MINNEAPOLIS — To pull off a comeback win on the road takes poise. To do it multiple times in a season takes something more. How did Penn State pull out a 26-25 victory at Minnesota on Saturday despite converting just one third down and having a punt and extra-point attempt blocked? In the eyes of Golden Gophers’ coach P.J. Fleck, the answer is simple.
“This is one of the top five teams that I have ever played against as a football coach,” Fleck said postgame.
It came on a day that saw upset losses from three projected College Football Playoff teams: No. 7 Alabama, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 14 BYU. The major-network talking heads can say what they want about the Nittany Lions’ high seeding. They’ve done what so few teams have in the first year of modern conference realignment.
Hardly does it matter how James Franklin’s team has done it. Penn State has won every game that it was expected to.
“At the end of the day, our team overcame adversity and found a way to win on the road,” Franklin said.
With losses by teams across the board on Saturday, the playoff selection committee isn’t likely to turn their head at Penn State’s halftime deficit at Minnesota. All they’ll see is a major-conference team with a 5-0 record on the road for the first time since 1985.
With a night’s rest to mull it over, what can be taken away from the Nittany Lions’ final road game of the regular season?
THE FAKE PUNT
It was a gutsy call put in the hands of a backup center, walk-on Dominic Rulli. If the Golden Gophers put their defense on the field, Penn State would punt. They opted to send their punt return team, a moment Rulli had been waiting for nearly all season. The Nittany Lions were going to run the fake punt, trick play they’d practiced since the offseason.
Tyler Duzansky, the team’s long snapper, set up to snap the ball straight back to punter Riley Thompson. Instead, he shipped it far right between his legs to tight end Luke Reynolds, who raced 32 yards into Minnesota territory and put Penn State in position to close out the game. It was arguably the most impressive play call and execution of Franklin’s coaching tenure.
“That’s been cooking, I guess, with Thanksgiving coming up, marinating, for a while, all the way back to training camp,” Franklin said. “So we’ll put that one on the shelf and start, you know, start working on the next one.”
“I just felt like we needed to be aggressive and the game on our terms, with the ball in our hands.”
THE FINAL PLAY
Drew Allar was visibly emotional on the sideline as Penn State trailed midway through the third quarter. James Franklin exchanged some words with his starting quarterback and calmed him down. He needed Allar to lock in and complete what was likely to be a last-second finish.
The next drive resulted in a touchdown. Allar wasn’t going to let his frustrations dictate his ability to perform when it mattered. He showcased this all the way up to the final whistle, following up Reynolds’ fake-punt rush with an almost improvised fourth-down pass to tight end Tyler Warren that ended the game.
Allar’s original goal on that final play was to find running back Nick Singleton in the flat. With Singleton covered, Allar was left with no choice but to throw across his body toward his only open receiver, Warren, who dove to the ground after hailing in the pass to run the clock out.
“It’s actually a play that I kind of wanted, because I felt like it was like a longer fourth-and-one,” Allar said. “I asked Coach Franklin what he thought about it, and then Coach K liked it.”
TURNOVERS
Franklin made it clear over the past week of preparation that creating turnovers would be critical in defeating the Big Ten’s interception leader. He proved to be right. The Nittany Lions won the turnover battle on Saturday thanks to Dominic DeLuca’s interception and Zakee Wheatley’s fumble recovery.
Penn State nailed field goals after each turnover, six valuable points in a game that finished with a one-point swing and for a team that had given away free points due to a blocked punt and extra-point attempt.
“The margins this time of year on the road are small. So I thought the turnovers were very, very significant,” Franklin said. “And again, if we don’t have the two mishaps on special teams, then I think it’s a very, very different game when you’re being able to be plus-two in the turnover ratio on this team.”
DONKOH, FORD, OTHERS INJURED
The Nittany Lions were bitten badly by the injury bug at Minnesota, with two notable players exiting before the final whistle, leaving their availability in question for next week and beyond.
Anthony Donkoh, the team’s starting right tackle, was carted to the locker room early in the first quarter after appearing to injure his right leg within just a few snaps of Saturday’s action. Donkoh was subsequently replaced by Nolan Rucci.
Defensive tackle Alonzo Ford Jr., one of the team’s best interior linemen who has enjoyed a breakout campaign, was injured in the second quarter. He walked slowly off the field and into the medical tent. After halftime, he returned to the sidelines in street clothes and did not return to action.
Ford’s injury could be impactful for a defensive line already thin on depth after the departure of sixth-year veteran Hakeem Beamon two weeks ago. If Ford is to miss time, that could put increased pressure on starters Zane Durant and Dvon J-Thomas, as well as backup Coziah Izzard and, potentially, true freshman Xavier Gilliam.
Cornerback Elliot Washington II, who leads the team with six pass deflections, was ruled inactive after exiting in the first half at Purdue last weekend. Wide receiver Julian Fleming, who was ruled questionable prior to kickoff, played just one snap.
