Allar throws four touchdowns, defense holds Terrapins to -49 rushing yards
COLLEGE PARK, MD – No. 9/9/11 Penn State (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) put together an outstanding complimentary performance as it earned a 51-15 win over Maryland (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) on Saturday. Excellent play on both sides of the ball led the Nittany Lions to their fifth Big Ten win of the season.
Quarterback Drew Allar tied his career high with four touchdown passes in the game, highlighting a performance in which he completed 25-of-34 passes for 240 yards. Dante Cephas caught two of Allar’s four touchdowns as the senior wideout produced his first multi-score game in a Penn State uniform. KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught eight passes for 95 yards, leading the team in both categories. Allar’s other two scores went to his tight ends, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren.
On the ground, Kaytron Allen averaged 6.5 yards per carry on 14 totes, picking up 91 yards and a touchdown on the evening. Allar rushed for 39 yards in the game, setting a career high. Nicholas Singleton picked up 20 yards on eight carries and produced Penn State’s longest play of the day, a 51-yard kickoff return that sparked a Nittany Lion scoring drive.
Penn State’s defense dominated the line of scrimmage, holding the Terrapins to -49 rushing yards in the game. The unit picked up six sacks and 12 tackles for loss in its stellar outing. True freshman linebacker Tony Rojas had a hand in two of Penn State’s four takeaways in the game, registering a forced fumble and an interception in the fourth quarter. Abdul Carter led Penn State with six total tackles and added a sack and a pass breakup to his final line. In total, 22 different Nittany Lions recorded tackles in the game, with 12 recording tackles for loss, and six posting sacks.
Penn State’s defense forced a turnover on downs on Maryland’s first possession of the ballgame, stifling the Terrapins on a fourth-and-one situation. The stop set Nittany Lion offense up at the Maryland 44-yard line. Allar led his group down the field for a touchdown on eight plays, capping off the eight-play drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Cephas. Penn State took its 7-0 lead at the 8:41 mark of the opening quarter.
The Nittany Lions got their first takeaway of the game on a forced fumble on Maryland’s next trip down the field. While unable to convert on the ensuing drive, Penn State was able to go up 14-0 on its next possession after forcing a Maryland punt. The Nittany Lions marched 79 yards on eight plays and scored on a two-yard toss from Allar to Johnson, extending their lead to 14 points with two seconds left in the opening quarter.
Maryland scored its first touchdown of the day with 7:59 remaining in the second quarter, cutting the Penn State lead to 14-7 on a 13-play, 75-yard drive. The Nittany Lions answered immediately, constructing their own 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on their next possession. Allar capped off the opportunity with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Warren with 2:34 left in the first half. Penn State forced a Maryland punt on its final drive of the half and entered the break up 21-7 on the Terrapins.
At the half, Allar had three touchdown passes compared to just three incompletions. Defensively, the Nittany Lions stifled the Terrapins’ running game, with Maryland recording -40 yards on the ground in the opening half.
Penn State got on the board first in the second half with a field goal on its first trip down the field. The Nittany Lions went 70 yards on 11 plays before Alex Felkins knocked a 30-yarder through the uprights to extend Penn State’s lead to 24-7 at the 9:26 mark of the third quarter.
Allar threw his fourth touchdown of the day at the tail end of a 13-play, 88-yard drive to increase Penn State’s lead to 31-7.. Cephas caught the 15-yard strike from Allar at the 13:55 mark of the fourth quarter, registering his second receiving score of the day.
Maryland tacked on its second touchdown of the day, another Taulia Tagovailoa passing score, with 11:27 remaining in the game. The Terrapins converted a two-point conversion on the score, reducing the Penn State lead to 31-15.
Thanks to a 51-yard kick return by Singleton, the Penn State offense began its drive inside Maryland territory once again. The Nittany Lions wasted no time scoring, as Allen added to his outstanding day on the ground with a 10-yard touchdown run at the 9:14 mark of the fourth quarter. Penn State went 41 yards on five plays for the score.
A pair of Felkins field goals and a rushing score by Beau Pribula gave Penn State 16 additional points on its possessions following three-straight Maryland turnovers. The first possession began at the Maryland 20-yard line thanks to a Dominic DeLuca interception return. The second started at the Terrapins’ 26-yard line, the result of a forced fumble by Rojas that was recovered by Jordan van den Berg. The final scoring drive started at the Maryland 12-yard line, where Rojas was tackled following an interception of Tagovailoa. The turnover barrage ended Maryland’s final three scoring chances as Penn State earned the 51-15 win.
The Nittany Lions are home next Saturday for a 12 noon showdown with undefeated Michigan.
