Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531683
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he final play of Penn State's 2024 season lasted just four seconds of game time, but the Nittany Lions managed to heap a season's worth of lingering themes into an easily forget- table moment. The string of laterals would have re- quired a miracle to succeed and was really just a way to delay the inevitable. The outcome of Penn State's Jan. 9 matchup against Notre Dame in the College Foot- ball Playoff semifinals had effectively been decided when Mitch Jeter's 41-yard field goal curved back through the up- rights with seven seconds to play. But there went Penn State. Junior quarterback Drew Allar threw quickly to senior tight end Tyler Warren. Unable to provide one final career-extending bailout, Warren could only serve as the pivot man this time around, shoveling the ball to redshirt junior wideout Har- rison Wallace III in a hook-and-ladder move aimed at finding an open lane. Warren's catch, his sixth of the night and team-record 104th of the season, closed one of the brightest individual offensive chapters in Penn State history. He stuck around one more year, was asked to do everything for the Nittany Lions, and certainly delivered. He'll leave as one of the program's all-time greats, redefining what a tight end could do at this level. This time, however, all he could do was heave a desperate chest pass. If the Nit- tany Lions were to do the impossible, someone else would have to pick up the slack. Wallace's touch was the first time a Penn State wide receiver possessed the ball all evening. The general assessment of that particular group of Nittany Lions, which faced varying levels of criticism all year long, proved correct on the biggest stage. For them, PSU's visit to Miami was a debacle beyond what any scouting re- port could cook up, even as a worst-case scenario. The wideouts had been fairly invisible at times this year, and the team had found workarounds by throwing to Warren and junior running backs Nicho- las Singleton and Kaytron Allen. But get- ting blanked in the national semifinals was unthinkable. Fittingly, Penn State's wide receiv- ers ended the night catching zero balls and losing 3 yards, per the official stat book. There was no separation from Notre Dame's man coverage, no con- tested catches won and very little hint of a threat outside the hashmarks. Wallace ran out of room quickly and tossed the ball back to Allar near the orig- inal line of scrimmage. Allar unfortu- nately summed up his entire evening in a matter of seconds. With two Notre Dame defenders quickly barreling down, he hastily chucked the ball across the field in the general direction of Singleton. Would Singleton, who found the end zone for all three of Penn State's touchdowns, be able to do anything with it? Probably not. However, the fact remains that he did not get the chance to make the extra play. Allar's throw sailed beyond Singleton's reach and bounced harmlessly out of bounds, prompting a celebration on the Notre Dame sideline, its 27-24 victory now assured. Hard Lessons To say that Allar was not at his best in the Orange Bowl would be an under- statement. He finished with 12 comple- tions on 23 attempts for 135 yards and threw a devastating interception in the final minute. At no point did he display any level of comfort leading the offense. The Notre Dame pressure toyed with his internal clock from start to finish, caus- ing his processing and footwork to suffer. That, in turn, led to mechanical break- downs that made even games of pitch- and-catch a struggle. On the first play of the second quarter, Allar short-armed a pass to Singleton in the flat on what should have been Penn State's first touchdown. Singleton wasn't able to secure the low throw, and the in- completion forced Penn State to settle for a field goal — a missed opportunity that seemed significant at the time and loomed even larger in the aftermath of a three-point loss. Asked afterward to evaluate his perfor- mance, Allar conceded the obvious. "We didn't win the game, so it wasn't good enough," he said. "It's plain and simple. I'll learn from it. I'll do everything in my power to get better from it and just grow from it." Allar had posted modest numbers in Penn State's playoff opener against SMU on Dec. 21, hitting 13 of 22 passes for 127 yards. But the frigid temperatures played a role in that performance, and Penn State didn't need to take a lot of unnec- essary risks after opening up a 28-0 half- time lead en route to a 38-10 victory. In the Lions' quarterfinal matchup against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, Allar threw for 171 yards on 13- of-25 passing, with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in a 31-14 romp. The Li- ons leaned heavily on their ground game against the Broncos, with Allen and Sin- gleton combining for 217 yards. Against Notre Dame, which was al- lowing only 167.4 passing yards per game to rank fifth in the FBS heading into the Orange Bowl, the margin of error was greatly diminished. Allar struggled from the start, and the problems came to a head with the Nittany Lions trying to maneuver into position for a potential winning field goal with less than a minute to play. The defense had gotten a stop, and Penn State regained possession at its own 15-yard line with 47 seconds left. Singleton raced 13 yards on first down, and the Lions suddenly felt as though they were in an advantageous position. Next up was taking a potential shot down the field to pick up a chunk. It wasn't there, and with pressure closing in, Allar tried to waste one by throwing at the feet of junior receiver Omari Evans. Unlike on the two picks he underthrew earlier in the game that were called back due to penalties, Allar was able to get into this one. The ball fell into the arms of diving Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray, who made a heck of a play to secure it before it hit the ground. With that, the air finally came out of Penn State's season. The pick set up Jeter's field goal and sent the Nittany Li- ons into the offseason 11 days earlier than they had hoped. James Franklin and his players were dejected after the game, but even in the aftermath of a heartbreaking loss, they couldn't help but look ahead. The coach