The Question Answered
We all wondered and worried about it. Would the loss to Ohio State become two losses? Would this be the undoing of what had been a hopeful season up until the Buckeyes showed up?
There’s not much more of a definitive answer than 28 to zip at the half. Jack Ham, in his radio broadcast, said it was the most complete half of football the Nittany Lions have played this season.
On offense, the team’s first four possessions of the game resulted in four touchdowns. Beau Pribula ran in the first TD of the game. Tyler Warren caught eight passes for 75 yards to break Mike Gesicki’s single-season record for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end. He also took direct snaps for two touchdowns, both from the two-yard line. Drew Allar went 20 for 28 and a touchdown. Julian Fleming reeled in his first touchdown catch as a Penn Stater. True freshman running back Corey Smith rushed for 95 yards in his debut.
The defense forced two punts and Jaylen Reed came away with another interception. Abdul Carter had two of the team’s five sacks, which ties him with another famous number 11, Lavar Arrington for 11th all-time at PSU. Kobe King racked up seven tackles and a sack.
Special teams had a quieter night and a couple mishaps. Ryan Barker missed one from 44 yards. Nick Singleton opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return but it was negated due to a questionable holding penalty. On a positive note, Barker is 18 for 18 on extra point attempts this season and we didn’t have to punt at all.
In his post-game press conference, Franklin said, “we’ve got a ton to be proud of and we focus on that. We focus on making corrections, and I’m proud of my guys. I’m proud of my staff and how we go about our business. We value winning. If you watch college football all over the country, it’s hard to win on a consistent basis. You see it every single week, upsets and things like that. So, we value winning. We respect winning and what it takes. And we get back to work.”
We may have lost to Ohio State last weekend, but we are showing no signs of defeat. Penn State answered our questions with their resiliency. It was full steam ahead for a fired-up White Out crowd. Full steam ahead for our Nittany Lions. Let’s keep it going with full steam ahead for Purdue next week. Go State! Beat the Boilermakers!
