care of business in the final stages of the regular season is the first priority, though. If we know anything about these Lions, it's that they'll pre- pare themselves properly to do so. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL GREG.PICKEL@ON3.COM Lions Look To Stay On A Winning Trajectory THE LAST WORD Drew Allar completed 17 of 19 passes for 247 yards in Penn State's 49-10 victory at Purdue. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS