Drew Allar's four touchdown day leads Penn State past Maryland 51-15

The Penn State Nittany Lions used an efficient day from Drew Allar and a dominant defensive effort to hand the Maryland Terrapins their fourth straight loss on Saturday afternoon, leaving College Park with a 51-15 win.

Penn State's defense allowed 283 total passing yards while keeping Marland to -49 rushing yards in the game thanks in part to six sacks that went for -47 yards. Maryland running backs Roman Hemby and Antwain Littleton II didn't have any success of their own with seven carries for -6 yards.

On the offensive front, Penn State's Drew Allar had an outstanding day, completing 25 of his 34 attempts for 240 yards and four touchdowns. The Nittany Lions' rushing attack also had one of their more successful days of the season, with 37 carries for 158 yards. Sophomore Kaytron Allen led the running backs once again, tallying 14 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown.

- Penn State's offense had their most complete performance against a Power Five opponent on Saturday. The passing attack was strong with Drew Allar showing off his abilities throughout the evening while the Nittany Lions wide receivers were able to get consistent separation throughout the game.

- The Nittany Lions' defense did allow 283 passing yards in the game, it's the third straight game that the secondary has allowed 250+ passing yards. Maryland has six passing plays of 15+ yards in the game including three plays of 25+ yards. Taulia Tagovailoa completed his first 17 passing attempts of the game. From early on in the game, Penn State forced Maryland into being a one-dimensional offense with the Nittany Lions willing to give up yards underneath in the passing game. Maryland was 21-for-29 in passing attempts of under five yards for 118 yards. What could be of concern going forward is the Nittany Lions allowing 10-of-15 passing attempts in the intermediate (6-for-10) and deep (4-for-5) passing games to be completed for 181 yards.

- Penn State dominated in the trenches on both sides throughout the game. The defensive line suffocated the Maryland rushing attack while consistently getting to Tagovailoa. On the offensive side of the ball, the Nittany Lions averaged 4.3 yards per rushing attempt while allowing just one sack on the day, that lone setback coming late in the fourth quarter with the second-team offense.

Penn State's defense made an early statement on Saturday against Maryland. On the Terrapins' first drive of the game, they would encounter a 4th and short near midfield, choosing to go for it, trying to make an early statement of their own. Instead, a quick pass to the left side of the field was perfectly played by Curtis Jacobs and Jayden Reed, forcing a turnover on downs on the Terrapins' side of the field.

The Nittany Lions offense looking to build off their game-winning drive against Indiana last weekend would have a strong first drive, going 44 yards across eight plays. The series was capped off with a perfectly placed pass from Drew Allar to Dante Cephas who made an equally as fantastic of a catch to put Penn State up early.

It was the first big play for both players who were major parts of the Nittany Lions' offensive success on Saturday.

Maryland's next drive would get into Penn State territory but defensive end Adisa Isaac would force a Terrapins fumble, recovered by Zane Durant, to give Penn State the ball back. The Nittany Lions would be unable to take advantage of the Maryland turnover, going three and out.

After the Nittany Lions defense forced a three-and-out of their own, Penn State would answer with an eight-play, 79-yard scoring drive to make it a 14-0 game. The second score of the day for the Penn State offense came on some trickeration with the Nittany Lions running what looked to be a play similar to the "Philly Special". Pribula would take the snap with Allar out wide as a wide receiver. Allar was put in motion as the snap occurred and received a Pribula toss, looking for an open receiver. However, with a defender closing in, Allar cut toward the endzone before tossing a pitch to a wide-open Theo Johnson, who strolled into the endzone for the touchdown.

Maryland would finally get on the board with their fourth drive of the game though it was aided significantly by a pair of Penn State penalties. After looking like they forced another Terrapins' punt, Liam Clifford would be called for roughing the kicker after just missing a potential blocked punt, giving the Terrapins new life.

A few plays later, Johnny Dixon would be flagged for unnecessary roughness while tackling wide receiver Tai Felton after a short pass, moving the Terrapins from Penn State's 21-yard line to the seven-yard line. One play later, Tagovailoa would find Roman Hembry out wide to cut Penn State's lead to 14-7. It was the longest drive of the game for either team, as the Terrapins erased seven minutes off the clock with a 13-play, 75-yard drive.

The Nittany Lions would answer right back following Maryland's touchdown with a long drive of their own of 12 plays for 75 yards. The drive would finished off by Drew Allar's third passing touchdown of the first half as he made an NFL-caliber throw in between two Terrapin defenders to tight end Tyler Warren to give the Nittany Lions a 21-7 lead.

The Nittany Lions' third touchdown of the day would be the final score of the first half for either side with Penn State going into halftime up 21-7.

Following a strong first half, Penn State maintained its momentum in the second half. The Nittany Lions' offensive line would open the half with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that resulted in an Alex Felkins 30-yard field goal to make it a 24-7 Penn State lead.

After a quiet remainder of the third quarter, the Nittany Lions would see Allar pick up his fourth passing touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, once again with a tremendous throw to find Dante Cephas for his second touchdown of the day.

Maryland would find the endzone for a second time on Saturday in the fourth quarter, once again being aided by a pair of Penn State penalties, cutting the Nittany Lions lead to 31-15 after a two-point conversion. Penn State would respond swiftly after Maryland's touchdown, with Kaytron Allen and the Nittany Lions' offensive line driving their way to a 10-yard touchdown run.

Alex Felkins would add a pair of field goals while Beau Pribula would pick up a rushing touchdown as the fourth quarter wound down eventually giving Penn State a 51-15 win in College Park.

Saturday's game was the best performance this season by Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions' passing attack. Allar finished the day 25-for-34 for 240 yards and four touchdowns. It's the first four-touchdown game of his collegiate career.

Throughout the game, Allar looked composed, making strong prensap reads before showing great decision-making throughout the game. The sophomore signal caller was accurate throughout the game, making pinpoint passes to his receivers and tight ends at all levels of the field.

Eight different Nittany Lions picked up receptions on Saturday but no performance was as needed or as big as Kent State transfer Dante Cephas. After a slow and uneventful first eight games of the season, Cephas had a breakthrough with six receptions against the Terrapins, accumulating 53 yards and scoring his first two touchdowns as a Nittany Lion.

If Saturday's performance is an indicator of what we can expect from Cephas in the future, the Nittany Lions' passing attack could find themselves in a more favorable position than initially anticipated for their upcoming matchup against Michigan. That being said, it's still a matchup that is going to be extremely tough for the Nittany Lions.

One of the crown jewels of Penn State's 2023 recruiting class was four-star linebacker Tony Rojas out of Fairfax, Virginia. Rojas who has played in mop-up roles for the Nittany Lions this season had a fantastic fourth quarter for the Nittany Lions in a little bit of a breakout "quarter" for the freshman.

In the fourth quarter, Rojas recorded both a forced fumble, strip sacking Taulia Tagovailoa, and also picking off a Billy Edwards Jr pass. The two turnovers came on back-to-back possessions with just one Maryland offensive play in between. In his time on the field this season, Rojas has consistently flashed his talents and athleticism. Rojas should continue to earn more playing time going forward and could see a larger role against Rutgers and Michigan State as well as in the Nittany Lions' eventual bowl game.

- The Nittany Lions offense totaled 404 total yards in the win including 246 through the air, their second-best statistical performance of the year only behind their season opener against West Virginia when they threw for 332 yards.

- The Nittany Lions' defense totaled six sacks and 12 tackles for a loss in the game.

- Penn State has now scored 50+ points in three of their four trips to College Park under head coach James Franklin

- After forcing four turnovers (two fumbles and two interceptions), Penn State has now forced 20 turnovers this season (10 fumbles and 10 interceptions) to just four turnovers. Their +16 turnover margin is the best in college football.

- Drew Allar is now 181-for-285 for 1,895 yards, and 20 touchdowns to just one interception. He also has three rushing touchdowns on the season.

- Kaytron Allen's 6.5 yards per carry was his best performance against a Power Five opponent this season.

Penn State now at 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play will have a season-defining opportunity next week against the top-five-ranked Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines are currently 7-0 this season and will play the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday night.

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