No. 6 Penn State (8-1, 5-1) bounced back from a loss to Ohio State a week ago with one of its best showings of the season in a dominating 35-6 victory over Washington (5-5, 3-4) on Saturday night in front of a White Out crowd of 110,233.
The Nittany Lions were 5-6 on red zone scoring attempts and outgained the Huskies 486 to 193, including 264 to 71 in the first half when Penn State went up 28-0. Quarterback Drew Allar was 20-28 for 220 yards and a touchdown, with completions to six pass-catchers. Running back Kaytron Allen had 20 carries for 98 yards and a score, while true freshman Corey Smith entered late in the game for his first appearance this season and had five carries for 95 yards.
Penn State’s defense held Washington to 70 yards rushing and limited QBs Will Rogers and Demond Williams Jr. to a combined 16-23 for 129 yards, while turning in five sacks and nine tackles for loss. Defensive end Abdul Carter accounted for two sacks and four tackles for loss, and safety Jaylen Reed led the Nittany Lions with seven tackles and an interception.
Next up for Penn State is a 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff at Purdue on Nov. 16. The game will air on CBS.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Washington marched into Penn State territory on a long opening drive, converting a third-and-14 on a defensive holding call and another third-and-long on a 10-yard pass from Will Rogers to Denzel Boston. But an Abdul Carter tackle for loss set the Huskies back and Grady Gross’ 45-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright, as the Huskies came away with nothing after a 42-yard, seven-minute drive.
Penn State’s offense took advantage. Nick Singleton carried four times for 31 yards and Drew Allar connected with receiver Harrison Wallace twice for 25 yards to get the Nittany Lions to the Huskies’ 16. After Washington cornerback Thaddeus Dixon was called for a questionable targeting penalty on a tackle of Penn State receiver Omari Evans, backup QB Beau Pribula came on and ran in 8 yards for the first score of the night.
With Ryan Barker’s point after, the nine-play, 72-yard drive gave Penn State a 7-0 lead with 3:48 left in the third quarter.
Carter again disrupted a Washington drive, this time with a third-down sack to force a punt, and Penn State’s offense went back to work from its own 20.
2nd Quarter
The Nittany Lions opened the second quarter with a 19-yard pass from Allar to Wallace, and kept rolling from there. A pair of Kaytron Allen runs for 15 yards and a 7-yard pass from Allar to Singleton got Penn State into Washington territory. Another Allar completion to Wallace for 12 yards, an 11-yard toss to tight end Tyler Warren and a 5-yard Allen run moved the Nittany Lions into the red zone. From there Warren took a direct snap and dove over the top to get the ball across the goalline.
The 14-play, 80-yard drive put Penn State in front 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
Washington picked up a first down on its ensuing drive, but Penn State safety Jaylen Reed picked off a Rogers pass and returned it to the Nittany Lion 42.
A 21-yard pass from Allar to Warren once again had the Nittany Lions quickly back in Huskies territory, and a 12-yard run followed by a facemask penalty against Washington set Penn State up at the 7. After a couple Singleton runs, Warren took another direct snap into the end zone from a yard out and Penn State had a 21-0 lead with 3:23 left in the half.
The Nittany Lion defense forced a three-and-out on Washington’s next possession and the Penn State offense got another scoring opportunity with 1:53 remaining before halftime. They’d only need 90 seconds of that to get on the board.
Allar completed passes of 11 yards each to Julian Fleming and Warren, and Allen carried three times for 32 yards to get the Nittany Lions back inside the Washington 10. On third and goal from the 8, Allar connected with Fleming for the score, the Ohio State transfer’s first touchdown as a Nittany Lion.
Penn State took a 28-0 lead into the locker room after its most complete half of the season. The Nittany Lions outgained the Huskies 264 to 71 and were a perfect 7-7 on third downs and 4-4 on red zone scoring opportunities. Allar was 14-18 for 140 yards to five different pass catchers. The Penn State defense had four tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception.
3rd Quarter
The second half started off a bit sloppier for Penn State. Nick Singleton had what would have been a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the third quarter, but a hold behind the play brought it back to Nittany Lions’ own 15. On the second play of the drive, Warren fumbled after a 15-yard reception and Washington took over with its best field position of the night at the Penn State 34.
With Demond Williams Jr. in at quarterback, the Huskies moved to the Penn State 6. Consecutive runs of no gains, however, forced Washington to settle for a 24-yard Gross field goal that cut Penn State’s lead to 28-3 with 9:47 left in the third.
Keyed by a 28-yard third-down pass from Allar to Wallace, Penn State advanced inside the Washington 30 on its next drive. The Nittany Lions stalled from there, and Barker missed on a 45-yard field goal attempt.
Williams again brought the Huskies back into Penn State territory with a big 25-yard pass under pressure to Boston. The QB converted a fourth-and-5 with his feet, and a pass interference call against Penn State on fourth and 12 gave Washington first and goal from the Nittany Lion 9.
4th Quarter
A Williams run had Washington at the 5, but Alonzo Ford stuffed a Jonah Coleman run and Carter sacked Williams for a loss of 10. The Huskies settled for another Gross field goal, this one from 35 yards, to narrow Penn State’s lead to 28-6 with 13:33 remaining.
Penn State responded with a 17-play, 70-yard drive that took 8:39 off the clock, the Nittany Lions’ longest drive of the year. Allar completed three passes to Warren, including two third-down conversions, along with a 20-yarder to Liam Clifford. True freshman back Corey Smith had his first carry of the year for 8 yards. And Allen carried eight times for 24 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown run as Penn State extended its advantage to 35-6 with 4:50 left in the game.
Washington faced third and 12 after a sack of Williams by Penn State redshirt freshman linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson and a short catch by Keith Reynolds. But Williams once again used his scrambling ability to keep the drive alive and broke off a 43-yard run to the Nittany Lion 34.
The Huskies advanced to the Penn State 9, but cornerback Audavion Collins sacked Williams back at the 20 on second down, made a tackle at the 11 on third and cut down Mohammed at the 8 to force the turnover on downs.
With under two minutes remaining, Penn State handed it to Smith, who got loose for a 78-yard run to the Washington 14. The freshman took a three more carries for 9 yards before the clock ran out and Penn State secured a 35-6 win.
