James Franklin had to get creative. His starting quarterback Drew Allar sustained an injury that flipped Penn State’s entire offensive system on its axis in the second half at Wisconsin. In came backup Beau Pribula with a halftime deficit and a much different play style. But the Nittany Lions didn’t flinch. They pulled out a 28-13 win, hardly even showing signs that Allar was gone.
Penn State was down for a period but never appeared to take the foot off the gas. It didn’t matter when Allar exited, nor when starting defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton and starting right tackle Anthony Donkoh did too. It was a victory that epitomized the story of the Nittany Lions in 2024: down but never out. Franklin’s team is sitting comfortably ranked No. 3 with a 7-0 record.
“Just a gutsy wind on the road against a team that’s really trending in a real positive direction. A tough environment to play in. Just a gutsy win,” Franklin said. “You lose your starting quarterback, you lose your starting D-end, you lose your starting offensive tackle. Next man up. No excuses. I just thought it was a gutsy, culture win from my perspective.”
Franklin made it clear postgame as he has after numerous fights through adverse contests this season: “You’re going to have to find different ways to win games throughout a season,” he said. And next up is a consequential matchup against No. 4 Ohio State that Penn State will have to win for a shot at a Big Ten Championship and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
As the Nittany Lions move on to their toughest contest yet, here are some final thoughts from a win that, for a moment, could’ve been anything but.
Penn State ‘just fine’ with Pribula
Allar was playing about as efficiently as could be when he went down with an apparent knee injury late in the second quarter. After two uncomfortable throws to end the second half and some warmups after the break, Allar told Franklin he was unable to play his best brand of football. He then told Pribula to “hold it down.” And that’s exactly what the backup did.
Pribula has played his fair share of football over the past two seasons as the second leg of two-quarterback sets, but has primarily been used as a rusher. Against the Badgers, it was Pribula’s passing ability that showed through. He completed 11-of-13 pass attempts for 98 yards and a touchdown, showcasing his capabilities against one of the Big Ten’s top defenses.
“I prepared super well all week, every week, for occasions like this, just in case. I had confidence in myself,” Pribula said. “I just needed everybody to know that nothing was going to change. We’re going to be just fine and pull this one out.”
QB uncertainty could fool OSU
Pribula told reporters postgame that he always prepares like the starter. And with Allar’s status unclear for Saturday’s tilt with the Buckeyes, that mentality could matter more than ever, especially if Pribula is given the starting nod at some point this week.
It’s unlikely anyone outside the team will know whether Allar or Pribula will start against Ohio State until Penn State’s first offensive drive. Franklin’s plan should be to leave Buckeyes coach Ryan Day guessing just as much as anyone, which could cause a gameplanning headache for two quarterbacks with completely different play styles.
“I have a ton of confidence in Beau. He’s a character kid from a character family, very talented. Some of his talents are different than what Drew’s are,” Franklin said. “So I think that’s one of the things, I think, that’s really important as a staff and as an offensive coordinator, you gotta be committed to call the game differently.”
Jaylen Reed built for big moments
Penn State safety Jaylen Reed seemingly thrives off adversity. He was forced to switch positions and boost his snap count after a Week 2 injury to starting safety Kevin Winston Jr., and has since caught game-saving interceptions in each of the Nittany Lions’ past two games. His most recent concluded in a touchdown that ultimately flipped the script in Saturday’s win.
“I definitely felt it when I caught the pick. I heard the crowd go from ‘AAH’ to just (quiet),” Reed said. “I felt every moment of that interception was in a big place.”
Reed currently leads the team with 44 tackles and two interceptions while adding 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He’s been as valuable as any Penn State defensive player this season, and his impact in close games cannot be overstated. Ohio State is likely to gameplan heavily for Reed, which should be tricky, based on his flexibility to play either safety or nickel corner.
Slow starts remain problematic
As good as the Nittany Lions’ offense has been through seven games, a glaring issue surrounding slow starts continued at Wisconsin. For the third time this season, Penn State went scoreless in the first quarter. That brings the team’s average to 3.4 first-quarter points per game, which ranks tied for No. 102 nationally.
It’s not that there haven’t been opportunities to score early, the Nittany Lions just haven’t executed. Take Julian Fleming’s wide open thirrd-and-1 drop on the first drive as an example. But hope isn’t dead. For as slow as Andy Kotelnicki’s offense has started, it has averaged 18.3 second-half points per game, a mark that ranks tied for No. 8 in the country.
“Obviously we’d like to start faster and get up on teams. That’s something we’ve been preaching that we need to get a little bit better at,” wide receiver Liam Clifford said. “But it does show how resilient our team is and how mature our team is. … It just shows that we’re not going to stop fighting no matter what. But again, we have some things we have to clean up and obviously starting fast should be big for us.”
All the same, the team has fight
Tom Allen’s defense has followed a similar tune this season. Penn State’s halftime deficit against the Badgers marked the third of seven games this season the team has trailed at the break. In two of those three games, the Nittany Lions have allowed at least 20 points in the first half.
But oddly enough, Allen’s unit is one of the nation’s best at making halftime adjustments. Penn State ranks No. 2 nationally with an average of 4.3 second-half points allowed per game, and has surrendered a total of just six points in the third quarter this year. It doesn’t matter how bad the halftime deficit, the defense has found a way to grind it out until the final whistle.
“I think we’re very prepared for random situations or situations that may put us on our back,” safety Zakee Wheatley said. “But I can’t do anything but give credit to the players I’m on the field with. … We’re just resilient defense. We’re a tough defense, and we know what we have to do.”
Focus already shifted to OSU
There wasn’t much doubt. The game at Wisconsin was a must-win affair in the sense that the Nittany Lions had to enter their matchup with the Buckeyes undefeated, a cushion for a playoff bid even in the instance of a loss. It didn’t take long after beating the Badgers for Penn State’s players to turn their attention to their next game.
“We’re gonna lock in. This is a huge week. Everybody’s already, I think, going to put this one behind us pretty fast because we know the stakes of this game,” Pribula said. “We’re going to prepare just like every other week, but I think the guys are going to be super locked in this week.”
Dennis-Sutton, Donkoh also injured
Allar isn’t the only starter with questionable availability for the Ohio State game. Dennis-Sutton, who sustained an apparent groin injury in the first half but returned for one uncomfortable snap in the third quarter, is another notable name to watch. The same goes for Donkoh, one of the team’s top run blockers, who exited in the first half and did not return.
The status of Donkoh, who was replaced at right tackle by Nolan Rucci, is the least known of the trio. Franklin at least gave some hint as to what he believed the severity of Allar and Dennis-Sutton’s injuries were at halftime.
“I felt bad because the woman asked me from TV, and I told her, ‘Drew was going, and Dani wasn’t.’ And then after we got out there and they got loosened up, Drew told me he couldn’t go, and then Dani was able to go,” Franklin said. “So it actually turned out to be the opposite of what I told her.”
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