COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Penn State used Drew Allar’s superb throwing and a smothering pass rush to roll past Maryland 51-15 in a Big Ten game Saturday at SECU Stadium.
The ninth-ranked Nittany Lions (5-1, 8-1) rebounded from their subpar performance against Indiana and took command early, handing the Terrapins (2-4, 5-4) their fourth consecutive loss and their 43rd in 47 series meetings.
Penn State has outscored Maryland 207-32 in the last four games in College Park. The victory set up a critical conference game with unbeaten Michigan next week at Beaver Stadium.
Allar, looking as calm and decisive as he has all season, completed 25-of-34 passes for 240 yards and four touchdowns, including two to wide receiver Dante Cephas.
A heralded transfer from Kent State, Cephas finally emerged in a leading role after an upper-body injury to Trey Wallace last week. He had six catches for 53 yards, including a 6-yard TD in the corner of the end zone for Penn State’s first score.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught eight passes for 95 yards, and tight ends Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren made TD receptions. Kaytron Allen carried 14 times for 91 yards, and Nick Singleton returned a kickoff 51 yards.
Defensively, Penn State sacked Taulia Tagovailoa six times and forced him into two turnovers, an interception by Dom DeLuca and a fumble recovery by Jordan van den Berg.
The Lions held the Terps to minus-49 yards rushing and less than 300 total yards. Tagovailoa completed 29-of-39 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
The first half was a quarterback duel between Allar and Tagovailoa, who combined to complete 35-of-41 passes for 335 yards and four touchdowns. The difference is that Allar threw for three scores and Tagovailoa for one.
Penn State scored on its first possession after Jaylen Reed and Curtis Jacobs made a fourth-down stop at the Maryland 44.
Kaytron Allen carried four times for 29 yards to the 6 before Allar lobbed a perfect pass to Cephas, who caught it in the corner of the end zone for his first touchdown with the Lions.
Later in the first quarter, Allar connected with Lambert-Smith on a 38-yard pass over the middle and then an 18-yard strike to Warren. Backup quarterback Beau Pribula entered, as coach James Franklin promised, and tripped just short of the end zone.
WIth both quarterbacks on the field, Pribula handed off to Allar, who flipped it to Johnson as he was falling down for a 2-yard TD and a 14-0 lead.
Tagovailoa remained hot, completing his first 17 attempts. He found Kaden Prather for a 28-yard gain on second-and-18 and then Prather again for 17 yards on third-and-9 to the Penn State 21. After a personal foul on Johnny Dixon, Tagovalioa tossed a 7-yard TD pass to Roman Hemby to make it 14-7.
The Lions answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, highlighted by Allar’s 21-yard gain on a draw, a 14-yard pass to Warren and a 14-yard strike to Cephas. He finished with an 8-yard laser to Warren for a 21-7 halftime lead.
Allar completed 13-of-16 attempts for 124 yards, and Tagovailoa bettered that by going 22-for-25 for 211 yards. But Allar got the win.
"behind" - Google News
November 05, 2023 at 06:15AM
https://ift.tt/q9mbHVZ
Penn State rolls past Maryland behind Drew Allar, defense - Reading Eagle
"behind" - Google News
https://ift.tt/SBtmMek
https://ift.tt/ANirQ89
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Penn State rolls past Maryland behind Drew Allar, defense - Reading Eagle"
Post a Comment