To be direct…snap…with you, tight end Tyler Warren scored two touchdowns from the 2-yard line Saturday night in Beaver Stadium.
Finally. It was a week late. Or, two late.
Both TDs were runs. One by airborne. One by land.
Neither could White Out what happened at the goal line vs. Ohio State a week ago.
As it was, Penn State defeated a less-than-husky Washington — looking nothing like the national championship game competitor it was last year — by the margin of 35-6. For all intents (to forget Ohio State) and purposes (to avoid a hangover), the game was over by halftime, when the Nittany Lions led 28-0.
Still…it was nigh impossible to Wash(ington) away Penn State’s desultory goal line offense failures against the Buckeyes from a week ago.
Warren’s two TDs showed what might have been possible vs. Ohio State last week, had offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki called his number (44) at least once, if not twice, during Penn State’s failed four plays inside the 3-yard line against the Buckeyes. (To be fair, Warren sat out the first of those four poor plays and was not available because he was catching a blow after running for 33 yards to set up a first-and-goal from the 3.)
Even though No. 6 Penn State raised its record to 8-1 and may rise to high as No. 4 in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings — both No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Miami lost on Saturday — it was tough to White Out the lingering PTSD that followed ith the loss to the Buckeyes.
Especially with Warren’s two spectacular TDs:
The first came at the 9:22 mark of the second quarter, when Warren took the direct shotgun snap as the quarterback, made two large strides, then firmly planted his right foot on the 3-yard line, launched himself into the air, went horizontal over a pile of linemen and dove for the end zone, extending the ball with his left hand for the score.
The second TD came with 3:24 to go in the second quarter, when Warren again took the direct snap as the QB, bulldozed his way off left tackle and went into the end zone standing up. Talk about adding insult to Buckeye game inquiries.
It was a pair of mulligans that came a week too late.
The Warren commissions did prove that, in election season, in case of goal-to go from the 2 or 3, vote Ty early. And often.
This past week, James Franklin shared that he had misgivings about Kotelnicki’s play-calling vs. Ohio State — and he was frank about it. Here’s what the Penn State head coach said last Monday at his big noon press conference, 51 hours too late:
“…I also think there is a piece where you can say in critical moments, you’ve got to think
Players, not plays. You know, maybe in one of those three downs, at least, you’ve got to make sure Tyler Warren touches the ball, however that is — whether it’s Wildcat, in the passing game, or whether that’s as a ball carrier.
“So, obviously hindsight is 20/20. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to create movement and score when you need one yard. Whether that’s picking up a critical fourth down or whether that’s goal line. We got to do some things better scheme-wise. But we’ve got do little bit better job fundamental- and technique-wise to make sure we get the movement we need.”
On Saturday night, against Washington, Franklin’s promises came to fruition.
On X (Twitter), @drewer999 observed that when it came to Warren near the goal line, “Franklin is the only one who can stop him.”
BEAU KNOWS
And then there’s Beau. Before Warren did his goal-line theatrics, Beau Pribula got the Ohio State Goal-Line Memory Tour going.
Early in the first quarter, the backup Penn State quarterback came into the game on a first-and-goal play from the Washington 8-yard line. Pribula took the shotgun snap, and without hesitation, he scooted around left end and — untouched — scored a TD in the lower red zone.
Just. Like. That.
It was a bullseye call that Kotelnicki chose not to make against the Buckeyes. “Where was that last week?” was a shot heard around the Penn State World.
We’ll never know.
