Penn State receiver Jahan Dotson followed up his eight-catch, 144-yard performance against Ohio State last week with yet another strong outing, this time racking up 123 yards on eight catches including his fifth touchdown of the year.
Dotson — who surpassed the 1,000-yard career receiving mark on Saturday — has easily been among Penn State’s most reliable offensive weapons through three games and was again outstanding when called on. In total the junior receiver was targeted 16 times, although a handful of those targets were uncatchable or broken up, including one interception on a pass intended for him.
In total, Dotson became the first Penn State player to have a touchdown catch in each of the first three games of a season since Allen Robinson accomplished the feat in 2013 while his five touchdowns in the first three games of the season tie the Penn State record set by Joe Jurevicius in 1997.
For the Nittany Lions, who fell to 0-3 on the year following Saturday night’s 35-19 loss to Maryland, Dotson’s usage may have come a little too late with five of his nine catches coming in the fourth quarter. Dotson, who was six yards shy against Indiana of posting 100+ yard games in all three contests this year, was just looking to spark an offense that struggled yet again on Saturday evening.
‘The same thing that goes through my mind when it’s zero-zero: ‘Just make a play.” Dotson said of his mindset late in the game. ‘I just want to be a spark plug for our team. I was not hard on myself, but after that first drive I had a drop, and that can’t happen.’
Dotson’s fifth touchdown reception of the year starts to put him in more rarified air. Only twice since 2009 as Penn State touted a receiver that has managed double-digit touchdowns with Allen Robinson in 2012 and Chris Godwin in 2016 putting up 11 scores in their respective seasons.
The soft-spoken Dotson will have more work left to do with five regular season games, a Big Ten crossover game and a bowl trip left to go, but a hot start has turned hopes he would become a legitimate No. 1 target for the Nittany Lions into reality.
In turn, as the Nittany Lions look to reverse a three-game losing streak with a trip to winless Nebraska, Dotson and his fellow receivers including freshman standout Parker Washington [eight catches, 70 yards] will be a key part of that turnaround effort. As Dotson noted after the game on Saturday, leadership and fixing the little mistakes and miscues will go a long way towards that effort.
‘After that first drive, I had to drop. And I told myself, that can’t happen,’ Dotson said after the game. ‘If Coach Franklin is gonna talk about me being the guy, I got to be the guy. I got to be the go to guy. And I got to make those plays. Those are routine plays that I make every single day. And I got to make them.’
‘We got to be focused on getting in the win column and nothing else.’
The good news, the Nittany Lions will get that chance in a week. The bad news, an early morning 11 a.m. kick awaits them in unfamiliar Lincoln.
