The fireworks blasted from all sides of Beaver Stadium as the crowd, bleached with a solid white, roared from the stands. It sure looked like a White Out game, although technically it wasn’t. It was, however, an intense environment that played witness to No. 9 Penn State’s 21-7 victory over No. 19 Illinois on Saturday.
“That was a phenomenal environment. It wasn’t even the White Out and we had that,” James Franklin boasted postgame.
There’s much Franklin should feel good about at this point of the year. The Nittany Lions are 4-0 and have a top-20 win already under their belt with Big Ten play just kicking into gear. But for all the positives, there are a number of issues that were exposed against the Fighting Illini that Franklin will need to address if he hopes to compete in the College Football Playoff and beyond.
What was learned and what can be taken away about Penn State in its “White Out energy” win on Saturday?
Singleton and Allen make history
It’s long been made apparent that running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen are a historically dominant force. On Saturday, they continued their stellar 2024 campaigns, combining for 196 rushing yards and two touchdowns while each averaging at least 5.7 yards a carry. It was a brilliant performance that put the pair in unique company.
Singleton and Allen have joined Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell as the program’s second set of teammates to each tally 2,000 career rushing yards.
“I don’t know if there’s a better combination of running backs in the country,” Franklin said. “There were some physical runs out there today.”
The Nittany Lions’ pass game looks improved, but it remains to be seen how well it will fare against a national title contender like Ohio State. It should help that Singleton and Allen are playing the best football of their illustrious college careers, and have no problem sharing the wealth as they did the previous two seasons.
Abdul Carter returns to form
He was viewed by many as Penn State’s surefire top overall player entering the year. But through his first three games as a defensive end, Abdul Carter had hardly shown up on the stat sheet in categories other than penalties. Carter returned to form against Illinois, tallying seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup playing both on the edge and at linebacker.
Carter’s strip-sack sealed the win for the Nittany Lions. While pre-snap movement remains a concern for Carter, who is still new to the defensive line, his emergence as a consistent threat in the backfield could be major for a defense that sorely lacked edge pressure in its first three games.
“It feels great when you put all your work into the game, all your time into the game, you work your whole life with these situations and when you come out here and make plays, you just get that relief of all the work you put in,” Carter said.
Has Sahaydak’s time concluded?
There’s one hole on Penn State’s roster that is more glaring than any other. That’s kicker, a position that Sander Sahaydak was awarded to start the season for a second consecutive year. But like in 2023, Sahaydak is likely to lose his job before the season’s end. Sahaydak missed both of his field-goal attempts on Saturday, making him 2-for-5 on the year and 3-for-9 for his career.
It’s time for a change. Sahaydak was replaced by walk-on Ryan Barker, who nailed an extra-point attempt on Allen’s decisive fourth-quarter touchdown rush. Barker’s the favorite to earn the starting job while Tulsa transfer Chase Meyer waits for his first moment of game action in 2024.
“I love Sander Sahaydak. He’s been awesome for us here. We just won a game and he should be celebrating this win like everybody else,” Franklin said. “But ultimately we’ll have a competition, and all the things will factor into some decisions that we’re going to have to make moving forward.”
Undisciplined defense
Then there’s the other side of Carter’s game: flags. And it’s not just Carter, but the entire defense. They were called for five flags worth 58 yards against the Fighting Illini — two were offsides, one was a late hit, one was an unnecessary roughness flag that shouldn’t have been called and the last was an illegal block in the back on an interception that was bound for the end zone.
It appears this is more than just an on-field issue for the Nittany Lions. This revolves around discipline, and Franklin knows a change is needed before it’s too late. His defense now has a “reputation for jumping offsides,” he said.
“We gotta provide more discipline all the time, not just punitive penalties when they jump offsides,” Franklin said. “Being more disciplined by how they are in meetings, how they sit up, how they take notes, all of that. And I believe the more discipline that we have off the field, will transfer on the field.”
Franklin wants the game ‘called both ways’
Now back to the unnecessary roughness flag that shouldn’t have been called.
“They called Tony Rojas, who’s running to make a tackle,” Franklin said. “The ball’s going down the sideline and he’s going to make the tackle, and somebody comes to block him, and he lowers his shoulder and destroys the guy. Why? Because Tony Rojas is bigger than the guy that was trying to block him. He’s chasing the ball. What’s he supposed to do?
Franklin admitted it’s hard to complain about a bad call when his team is getting called for as many penalties as they are, but felt the officiating was a bit lopsided on Saturday.
“I felt like at the end of the game, there’s a ton of times where we were getting held. … I just want to feel like it’s being called both ways,” Franklin said. “That’s ultimately all I care about.”
Warren revolutionizing his role
Tyler Warren is not your everyday tight end. He showed that last week when he threw for a touchdown, caught a touchdown and tallied a 16-yard rush. Warren was right back after it against the Fighting Illini, rushing for a score at quarterback, handing off a few carries and catching four receptions for 34 yards.
“I’m really focusing on being the best tight end for this offense, however that looks from week to week,” Warren said.
Pair of guards injured in action
The injury bug has been one of Penn State’s most consequential storylines of the early season. So far gone are safety Kevin Winston Jr. and tight end Andrew Rappleyea, both with “long-term” injuries. And on Saturday, two more names were added to the list of inactives — linebacker Dominic DeLuca and running back Cam Wallace — while a pair of offensive linemen were also banged up in action.
Sal Wormley, the team’s starting right guard, left the game with the injury in the first quarter and did not return. He was replaced by JB Nelson, who swapped places with Vega Ioane and played left guard. That was until Nelson was injured in the third quarter and did not return. In his place came true freshman Cooper Cousins, who played the rest of the game.
It’s unclear the severity of the injuries to either Wormley or Nelson, but the need for offensive line depth is certainly in the spotlight as the Nittany Lions return to practice.
