Penn State needed a feel-good win under the belt after the previous two weeks and it got exactly that on Saturday out of a Maryland team that has now lost four straight. The Terps started off the year looking like they may have figured things out, but after losing to Ohio State it has all been downhill from there. Penn State won’t complain though, as it scored 50+ for the third time this year.
Offense: A
Boiled down, all you can ask of an offense at any given moment is that it takes advantage of what the defense is giving it. For the most part, that’s exactly what Penn State did on Saturday, winning battles in coverage, making great throws and running physically. Drew Allar (25-34, 240 yards, 4 TDs) was sharp all night and was effective making reads through his progressions for easily his best road performance of the year. Dante Cephas (6 catches, 53 yards, 2 TDs) had a breakout game after spending most of the year bouncing in and out of the rotation. It seems unlikely that Trey Wallace will be healthy enough in time for Michigan next weekend, which greatly increases the need for a player like Cephas to step up to give support to KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the passing game. If Cephas has finally found his stride, that could pay big dividends next weekend and beyond. For his part, Lambert-Smith came five yards shy of 100 on a day eight different players caught a pass.
On the ground, Kaytron Allen continues to punish teams with his physical style of running and averaged a whopping 6.5 yards per carry on 14 touches for 91 yards. Penn State targeted tight ends 13 times and got eight catches and two touchdowns out of it. Tyler Warren had two drops that hurt, but on the whole it was a good night for this group. The offense overall managed a 7-for-15 mark on third down and failed to score on just two drives the entire game, going 9-for-9 in the red zone. Penn State isn’t going to change overnight, but if you wanted to see this team be the best version of itself, this was it. The Beau Pribula stuff didn’t quite work, but credit for finally using him when it still mattered. Extra credit for some of Allar’s best throws of the year and a 27-point fourth quarter that could have been even worse for Maryland.
Defense: A
If last week’s performance in a win against Indiana was an Ohio State hangover, then this week was a “get your feelings out” beatdown. Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa made some plays with his arm, but the Nittany Lions were never truly threatened in this game beyond one early drive in the first quarter and an early fourth-quarter drive, both of which were aided by Penn State penalties. Abdul Carter had maybe his most complete game of the year, leading the way with six tackles as Penn State racked up 12 tackles for a loss [6 sacks] and as Maryland finished the day with -49 rushing yards [the program record is well over -100 back in the 1940s]. A four turnover evening — two interceptions, two fumbles — only further killed any Maryland momentum that popped up during the game. A great fourth down stop also put a fork in this one early. Daequan Hardy continues to be a bright spot for a defense full of great players. Maryland finished the day converting just four attempts on third down. This group is among the nation’s best when it is clicking and it was certainly clicking on Saturday.
Special Teams: A-
Nick Singleton cranked out a 51-yard kickoff return in an area where he has found his most explosive contributions of the year. This grade is only knocked for a missed blocked punt that turned into a penalty. Otherwise, Alex Felkins continues to be solid kicking field goals and Riley Thompson is continuing to be a steady force at punter. There’s not too much to report from this group, which continues to be a big change to how the season began. One kickoff did go out of bounds, but those are so few and far between and Penn State had so many kickoffs that one mistake every so many kickoffs is probably statistically required to occur. End of the day, it’s hard to find much fault in a group that did next to nothing wrong.
Coaching: A
Everyone pushed all the right buttons and Penn State got back to looking like one of the best teams in the nation. Maryland has never made things all that complicated and Penn State has never been afraid of the Terps in the process. Unless something changes, the book on beating Maryland is pretty well written for James Franklin at this point and he didn’t get off script. The only potential negative here is an insistence on having Lambert-Smith be a passer.
Overall: A
Penn State checked off all the boxes for turning this game into everything it should have been. The upcoming showdown with Michigan will put this game in a rearview almost immediately, but for now the Nittany Lions should find some pride in an 8-1 record and yet another game that was over well before it was over.
