The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s 21-7 win over Illinois
Tom Allen came down to the Beaver Stadium field with a pep in his step. The Penn State defensive coordinator has called the last two games from the press box, and let out some of the energy he surely built up from watching the game from above.
He found his wife and gave her a hug before embracing coach after coach and player after player with enthusiasm.
The coordinator had plenty of reason to be a ball of energy. After giving up a touchdown to Illinois on the opening drive of the game, he and his defense shut the Illini out the rest of the way to help the team earn a 21-7 victory.
His group met the challenge of the Illini and limited a rushing attack that decimated Penn State with power formations in 2021, when a few key Nittany Lions were freshmen.
“The key was doing our job, upholding the standard as a defense,” linebacker Kobe King said. “Knowing what they did to us my freshman year in 2021, how many yards they ran on us, we didn’t want it to happen again. They have some good backs, some bigger backs. We just attacked them.”
And while head coach James Franklin wants to see better play on those opening drives, he was happy with what the unit was able to accomplish Saturday night.
That starts with what the Nittany Lions were able to do against the Illinois rushing attack.
“They averaged 1.1 yards per carry so that set everything else up,” Franklin said. “...Ultimately, we made them one-dimensional. When you’re able to do that, you’ve got a chance to be successful.”
Good
A.J. Harris: So Penn State might have one of the best corners in the country. Harris committed a defensive pass interference early in the game but there weren’t many blemishes outside of that. He’s excellent in man coverage and has the type of recovery speed that only the best in the world at his position possess.
Then there’s the interception he had — his first as a Nittany Lion. Harris waited on a slant route by Illinois and read it so well that it looked like Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer was targeting the Penn State corner. The Nittany Lions have a strong recent track record at cornerback and Harris is quickly becoming one of the best on that list.
Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton: I don’t know if Penn State fans know just how good they have it at running back. Allen and Singleton are either the best or second-best tandem at the position in the country with only Ohio State’s duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins in the conversation. The two Nittany Lions are both playing the best they have since they got to Penn State, surpassing the level they reached as freshmen in 2022.
Some of that credit goes to offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for his play designs, but a lot of it goes to Allen and Singleton for running well. They’ve both taken advantage of Kotelnicki’s use of wide zone runs, where they search for the first lane to open up along the line. Right now, Allen and Singleton are the engines that make the offense go.
Offensive line: Flying under the radar is usually a good thing for the offensive line, but it’s time to spill some ink about arguably the best position group on the team. The o-line has been dominant at its best and has been at that level for a large majority of the four games the Nittany Lions have played. Even in this game, starting guard Sal Wormley went down with an injury but it didn’t impact the team’s level of play.
Across the board the line has been excellent and takes advantage of the opportunities Kotelnicki schemes up — like when he puts a lineman in motion to use as a lead blocker or lines one of them up outside to distort the defense. This group has come a long way since it was the primary question mark on the time a few years ago.
Pass rush: The numbers haven’t always been there for the Nittany Lions when it comes to getting after quarterbacks, but they sure were Saturday. They racked up seven sacks in the game, including 3.5 between defensive ends Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter and defensive tackle Zane Durant. Those three are the team’s best pass rushers and are all more than capable of being game wrecking players, and that’s what they did against the Illini.
All three were able to get after the quarterback, in part, because Penn State got up and made Illinois one-dimensional. And it’s much easier to rush the quarterback when the running game isn’t a threat because of the score. That being said, the rush was already good prior to Saturday, but it’s a good sign to see the pass rushers finally get home for some sacks.
Tyler Warren’s usage: Penn State might have one of the most versatile weapons in the country at its disposal. Warren has already established himself as the best tight end and the country — something Franklin keeps mentioning, and I believe he’s right about — and now he’s beginning to do even more. Now he’s begun to line up at quarterback more and more, the position he played in high school, and is giving the team another rushing threat.
He scored the team’s first rushing touchdown of the game and then picked up a third down when he took a snap at quarterback later in the game. Those plays, which Warren said after the game are true read plays and not predetermined quarterback keeps, have added yet another dimension to what is becoming an increasingly varied offense.
Bad
Drew Allar: I don’t have many issues with how Allar played, and I’d characterize this as more average than bad. But as I’ve said time and time again, the column isn’t called good, mediocre, ugly or good, fine, ugly. So the junior quarterback goes here for a lackluster performance that still included some impressive throws — including his first of the game when he fit a ball into a tight window to find Tre Wallace.
That being said, he held the ball for too long from time to time and his accuracy wasn’t as good as it has been early in the season. Allar isn’t going to be great every week — like he was the first three weeks — and should be primed for a bounce back performance against UCLA next week.
Early decision making: It’s important to note — before I get too critical of the decision making — that I would almost never punt or kick field goals if I only need three yards or fewer in my own territory, or five or fewer in my opponent’s territory. With that in mind, I thought Penn State handled multiple situations poorly when it comes to going for it on fourth down. The first was a fourth-and-1 in the second quarter on the PSU 42-yard line when they chose to punt. The team had zero runs for fewer than three yards and would have been in a great spot to pick up the first down on the ground and keep the drive rolling.
The second was on their next drive when they attempted a 40-yard field goal on a fourth-and-6. That was a situation where the team’s issues at kicker should have pushed its play-calling to set up a closer fourth down opportunity by running on second or third down. Speaking of those issues ...
Ugly
Kicking game: I don’t think this has to be nearly as big of an issue as it is — because I would almost never kick — but as long as Penn State is chasing field goals it will be a problem. Sander Sahaydak missed two 40-yard field goals in the game and was replaced by Ryan Barker on the team’s final extra point attempt in the game. Right now the kicking game shouldn’t even be a consideration for the Nittany Lions unless a field goal attempt is a chip shot.
The silver lining here is that the struggles could push Franklin to try converting more fourth downs rather than kicking — something I will almost always endorse.
