Ole Miss too much for shorthanded Penn State to handle as Lions fall 38-25
A usually dominant Penn State defense didn't have any answers for Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
The Nittany Lions defense, entering the game shorthanded due to opt outs and snap counts, were unable to stop a highly-accurate Jaxson Dart and the Ole Miss passing attack.
Of course, it doesn't help that the Nittany Lions offense like in their losses to Ohio State and Michigan was consistently ineffective and struggled to find any sort of sustained success.
On Ole Miss's first drive of the game, it looked like that the Penn State defense was going to be able to have success against the Rebels. The Nittany Lions got pressure on quarterback Jaxson Dart multiple times and nearly forced an opening drive interception.
The Nittany Lions offense also started out strong with a 10-play, 64 yard drive that resulted in a field goal attempt to open up the scoring. Then, the switch was quickly flipped towards Ole Miss.
The Rebels would score on four straight scoring drives with a pair of touchdowns and pair of field goals, the Nittany Lions secondary being manned by young cornerbacks including Cam Miller and Zion Tracy allowed 258 passing yards in the first half.
The final scoring drive of those four straight drives came with just over five minutes to halftime, Penn State would fall behind by double-digits for the first time in the game as Jaxson Dart found a wide open Caden Preiskorn for a 36-yard touchdown. The Nittany Lions' defense continued to get picked apart with opt outs of both Kalen King and Johnny Dixon in the secondary while the linebacker room saw both Kobe King and Abdul Carter get banged up in the first half.
The Nittany Lions wouldn't take long to respond with a quick two minute drive that saw Beau Pribula find an open Nicholas Singleton in the middle of the field in between a pair of Ole Miss defenders. From there, Singleton would turn on the jets, blowing by multiple Rebels on his way to a 48-yard touchdown, giving the Nittany Lions some much needed life prior to halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Nittany Lions in much-need of trying to find some sort of sustained success offensively, would go three-and-out on their first drive of the second half. After Riley Thompson flipped the field, pinning the Rebels at their own 25-yard line, Ole Miss's offense continued to find ways to move the ball and would work their way into field goal range, as Caden Davis drilled a 52-yard attempt to extend Ole Miss's lead to 23-17 early in the third quarter.
The Nittany Lions' second drive of the half appeared to have a chance to be extended but tight end Tyler Warren was unable to find his footing after making a short reception, forcing the Nittany Lions to punt on 4th and one in their own territory. On the ensuing drive, Ole Miss would take advantage of the missed opportunity and drive down the field to take a commanding 30-17 lead.
The Nittany Lions offense would have no answer for the Ole Miss touchdown, going three-and-out for the third straight drive. In the fourth quarter, it appeared the Nittany Lions were going to be able to cut the Ole Miss lead down to one score potentially but a failed trick play that saw Beau Pribula look for Drew Allar out wide, sailed out of bounds as a backwards pass for a 12-yard loss. The Nittany Lions' offense was unable to recover from the costly mistake and on 4th and 17 and opted to attempt a field goal. Alex Felkins' attempt would be blocked by Ole Miss, keeping the score at 31-17 early in the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss looking to put the dagger in Penn State would swiftly move the ball down the field across nine plays to extend their lead to 38-17.
The Nittany Lions with under five minutes left would finally find the endzone in the second half on a 14-yard touchdown from Drew Allar to Harrison Wallace. The Nittany Lions opted to go for two instead of the extra point to cut the lead to 38-25. The ensuing onside kick would be recovered by Ole Miss.
After forcing Ole Miss to punt, the Nittany Lions would look to get one final scoring drive in the books, moving the ball into Ole Miss territory before the drive sputtered out at the Ole Miss 36 as they turned the ball over on downs.
In what was a deceiving final box score, the Nittany Lions' 510 total yards in the game including 343 total passing yards. Drew Allar finished the day with 19 completions on 39 targets for 295 yards and two touchdowns. He also had one interception and one fumble lost in the game.
A long wait until 2024
Now with the 2023 season officially wrapped up, the Nittany Lions will turn their a to the 2024 attention season which promises to be an intriguing one within the Big Ten but nationally. Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington will officially join the conference next season and the Nittany Lions are set to face UCLA, USC, and Washington next season. While no date is officially set, the Nittany Lions will start spring practices likely sometime in mid-March with their spring game set for April 13.
The Nittany Lions will begin their 2024 season on August 31 on the road against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
To everyone who read our work this season, we thank you for helping make this a great season here at Happy Valley Insider. While the 2023 season did not meet the expectations that fans may have had, we hope that you choose to join us throughout the offseason as we begin preparing for the Nittany Lions' 2024 season. We of course will also have ongoing basketball coverage, hockey coverage, and more at Happy Valley Insider throughout the rest of the year.
We wish everyone a Happy New Years.
Oh by the way, for those wondering, only 245 days until Penn State's 2024 season kickoff.
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