Penn State's come-from-behind win proves these are not the same Nittany Lions

LOS ANGELES — Penn State had every reason to be panicked as it sat in the cramped visitors locker room at halftime in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

Just about everything that could have gone wrong for No. 4 Penn State did during Saturday’s first half. Lincoln Riley masterfully schemed players open, while Tom Allen’s Penn State defense was gashed one play after the next. Running back Woody Marks pinballed his way through a defense that’s supposed to be one of the best in the country.

A Nittany Lions offense that’s been praised for creativity and a willingness to take chances under Andy Kotelnicki — the very thing this group needs to do in a season that’s defined as College Football Playoff birth or bust — threw everything it had at USC but stalled twice in the red zone. Each time, Penn State had to settle for field goals. Quarterback Drew Allar, with a few extra sets of eyeballs on him and a desperate USC team clinging to its own CFP life, rifled an interception across the middle of the field in the second quarter.

The list of first-half shortcomings piled up. Dropped passes. A questionable offensive pass interference penalty that wiped away a Penn State touchdown. The keyboard warriors assembled. The all-too-familiar narratives of Penn State turtling in big games, and of James Franklin-coached teams coming up short when ranked in the top five and playing on the road, all seemed ready to rear their ugly heads again. Staring at a 20-6 halftime deficit, Penn State needed to dig deep.

In a city built around drama and storybook endings, with the large Hollywood sign visible in the distance, Penn State finally flipped the script. A dramatic, come-from-behind, 33-30 win against USC showed these are not the same old Nittany Lions. Instead, this team, now at 6-0 at the season’s midpoint, is showing it is Playoff-caliber and that, when clicking, it can do even more than just make the 12-team field. It was far from pretty in the first half, but Penn State showed the kind of resiliency that’s going to be required in the second half of the season. The path toward potentially hosting a playoff game remains, and that’s not something that seemed likely at halftime.

“It was a gutsy win,” said Allar, who like many of his teammates was emotional on the field afterward.

Penn State pulled off the win by orchestrating a game-tying drive as Allar masterfully led the offense down the field late in the fourth quarter. For those who had questions about Allar in big moments, he answered them. Penn State did it with the defense stepping up as safety Jaylen Reed picked off Miller Moss when it mattered most late in regulation to stave off a potential USC last-second field goal try. Penn State won with last-second heroics from kicker Ryan Barker, who wasn’t even the team’s kicker until two weeks ago. Barker trotted out for his field goal in overtime and — as he did all afternoon (going 4-for-4) — drilled the 36-yard walk-off field goal.

“I never would’ve thought coming here today that this would’ve happened,” Barker said with a throng of reporters gathered around him. “It’s just a crazy feeling. … It was a lot of yelling and hi-fives.”

“I’m just so proud of him. He came to Penn State as a walk-on, busted his a**. Opportunity knocks. He took it.”@JennyDell_ caught up with @PennStateFball coach James Franklin and kicker Ryan Barker after his overtime game-winner pic.twitter.com/YrjfFuQ9Tq

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 12, 2024

Penn State won it after traveling across the country — with a two-hour bus ride tacked on — and that accomplishment will be celebrated on the long trek back to State College.

It was as emotionally draining and as uplifting a win as Penn State has had during Franklin’s 11-season tenure. Players and coaches hit their knees on the field after the field goal in exhaustion. Staffers shouted out that these Nittany Lions were some “bad (expletives).”

Defensive tackle Hakeem Beamon grabbed a large flag from a Penn State cheerleader and emphatically planted it at midfield on the USC logo. When Beamon’s flag toppled over, cornerback Audavion Collins followed with another flag. But before Collins’ flag had a chance to stick, Franklin saw what was unfolding, pivoted, and said absolutely not.

Wait. James Franklin took the planted flag out from 50 yard line Logo. And says we don’t do this.

Respect🫡 pic.twitter.com/8Q2oeXNZ5R

— Trojan Football ✌️fan (@TrojanFBx) October 13, 2024

Even though they hadn’t played in a moment this big this season, even though the adrenaline and perhaps the realization that this is a damn good team had started to set in, Penn State needed to at least act like they’d been here before.

“You’re gonna have to find different ways throughout a season to win,” Franklin said. “Some are going to be blowouts, hopefully more of them are blowouts, but some of them are going to be comebacks. … The word resilient is probably the best word to define our team.”

There’s a confidence and a swagger about this group that’s starting to shine through. With every hair flip from do-it-all tight end Tyler Warren, every waving of the defensive backs’ arms after a pass break-up signaling the no-fly zone, this group appears to be built a little differently than in previous years.

When they should’ve been worried at halftime, Kotelnicki reminded them of the offense’s theme all week. They came to Los Angeles to go down swinging one way or the other.

“We talked about emptying the clip for us as an offense,” Allar said. “We want to play to win and not play scared and not play not to lose. That was one of those calls that we needed to get in to show that we’re fearless out there with Coach K. That’s why we’ve had so much growth on offense this year, I think. Coach K is fearless and he’s going to call those plays no matter what. … The whole second half we let it loose.”

Penn State had been building for a big moment for weeks. Last week ahead of UCLA, when they put in a double-pass play in practice, Kotelnicki told them that play was getting run soon.

When they repped it in practice, scout-team linebacker Max Chizmar sniffed it out right away and starting barking out that Warren — the center — was an eligible receiver. Kotelnicki would take the play back to the drawing board this week, players said, and eliminate some motions that were in the original version. Kotelnicki would use the double pass to jump-start Penn State’s comeback.

“Seeing it and him calling it at the time he did, everyone kind of knew on the sideline this is gonna be the one,” wide receiver Julian Fleming said.

It’s as gutsy of a call as Kotelnicki could have made and even more so with Penn State trailing 20-6. Warren, who continues making his case as the best tight end and one of the most versatile players in college football, capped the day with 17 receptions for 224 yards and a 32-yard touchdown. On the double pass, Warren would snap the ball — something that until this season he hadn’t done since his flag football days — and dart toward the end zone. Backup quarterback Beau Pribula took the snap and fired the ball to Allar, who lofted it to the end zone. Warren made a spectacular grab to get Penn State rolling.

“The thing we talked about all week was play to win,” left tackle Drew Shelton said. “Whatever it takes. … (Kotelnicki) having the guts, having the courage to call that, it really instills confidence in us that he knows we’re gonna get the job done.”

There were plenty of those confidence-building moments for Penn State in the second half. Truth be told, wide receiver Julian Fleming spent most of the first three quarters trying to get out of his own head. An offensive pass interference penalty in the end zone on the opening drive wiped away what would’ve been a Penn State touchdown. The Nittany Lions had to settle for a field goal. Later, with the offense needing to gain traction, Allar looked Fleming’s way and the ball went through his hands.

On the sideline, Fleming reminded himself of a rough practice he had last week ahead of the UCLA game.

“Everybody has personal goals and it was just kind of playing in my head for a long time,” Fleming said.

Trailing 30-23 late in the fourth quarter, Allar wasn’t deterred by what Fleming had failed to do earlier. When he was needed most, Fleming rebounded beautifully. Faced with fourth-and-7 late in the fourth quarter, Fleming fought through contact and turned Allar’s pass into a 17-yard gain. The home crowd groaned and USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, a former Nittany Lion himself, talked into the headset

During that same, critical drive, Allar found Fleming on fourth-and-10. Fleming turned it into a 16-yard gain. Two plays later, Nick Singleton’s 14-yard touchdown catch and run would tie the score.

“Those were two of the most impressive catches I’ve seen,” Allar said. “DB is like all over him … those two catches just helped us sustain momentum, and I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Let’s not forget what this comeback win means for Allar, too. On a day in which he threw three interceptions — two plus a hail mary at the end of regulation — Allar also showed that he could lead a game-tying drive in a clutch, pressure-packed situation. In the huddle, he was “cool as a cucumber,” Fleming said. For Penn State to navigate a push to the Playoff, it’s going to need to respond in more high-pressure situations like the one it faced Saturday.

Far from perfect, but still undefeated, Penn State showed it has the mettle of a Playoff-caliber team.

“It’s going to make for a great ride home,” Franklin said. “It’s going to make for a great bye week. There’s a ton of things we’re gonna be able to learn from this game and that we need to learn from this game. … We’re gonna take it and run.”

(Photo of Ryan Barker’s winning field goal: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)