Biggest Winners from Penn State’s 1st B1G matchup: Illinois

It’s about time I change the name of this column to “What the F*** Did Tyler Warren Do Now?” We’ll get to Psycho T in a minute. First we’re talking about Abdul Carter’s insane close-out and Nick Singleton’s arrival at “complete player” status.

Buckle in: it’s Biggest Winners.

Abdul Carter

7 tackles, 4.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, FF, PBU

Carter found his way on this list with one of the strongest late surges you’ll ever see from a defender. The best in the game show up biggest when the lights are the brightest, and Carter – to borrow a Tomlinism – “runs TOWARDS the challenge, not away from it.”

Illinois’s final drive:

  • 1d10: Carter QB spy, chased down Altmyer trying to escape pocket for sack
  • 2d15: another QB spy, gets into Altmyer’s face forcing ball out earlier than he wanted, INC
  • 3d15: Carter beats 74, draws holding penalty
  • 3d25: Carter, standing as a QB spy, strip sack to seal it

Carter completely took over this thing in crunch time in large part because they let him stand up. It’s probably time to cut bait with Carter as a DE and let him survey his domain, roam and hunt.

On the Serenghetti, bipedal movement helped our ancient ancestors perceive danger sooner. How differently would things have shaken out if the Lions learned how to walk on their back legs instead of the Apes? Hey Siri: take voice note – “Movie idea: Planet of the Apes but with lions.”

Tyler Warren

2 rushes – 13 yards – 1 TD

4 rec – 34 yards

Tyler Warren wears many hats for Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. He catches, he throws, he keeps it… He’s dangerous in a lot of ways, with or without the ball in his hands. We saw him go over the top for a TD of his own, and then make the proper read and give the option to Singleton for his TD. I may or may not talk more about that later, stay tuned to find out!

Warren won’t be supplanting Beau Pribula as a full-time wildcat operator, but it’s definitely a great option in the low red zone. I don’t think anyone thinks he’s a QB-caliber passer but he’s good enough at it to make you respect him as a triple threat in that package.

Nick Singleton

16 carries – 94 yards (5.9 ypc) – 1 TD

2 rec, 25 yards

https://twitter.com/CamBlurn/status/1840206274824110308

Singleton was stretching and stressing the Illini defense every which way. He got around the edge frequently including on his TD run that gave Penn State their first (and only) lead of the night.

What I really wanted to highlight, though, is the play above. It shows a little bit of every tool in Nick’s bag: blocking, explosiveness, hands, power… The man is a complete running back; any who try to deny it send them my way to be straightened out.

Kaytron Allen also deserves a shout-out for busting through the 100-yard barrier with his TD run, the last true offensive play of Penn State’s evening.

Biggest Winners: Penn State vs Kent State

The Boys in Blue needed to spin a gem today after the scare they gave us against Bowling Green. Safe to say they understood the assignment, delivering a 56-0 beat down over Kent State.

If you’ve seen that South Park episode where Stan coaches a peewee hockey team against the Detroit Red Wings, you have a pretty good idea how this thing unfolded. Two plays in their starting QB was strapped to a stretcher en route to Mt. Nittany. It was clear it was over, it was just a matter of how ugly it was going to get.

By half time Penn State had ran 42 offensive plays; 21 resulted in first downs. By the end of the day they had passed 700 yards of offense, and set an all-time program record for single-game yardage (718).

It’s an embarrassment of riches for today’s Biggest Winners.

Tyler Warren

5 rec, 50 yds, 1 rec TD

1/1 passing, 1 TD

1 rush-16 yds

Warren ran the wildcat (effectively, if not beautifully), he pulled in that one handed catch up the left sideline, he ran loose through the seam for a receiving TD, he THREW a TD (again: not beautiful but effective)…all in the first half.

But my favorite Psycho T moment doesn’t show up in the box score. It was that time Nick Singleton was stacked up, until Warren grabbed him and shot-put him over the line-to-gain.

Abdul Carter

1 sack, 1.5 TFL, 4 tackles

The “Fire Franklin” factions of the fan base did their predictable bellyaching when Carter was held out of the sack column his first two games as a full-time trench player.

Now that he’s broken the seal, I have a feeling he’s about to go on a tear. He’s going to have a massive game-saving/game-winning play against Illinois, or USC, or Ohio State. Look at me getting my hopes up again.

Omari Evans

4 rec, 116 yds, 1 TD

That bomb from Drew Allar is still in orbit. A couple of those balls hung up for a while, to the point Evans had to slow down and wait for it. More pedigree defenses are going to be able to make plays on those balls; Omari needs to get in Drew’s ear and say: “Lay it out there and I’ll go get it. I dare you to try and over-throw me.”

Luke Reynolds

2 rec, 27 yds

Tyler Warren – widely considered the “best TE in the country” – won’t be leaving the cupboard bare when he signs his rookie NFL contract next Spring. His one-handed catch this afternoon would have been the snag of the game…until this happened.

Reynolds is stepping up in the void left by Andrew Rappleyea’s “long term injury.” Eventually you’re gonna get those two guys on the same field, in the same jersey, at the same time. That combo could be bigger than Theo/Tyler.

Big Winners from Week 2 (vs Bowling Green)

Although the lead was very surmountable for the entirety of this afternoon’s home opener in Happy Valley, the competition was more lopsided than a 34-27 final makes it seem.

The second we took the lead, Beaver Stadium came alive. Bowling Green cried and did a little pee-pee dance because Hollywood lied to them; they were not the Rudy, the Little Giants, or the Bad News Bears of this story.

The Falcons seemed to be playing uphill from that point on while the Nittany Lions were playing loose, thanks primarily to those deep hookups (and the clutch 4D conversion) between Drew and Omari.

Here are the big winners from today’s win over Bowling Green – in no particular order.

Julian Fleming

1 rec, 3 yds

Fleming’s had a statistically quiet couple of games since transferring from Ohio State but he’s doing the little things to help the Boys in Blue win.

He played crucial roles in three consecutive completions early in the 2nd half.

  1. Fleming was blocking out in front of a TE screen, helped spring it for 10 yards
  2. Fleming running up the seam drew the safety’s ire, opened the honey hole for the TE
  3. Brief [sack] interruption
  4. Deep out/corner played bait for Coach K, drew the coverage out wide for the TE to run wild up the seam.

They were forcing him the ball at times. They’re trying to make things happen for him. But even when he’s not putting up numbers, he’s helping his team.

Tyler Warren

8 rec, 146 yds

It’s been such an endless stream of NFL-calibur TE talent coming through Happy Valley. Every year there’s a new guy proving “oh I’m actually even better than the last guy.”

Warren seems to be one of Coach K’s favorite new toys. He was on the receiving end of each of three consecutive completions early in the second half…oh wait, I think I already told you about those.

Although Nick Singleton’s 14-yard rec TD is the play that will circulate on social media, Warren put the team on his back for that drive. He deserves a ton of credit for steering the Nittany Lions out of their early skid and giving Penn State their first lead of the day.

Drew Allar

Passing: 13/20, 204 yards, 2 TD/1 INT

Rushing: 7 att/7 yds – 1 TD

Those last two throws I spoke about will live in Penn State’s QB development room for generations. Drew appeared to be bending his bullets out there today.

Triangulated in between three defenders. Nice touch; blooped between the under and over layers of the defense. Still enough zip to get there on time and on schedule.

The TD throw. Another dime – as Matt Millen described a lot of throws today – just over the clawing fingers of a defender.

I didn’t even mention the moon-shot to Omari, or the fade-away on 4d5 to Omari to convert, or the other moon-shot to Omari that was negated by OPI. That second one, by the way: c’mon, man.

Abdul Carter

7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU

Abdul Carter’s shift to the trenches frustrated the box score scouts, and to bed fair there is too much – tape. He’s on the ground too much, he’s getting over-powered by power, but defenses have been doing everything possible to neutralize him. Quick passes, trap blocks, blocking schemes creasing in his direction with double- and triple-teams. They’ve been showing him a lot of respect.

Here’s what happens when you treat a monster like Carter – or Christopher – like he’s nothing to worry about:

Carter’s unblocked on this play by design; they’re inviting him to get deep into the backfield, so he takes himself out of the play in pursuit of the screen. But they don’t practice that slip screen against freaks like Abdul Carter.

Carter speeds up the clock on the play with an unnaturally ferocious crash. He’s got the instincts to get big and fill the passing lane when he knows he can’t get home.

Speaking of speeding up the clock, he slammed the door on Bowling Green’s 1st drive of the 2nd half with a 3d pressure (maybe a QBH) that forced the ball out prematurely, off-platform and off-target. That second emphatic defensive stop might be the turning point when we go back and pick through this minefield wish fresh eyes.

Carter still needs to add some beef or he’ll continue to get bullied by strength in the trenches. But what he can do with his speed and burst is almost impossible to account for from that position. He’s surely follow in those Micah footsteps.

Kobe King

7 tackles

We always assumed Kobe was the lesser of the King brothers from Detroit. Kalen’s fall from his immaculate true-freshman performance was a true – strong language incoming, parents cover small children’s ears – bummer.

Quietly, steadily, Kobe has been the Lynch-pin in the middle of one of the best defenses in college football. This afternoon he had the snag of the year (so far) on the onside kick attempt recovery that sealed the game.