COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Penn State couldn’t have had a confidence-building game from receiver Dante Cephas come at a better time as the Nittany Lions prepare for a season-defining clash with Michigan next weekend.
Cephas, a Kent State transfer, hauled in six passes for 53-yards and two touchdowns as the Nittany Lions rolled past Maryland 51-15 during their final dress rehearsal ahead of a clash with the Wolverines at Beaver Stadium. The performance marked one of the few times this season that Penn State has managed quality production from multiple wide receivers in the same game, something that has only been exacerbated by injuries which have sidelined Harrison Wallace, the Nittany Lions de facto No. 2 receiver heading into the year.
“When there’s one guy that people are concerned about, a lot of defenses can figure out a way to make that challenging,” Penn State coach James Franklin said after the game. “But now there’s multiple guys — the tight ends, multiple receivers that are making plays. It’s a real positive.”
Cephas was impressive on Saturday, grabbing two well thrown and skillfully caught boundary end zone receptions. The first put Penn State up 7-0 and the second was an emphatic fourth quarter grab to make it 31-7. For a player who entered the transfer portal as one of the more sought after receiving prospects, it was more than a long time coming for Cephas to finally get on the board.
“I actually knew I didn’t have a lot of real estate in the end zone left,” Cephas said of his first touchdown, “so I was trying to hold my line and then just work the catch, and the ball was a great ball by Drew. … There was definitely some relief. You always got in the back of your mind like, ‘When’s it gonna happen? When’s it gonna come?’ ”
And it did on Saturday.
Heading into the Michigan game, it seems likely that Penn State will continue to primarily lean on the likes of No. 1 receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith and the tight end duo of Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren, who have 98 of Penn State’s 189 receptions this year. All the same, the emergence of Cephas poses a legitimate threat in a passing game that has not generated the explosiveness or lethality fans and coaches were hoping for headed into the season.
Of course, it will be interesting to see if Cephas can do it again next weekend on behalf of a receiver room that has been plagued with inconsistency all year long. Maryland also played a receiver-friendly Cover 0 defense for much of Saturday’s game, a scheme that Michigan will either not employ or stick to for long if it doesn’t work. Maryland opted not to give corners safety help over the top, effectively daring Penn State to make quarterback Drew Allar and his receivers beat them. And they did. Michigan may not attempt to do the same.
Either way, Cephas and his teammates will have to step up to the challenge.
“He shows flashes that obviously he can do some really good things,” Franklin said earlier in the week of Cephas. “It’s about the consistency that I keep talking about.”
In Cephas’ defense, sometimes development and growth don’t happen in one week of practice. In his most complete game of the year for Penn State, Cephas looked the part of a talented and sought after receiver capable of making game-changing plays in big moments. The challenge now will be stacking those days, most importantly his ability to stack performances. A challenge for all players, let alone ones making the jump up a few levels in difficulty.
“I do think there’s an adjustment period that he’s going through,” Franklin said of Cephas much earlier in the year. “It’s one thing to do it two or three times a season, when you’re watching him play an opponent like Georgia. It’s another thing to do it week-in and week-out in the Big Ten, and I think it’s another thing to do it every day at practice.”
But sometimes it only takes one game to flip the switch. That’s certainly what Penn State is hoping will turn out to be true.
“Today sets us up for the rest of the season,” Cephas said. “We know we can spread the ball… I’ll catch any ball that comes to me.”
