Five plays for Penn State fans to be thankful for this Thanksgiving
It’s been a long road to Penn State’s 10-1 record so far this season. The Nittany Lions have won in a variety of ways, and along the way have built around key plays. Which five are Penn State fans most thankful for on Thanksgiving? Let’s take a trip down memory lane.
5. Nick Singleton shuts the door on Bowling Green
Penn State had its first exhale moment of the season in the home opener against Bowling Green. After fighting off a slow start that saw the Nittany Lions trailing by as many as 10 in the second quarter, Penn State clawed back in the second half behind two Nick Singleton touchdowns. Drew Allar hit Singleton with an absolute dart on an angle route in the third quarter to give the Nittany Lions their first lead.
After a scoreless stretch, Penn State capitalized on a Zakee Wheatley interception with a one-play drive that Singleton bounced for a 41-yard score.
The Falcons scored a field goal late to make it a touchdown, game, but the Nittany Lions avoided the upset with a 34-27 win. Bowling Green, by the way, will win the MAC regular season title with a win over Miami (Ohio) this weekend.
4. Ryan Barker walks it off at USC
Penn State was up against it on its first Big Ten West Coast trip back in October. The Nittany Lions found themselves in a big first-half hole against the Trojans, trailing 20-6 at the half. Penn State came out blazing in the third quarter and tied the game at 20, and eventually went to overtime at the Coliseum (more on that later).
Flash back a week earlier and kicker Sander Sahaydak lost his starting job with a couple of misses against Illinois, leaving him 2-of-5 on the young season. Penn State went with redshirt freshman walk-on Ryan Barker against the Trojans. He was cool as can be, hitting all four of his field goal opportunities on the day. He put USC to bed with a 36-yarder in overtime for the 33-30 win.
Penn State improved to 6-0 on the season and Barker is now 10-of-11 on field goals on the year.
3. Jaylen Reed’s pick-six flips the game at Wisconsin
The Nittany Lions were out of sorts against Wisconsin in the first half of an October trip to Madison. To make matters more difficult, Allar couldn’t go coming out of the half and the Nittany Lions would have to ride backup Beau Pribula to stay undefeated. To do that, Penn State would have to overcome a 10-7 halftime difference in one of the Big Ten’s signature environments.
But, of course, Penn State had a defense that it could lean on as well. After a pair of Pribula drives stalled, the Badgers got the ball back at their own 12. The Nittany Lions snuffed a pair of run plays for losses and pressure up the middle forced an errant throw by Badgers quarterback Braedyn Locke. He found Penn State safety Jaylen Reed in the middle of the field and the senior weaved 19 yards back for the score to give Penn State a 14-10 lead that it would not give back.
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Penn State added 14 points in the fourth quarter as Pribula found himself and the Nittany Lions left Madison with a 28-13 win in prime time.
2. Drew Allar finds Julian Fleming twice on fourth down at USC
Offseason Transfer Portal addition Julian Fleming hasn’t been the guy that would fix the Nittany Lions’ receiver issues, but on two plays late against USC, Allar was happy that he joined the team last offseason. Undefeated Penn State trailed USC 30-23 with just under six minutes remaining and the ball on its own 32-yard-line. The Nittany Lions faced a 4th-and-7 at their own 44, Allar went through his progressions and found Fleming for a massive 17-yard pickup.
It wasn’t the last time, either. After three incompletions, Penn State faced a 4th-and-10. Allar avoided pressure and came back to Fleming for his second huge catch of the drive, this one for 16 yards. The Nittany Lions would score two plays later as Allar found Singleton in the flat for a 14-yard score. Penn State would force overtime, the Trojans missed a field goal and Barker ended it with the aforementioned kick.
That kick, of course, doesn’t happen without a pair of huge conversions from Fleming.
Fleming has 13 catches for 171 yards and a touchdown for the Nittany Lions in 11 games.
1. Penn State ends the Minnesota game on its terms
Maybe there’s some recency bias here, but Penn State’s win at Minnesota was certainly a high point for the Nittany Lions in the 2024 season. Holding a one-point lead late in Nittany Lions’ territory, James Franklin made one of the bolder calls of his coaching career. Penn State lined up to punt with just under four minutes to play, but the unit got the look it wanted and true freshman tight end Luke Reynolds caught the Gophers napping on a fake.
He followed key blocks from Tyler Elsdon, DaKaari Nelson, Cooper Cousins and Dom Rulli en route to a 32-yard gain that put the Nittany Lions in a position to seal the win. Penn State was able to bleed the clock in Gophers’ territory and didn’t allow the hosts to touch the ball for the final six minutes of the game.
The call put Penn State in a position to host a home playoff game in December if the Nittany Lions can take care of business on Saturday against Maryland.
