Penn State-USC Takeaways: Tyler Warren, Ryan Barker shine in big road win
By Greg Pickel
No. 4 Penn State needed overtime to finally overcome USC. Ryan Barker made his fourth field goal of the day, this one in overtime, to lead the Lions to victory. The final score was 33-30. Barker got to make his try after Trojans kicker Michael Lantz was no good from 45 yards to start the extra session.
Here are our initial takeaways from LA Memorial Coliseum.
Penn State has itself a field goal kicker
Hello, Ryan Barker. Penn State had a kicker question to start the season. It was with good reason, as redshirt junior Sander Sahaydak struggled early in the year. He was replaced by Barker, a redshirt freshman walk-on. He had the biggest game of his life in LA. Barker was good on four field goal tries including the last one that handed the Lions their biggest win of the season. There is no longer any need to doubt whether or not the Lions are OK at placekicker. They are. The redshirt freshman is the reason why.
Tyler Warren, you are the man
To quote the late, great Harry Kalas, the star Penn State tight end is indeed the man. Warren must have set just about every record imaginable for a Nittany Lion tight end. The senior finished with 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed one time for 4 yards and threw a pass for 9 yards. And he snapped the ball before running downfield to catch his 32-yard touchdown. He was incredible today and was the reason why the Lions had a chance to win it at the end.
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Second half dominance continues
Penn State did not have a good first half. But, yet again, it shined after the break. The Lions jumped on USC out of the gate with Warren’s score and had 14 third quarter points. It did surrender its first points of the season in the third quarter, a field goal, but by and large, the defense was great over the final 30 minutes plus overtime. So, too, was the offense. PSU had 314 yards and 27 points after halftime. USC had 10 and 161. And, that was the big difference in this game.
Penn State-USC odds and ends
–How about senior receiver Julian Fleming’s bounce-back? He was flagged for an offensive pass-interference penalty to wipe out a first-quarter Penn State touchdown, and he dropped a pass later in the game, but he had two clutch fourth-down conversion catches in the fourth quarter to help the Lions tie it late.
–Senior safety Jaylen Reed was again terrific. He is shining in this Penn State defense and should be getting more hype nationally.
–It can finally be said: Penn State and James Franklin won a big game on the road. And they earned it.
