Penn State-Washington Takeaways: Lions pull away during dominant first half
By Greg Pickel
No. 6 Penn State did nothing to spoil its first slot in the College Football Playoff rankings on Saturday night against Washington. In fact, its 35-6 win over the Huskies both validated its initial placing and also showed the selection committee why it deserves to stay there. The Nittany Lions dominated the visitors for much of the game for as easy a White Out win as they come. Our top takeaways are below.
Penn State played the perfect first half
It’s hard to imagine what could have gone better for the Nittany Lions. Penn State was 7 for 7 on third down, 4 of 4 in the red zone, and built a 28-0 lead. The Lions scored early and often. They used do-it-all tight end Tyler Warren for two 2-yard rushing scores on the goal line. Drew Allar was 14 of 18 for 140 yards. The receivers were involved. And the defense was ferocious. Washington had just 71 yards at the break to the Lions’ 264. It was utter domination that set the tone that Penn State was not going to let last week’s loss to Ohio State beat it this week.
The second half was not as pretty
Penn State did finally find the end zone late in the fourth quarter, but the final 30 minutes were about as ugly as the first 30 were pretty. A hold wiped out Nick Singleton’s kick return touchdown to open the half. Tyler Warren fumbled two plays later, which set up Washington to kick a field goal. Jalen Kimber interfered with a Washington defender turning a fourth-and-12 stop into first-and-goal for the Huskies, who got a field goal then, too.
Penn State was never in danger of losing, but it did not play a complete, dominating 60 minutes, either.
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Abdul Carter was a star
Carter was unblockable on this night. It’s impossible to believe but is true that he never drew a holding flag despite routinely being held. But, ultimately, it did not matter. The junior finished with six tackles (four for loss), two sacks and a forced fumble. He was unstoppable and wrecked the Huskies’ offense over and over again.
Penn State-Washington odds and ends
—Ryan Barker missed the first field goal of his career. His 44-yard second-half boot sailed wide left.
–Kimber’s DPI call was a bit questionable. So was the hold that wiped out Singleton’s return. And Tyler Warren may have caught a pass that was ruled incomplete before Barker’s miss. It was not a great night for the officiating crew.
–After doing a brutal job on third down last week, Penn State was 10 of 12 against Washington. It was also 5 for 5 in the red zone with four touchdowns. It was exactly the bounce back that was needed.
