Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530530
3 0 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M O regon cornerback Nikko Reed raced to his sideline, ball in hand after the fourth-quarter intercep- tion that sealed the fate of Penn State's Big Ten championship hopes. Mobbed by his teammates after an excep- tional play, Reed brought home a confer- ence title in his team's first year of league membership. On the other side was Penn State quar- terback Drew Allar, the provider of said interception. It wasn't a gimme. It wasn't a lapse in judgment. It was just this much off. Trailing by eight points at the two- minute timeout, Allar saw No. 1 receiver Harrison Wallace III matched up with Reed on the outside on a second-and-1 play near midfield. The Nittany Lions were looking for man coverage, hoping to take a shot while in an advantageous down-and-distance situation. They got what they wanted, and Allar unloaded. There is one place that a quarterback can't leave that ball in that situation, and it's inside toward the rest of the de- fense. In this case, the difference between a game-sealing interception and a no- harm, no-foul reset on third-and-1 was probably only about 2 yards, but Allar found that margin, admitting after the Nittany Lions' 45-37 loss that he needed to find "[Wallace] or nobody." That was it. No Big Ten title, no upset of the No. 1 team in the nation and at least another couple weeks of hearing about how Penn State can't win big games. Allar's final throw wasn't close to the top of the list of reasons why Penn State fell to Oregon in Indianapolis on Dec. 7. It was, however, another example of the slender margin between victory and de- feat at the college game's highest level. Penn State was close. Very close. But once again, it wasn't precise enough in the most critical moments. That's what it takes when competing against the best of the best in this sport, which only provides so many opportunities to go out and get the job done. In the postgame press conference, coach James Franklin lamented the two turnovers his team committed, noting that they overshadowed a lot of good work in other areas. "We won pretty much every major sta- tistic besides that," Franklin said. "Since the beginning of time, turnover ratio is significant, maybe the most important stat in all of college football. We won the second-most important stat in all of foot- ball, which was explosive plays. But at the end of the day, we didn't do enough to beat the No. 1 team in the country." Oddly enough, it wasn't coordinator Andy Kotelnicki's offensive side that was in the crosshairs for this one. In fact, the The Bitter The Bitter End End Penn State shows resilience but can't keep up with Oregon in a Big Ten championship shootout S E A N F I T Z | S E A N . F I T Z @ O N 3 . C O M Oregon's Nikko Reed stayed stride for stride with Penn State receiver Harrison Wallace III and came up with a key fourth- quarter interception. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL