Penn State Football and starting quarterback Drew Allar escaped USC with an overtime win, 33-30, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Allar’s day was not perfect, but the junior signal caller pushed Penn State late to help the Nittany Lions overcome a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat the USC Trojans in overtime.
Drew Allar Report Card From Beating USC
Drew Allar and the offense started strong on the day, moving the ball down the field on a 14-play, 72-yard scoring drive.
Allar started out strong, completing his first six passes for 62 yards. However, after driving all the way down the field and seemingly throwing a touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Warren, Warren’s touchdown catch was wiped off the board by an offensive pass interference penalty.
From there, Allar and Penn State’s offense struggled the rest of the first half, scoring only three other points and turning the ball over once on the next five drives. At the half, Allar’s yards per pass were back down to 2023 levels at 6.9 yards per pass and Allar threw his second interception of the season with the Nittany Lions down 20-6.
After the half, Allar and the Penn State offense flipped a switch to get the Nittany Lions back into the game though. The Nittany Lions scored touchdowns on the first two drives of the second half to tie the game at 20. On the first drive of the second half, Allar was an exceptional 4/4 for 74 yards and a touchdown. On the second drive, Allar again was 4/4 for 81 yards.
However, after the first two drives to tie the game, and the defense got the ball back for Penn State to potentially take their first lead since the first quarter, disaster struck again for Allar with a costly interception on a tipped pass on the first play of Penn State’s third drive of the second half.
Importantly for Penn State, Allar bounced back from his second interception admirably, leading Penn State down the field on a nine-play 72-yard drive to tie the game once more at 23. Once USC went ahead for the final time of the day at 30-23, however, Allar showed up for Penn State with ice in his veins to save Penn State’s game.
When Penn State had to score a touchdown to tie the game, Allar was at his best for the Nittany Lions. Allar led the Nittany Lions on a 12-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game at 30 in a masterclass of nerves. On the drive, Allar hit Julian Fleming on two critical fourth downs and longs to keep moving the sticks before hitting Nick Singleton for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Overall, Allar threw for 264 of his career-best 391 passing yards in the second half.
Importantly for Penn State, Allar also moved the ball down the field much better in the second half. In the second half, Allar’s yards per completion climbed back up over 10 yards per attempt to 10.68. Allar did have a third interception on a Hail Mary attempt as time expired to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Penn State got the ball second, after USC missed a field goal. As such, Penn State and the offense stayed conservative to allow Ryan Barker to attempt a field goal to win the game.
Allar threw a career-high 43 passes and completed just under 70 percent of them en route to his best statistical game as a Nittany Lion. Tight end Tyler Warren certainly helped with that, with a career day of 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. The 17 receptions tied an FBS record for tight ends and broke Penn State’s single game record for any pass catcher. Warren’s 224 receiving yards also broke a Penn State record, Tyler Warren’s own record of 146 receiving yards against Bowling Green earlier this season.
Drew Allar Grade vs. USC
Grade: A-
Yes, Allar did have three interceptions in this matchup and the slow start almost sunk the Nittany Lions. But when Penn State needed Drew Allar to step up and make a play, Allar did just that in the second half, consistently making important plays to allow Penn State to keep up with USC.
Allar showed he had what it takes to win a big game on the road, keeping calm and picking up key fourth downs and touchdowns to tie the game before overtime. Allar had a career best day with 391 passing yards and Penn State needed every one of them to put away USC on the road. Allar will need to clean up the mistakes and turnovers, but Allar showed he was a winner Saturday.
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