Why Penn State football’s emotional OT win against USC is so important for the program
Drew Allar and Abdul Carter knelt on the sideline with their arms locked as they waited for what would be the final play of the Nittany Lions’ 33-30 overtime win over USC.
The two Penn State stars, who so frequently impact every play on their respective sides of the ball, were now waiting helplessly. They watched as kicker Ryan Barker lined up his kick — and then lined it up again after USC head coach Lincoln Riley called a timeout — and knocked it through the uprights.
That’s when the emotion took over.
The Nittany Lions — including Carter — sprinted onto the field, chasing Barker in celebration. They hugged, embracing the moment by dumping every bit of emotion with screams and chest bumps. This felt like much more than a typical win, and in many ways the team treated it like it wasn’t one.
Finally, after years of coming up short in the James Franklin era, the program may have gotten over the hump.
For all of the focus on going 1-0 each week, that mentality hadn’t elicited the results Penn State had desired in recent years. Too often they would get to a moment like this one — a road matchup against a good team — and fall short. But the signs were there before the final kick that this team was different.
The game-tying drive Allar orchestrated late in regulation might be the best example. The cast of characters involved in getting the Nittany Lions into the end zone did not include tight end Tyler Warren, who finished with 224 receiving yards and a touchdown on 17 receptions, breaking a PSU record with the latter stat.
Instead it was everyone who wasn’t able to come through in moments earlier.
One by one they all got the job done — Nick Singleton, Tre Wallace, Julian Fleming and Kaytron Allen. Each picking up the offense in a key spot. But maybe no player was more crucial on the drive than Fleming, who had drawn the ire of fans with a drop earlier in the game.
But the senior receiver wasn’t fazed. He knew why he made the mistake earlier, and he was determined to fix it.
“Eye control,” Fleming said. “It’s been a thing I’ve been really trying to retrain myself on. ... I’ve worked on it a lot. A lot. A lot.”
This time he stared the passes in. Two of them — both on fourth downs to extend the drive and the Nittany Lions’ hopes of winning.
Fleming is not new to big games or moments after spending his first four years at Ohio State. But he’s also not immune to lulls in confidence. That’s why the first conversion was so important to the second.
“It built my confidence back up,” Fleming said. “Everybody wants that one that just builds their confidence back up. I think that was the one for me. I was kind of ready to go after that. Especially after earlier in the game, not doing what I wanted to do. I think that really built my confidence; (we) passed the sticks and just kept going from there.”
But those plays aren’t just about the veteran receiver. They’re about Allar, too. He had already tossed two interceptions on poorly thrown passes in the game, and it would have been easy to force the ball to Warren rather than trust Fleming.
Instead he went to the receiver and came away even more impressed.
“I think the biggest thing is, I know he had that drop earlier in the game, but I think it shows the type of player he is and the type of person he is to keep battling back,” Allar said. “Those two fourth-down plays were obviously huge for us in tying the game back up. But those were two of the most impressive catches I’ve seen ... so those two catches really helped us just keep sustaining momentum. And I couldn’t be prouder of him. I mean, he’s a great, great teammate for me and really the whole team. And I’m just super happy that he was able to come down with those two catches.”
Fleming’s moments were two of many. And for the first time under Franklin it seemed that everything pointed in Penn State’s favor in the most crucial seconds of the game.
Maybe Saturday is what it is — a road win over a good team that has an elite offense and a mediocre defense. But it doesn’t have to be. It can be more.
The Nittany Lions have complete control of their destiny. They’re primed to make the College Football Playoff — and maybe even knock off Ohio State in November.
But for now they are where they wanted to be.
“We’re far from perfect, but we’re also 6-0 and 1-0 this week,” Franklin said. “And we’re gonna take it and run.”
For now that is good enough.
And for the first time under Franklin, the team might be, too.
