Penn State defense brought 'A' game against Washington, what could have been against Ohio State: What they're saying

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State improved to 8-1 and will likely move up in the next College Football Playoff rankings after blasting Washington 35-6 in front of a sold-out, White Out Beaver Stadium crowd on Saturday.

“Penalty battle, I still think there’s some things that we need to get cleaned up, but overall, that was a toss-up,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “And then, I thought the end of the first half was big. In the middle eight, we put up 14 points to their zero. So, you’ve got to give Washington credit. I think that’s a talented football team and a good football team. Coach [Jedd] Fisch will do a great job there. But tonight, our guys played exceptionally well, and specifically in the first half.”

Penn State brought its ‘A’ game on defense

That is the path Bob Flounders of PennLive took following the game. Tom Allen’s defense created five sacks and recorded nine tackles for loss. And, Washington had just 193 yards of total offense, 67 of which came against the backups late in the fourth quarter.

“Penn State (8-1, 5-1) crushed Washington (5-5, 3-4) at scrimmage, shutting down feature back Jonah Coleman,” Flounders writes. “The Lions’ secondary also made Huskies big-play wideout Denzel Boston a non-factor. Boston who had 682 receiving yards and nine scores coming into the game, was held to two catches for 35 yards.

“Penn State’s defense was too quick for Washington and the Lions more than held their own when it came to physical play. The Huskies were never in the game, in large part because of what Penn State’s defense did to Coleman and Boston.”

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Lions’ red zone success makes many wonder what could have been against Ohio State

Statecollege.com Mike Poorman had that as one of his first thoughts following the triumph. Unlike last week against Ohio State, Penn State ran star tight end Tyler Warren twice in the red zone, resulting in two touchdowns.

“Warren’s two TDs showed what might have been possible vs. Ohio State last week, had offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki called his number (44) at least once, if not twice, during Penn State’s failed four plays inside the 3-yard line against the Buckeyes,” Poorman writes. “(To be fair, Warren sat out the first of those four poor plays and was not available because he was catching a blow after running for 33 yards to set up a first-and-goal from the 3.)

“Even though No. 6 Penn State raised its record to 8-1 and may rise to high as No. 4 in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings — both No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Miami lost on Saturday — it was tough to White Out the lingering PTSD that followed with the loss to the Buckeyes.”

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PSU receives a passing grade

Frank Bodani of the York Daily Record gave Penn State an overall grade of A- after it thoroughly beat up the Huskies at the line of scrimmage and put up plenty of points along the way.

The Lions needed to show that they were motivated and capable of true Top 10 work,” Bodani writes. “Especially coming off the excruciating, deflating loss last weekend. And they did that in all ways and means.

“Most credit to an offense that looked more balanced than at any point this season. Drew Allar completed 71 percent of his throws and the run game averaged nearly 7 yards per carry.”

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Final word

This week, it goes to BWI’s Nate Bauer, who wrote about Drew Allar’s dazzling day. The Penn State passer finished with 220 yards on a 20 of 28 day (71 percent) that also featured a touchdown.

“Penn State quarterback Drew Allar recognized the permanence of the past,” Bauer writes. “Surrounded by reporters early Sunday morning, fresh off his Nittany Lions’ dominating, 35-6 win over Washington at Beaver Stadium, two realities came to the forefront. The first was that Penn State’s loss to Ohio State, and the offensive performance therein, couldn’t be undone. The Nittany Lions had lost a 20-13 decision and, given four opportunities from the 3-yard line, couldn’t tie the game late in the fourth quarter.

“The second was that how the Nittany Lions grew in the aftermath of that loss would dictate the program’s future. Still well within reach of aspirations that were important before the loss to the Buckeyes and remained as much in its wake, Allar sought to pursue them.”

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