DisruptU PSU Presents The Penn State Pulse With Dylan Dawson Warren, Allar & Barker Crush USC

Disrupt U PSU Presents The Penn State Pulse with host Dylan Dawson. In this episode, Dylan reviews Penn State's thrilling overtime victory over USC, highlighting key player performances, particularly from Ryan Barker and Tyler Warren. He discusses the team's resilience, especially quarterback Drew Allar, and reflects on the improvements in penalties. Looking ahead, Dawson emphasizes the importance of the upcoming games for the team's playoff hopes.

Takeaways •Penn State's victory over USC was a thrilling comeback.

•Ryan Barker's performance was crucial for the win.

•Tyler Warren had an outstanding game, becoming a household name.

•Drew Allar showed significant growth despite throwing three interceptions.

•The team's resilience was evident in their ability to respond to adversity. •Improvement in penalties is a positive trend for Penn State.

•The run game needs to improve for future success.

•Injuries are a concern, but the bye week comes at a good time.

•Upcoming games will be critical for playoff aspirations.

•All goals are still within reach for Penn State.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome back into the Penn State Pulse. I'm your host,
Dylan Dawson. Penn State kept their perfect season afloat last
Saturday in Los Angeles in a far from perfect game,
topping USC thirty three to thirty in overtime. It feels
like every time these two teams play, it's bound to
be an all time classic.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Now.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
PSU coming back to win from being down twenty to
six at halftime comes after the twenty sixteen Rose Bowl,
the last time these teams played, which, although I hate
to admit it was one of the best college.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Football games I've ever seen.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
The Nittany Lions got their revenge for that one, though,
coming back to beat the Trojans on a walk off
field goal, just like they did to us in that
Rose Bowl. So what stood out to me? Gotta start
with Ryan Barker.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Man.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
There isn't too much to be said. Penn State's kicking
game went from what the hell are we gonna do?
To this kid as a stud pretty much overnight. Barker
was for four on the day against USC, including that
game winner, as well as three for three on his
extra points. Penn State does not win this game without
Ryan Barker, and it's as simple as that. He would

(01:11):
have been the clear pet player of the game too
if it wasn't for one of the better performances we've
ever seen from.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
A tight end in a college football game.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
That, of course, was Tyler Warren, whose name is now
being associated with terms like Mackie and Heisman. Seventeen catches,
two hundred and twenty four yards, and a touchdown in
one game. Penn State fans have known for a while
how good Tyler is, but he's now becoming a household
name in.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
College football circles.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
After that one, he also took a wildcat snap and
ran for four yards. I believe that was on a
third down. And he also completed a pass for nine
yards because why not. And I'm sure a bunch of
you saw this one already, But on that thirty two
yard touchdown catch, he was lined up at center, where
he proceeded to snap the ball, run straight down the field,

(02:01):
and pluck the ball right off of the DB's helmet.
Just ridiculous stuff from number forty four. Let the Heisman
campaign begin next up. This team puts something on display
last Saturday that we haven't quite seen to that level
since maybe that twenty sixteen year, and that is their resiliency.
They dug themselves in a hole and then between great

(02:22):
coaching and pure will from the players, they were able
to climb back out of it. Penn State does not
come back from a fourteen point deficit on the road
against a very talented team like USC in recent years,
but they did it last Saturday. In recent years, we'd
kind of just see an avalanche like scenario play out
in that situation where they just keep slipping until it's

(02:44):
not even a contest anymore. You can see Ohio State
in twenty twenty two, Michigan also in twenty twenty two,
and then most of the games from twenty twenty, but
Iowa and twenty twenty it really got away from them.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Those are a few recent examples that come to mind.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
This team had a handful of plays last Saturday where
it was basically make a play right here or you
lose the game, and they were able to do just that,
make a play and respond every single time. A big
part of that was quarterback Drew Aller. I truly think
we witnessed Drew grow up on Saturday. What if I

(03:21):
told you the in a game where he threw three picks.
It was the best he's looked in the blue and white.
It's pretty crazy to think about, but he finally took
the risks and with those interceptions came the big plays.
Drew went thirty of forty three on the day, which
is right under a seventy percent completion percentage. He also
had three hundred and ninety one yards, a career high,

(03:42):
and two touchdowns. Aler orchestrated that final drive to tie
the game in regulation with some help from Andy Kolnecki.
Of course, that drive went twelve plays for seventy five yards,
including two huge fourth down conversions excuse me where Aler
connected with Julian Fleming, and that drive was capped by
a fourteen yard touchdown pass to Nick Singleton. Every time

(04:04):
Drew through a pick in this game, he came back
the next drive, the next play, whatever it may be,
with a response of some sort. It's so important to
have a short memory in those sort of situations, and
that's exactly what we saw from Drew Roler on Saturday.
So this one's been overlooked a bit. I haven't seen
it talked about too much in Penn State circles at

(04:24):
least not yet, but another game for Penn State and
another positive trend with the penalties. In a game that
where every single play matters, Penn State can't have eighty
or one hundred yards and penalties or else they probably
don't win the net Allions committed three penalties for twenty
five yards in that game, and that comes a week
after committing two for twenty against UCLA, And just off

(04:48):
the top of my head, they were probably around six
or seven a game in those first four contests, So
it has been a huge improvement for the Nittellions in
the penalty category. It does seem like this team is
beginning to really come together and gel and the penalties
are just one example of that. Let's now discuss some
things that's better that I think the Nittny Lions need

(05:08):
to work on. The run game has taken a bit
of a turn in the last few weeks, and Penn
State struggled for the second straight game to produce much
of anything big on the ground. Case you carried thirty
one times on Saturday for one hundred and eighteen yards
in a touchdown against usc which comes out to three
point eight yards per carry. The longest run by a

(05:31):
running back came from Nick Singleton, which was the ten
yard scamper up the middle on what I believe was
his first carry on the day. This comes a week
after the longest carry by a running back against UCLA
was an eleven yarder from k Tron.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
So definitely a little bit of.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Concerns surrounding the run game right now, specifically the production
of explosive plays. The good news here is that they've
been able to get a lot of the short yarded
stuff and it's mostly just the big ones in the
last couple of games that they've struggled with. The other
good news is that PSU's offensive coordinator is Andy Kattoiniki.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
He has always been.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
A run first guy at all of his stops, and
I'm pretty confident that he'll be able to continue that
trend here in State College. Doesn't help, though, that Penn
State's offensive line has dealt with a handful of injuries,
which leads into.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
My next thing to work on.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
It's not really something to work on, though, just more
of a negative factor to minor and that is this
team's injuries as a whole right now. The second bye
week came at a very convenient time because they are
very banged up. You of course have the long term
guys like kJ Winston's, Riyah Fisher, Kim Wallace, but guys
that have been at least a little banged up recently.

(06:45):
It's becoming a laundry list. Nick Singleton, Anthony Donko, JB. Nelson,
Sal Wormley. And then you look at the defense. You
got guys like Tony Rojas, Jalen Reid, Don de Luca,
Kayln King, excuse me, Kobe King, and a few others.
Just a lot of guys with small injuries right now.
So yeah, this is a very good time to have
a bye week. This could make a huge difference with

(07:07):
a few of these guys where they're actually able to
get back close to or to.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
One hundred percent before that Wisconsin game. So let's look
ahead a bit. Including that Wisconsin game.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Penn State's next three games will pretty much determine the
season outcome and their playoff hopes. They sit at six
to zero overall and three to zero in the Big
Ten halfway through the season. Those next three games, though,
they are big ones, to say the least. Penn State
heads to Madison in a week and a half, depending
on when you're watching this uh to play the Wisconsin

(07:41):
Badgers in a seven thirty kick on the road. That's
any college football fan knows that Camp Randall is not
a place that you want to play, especially at night,
so that'll be a tough one. They then turn around
and head back to Beaver Stadium where they'll play Ohio
State and while Washington in back to back weeks. I

(08:03):
expect Penn Sate to get the short end of the
stick with that Ohio State game. I think that's going
to be a nooner on Fox, and the white out
against Washington is unfortunately looking like a three thirty kick time.
So not the ideal scenario for either of those games
as far as when they'll be kicking off. If Penn
Sate gets through these next three at three and zero

(08:25):
or even two in one, they are in the playoffs
without question. If they go one and two, they'll have
a case for the playoffs, but would be far from
being guaranteed a spot. The Nitty Lions then finished the
season with games at Purdue, at Minnesota, and then at
home against Maryland. Everything is still right in front of
this team. All their goals, all their aspirations are still

(08:48):
within reach. They have made it through a handful of
very tough games now, beating West Virginia and USC on
the road, as well as a ranked Illinois team at home.
And I'm not sure if any of you have been
keeping up with them, but they're five and one.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
They're still ranked, obviously.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
With the five to one record, they still have not
lost a contest outside of that game at Penn State,
So that's a pretty damn good team that Penn State
controlled for the majority of that game. So that is
going to do it for today's episode of the Penn
State Pulse. Thank you guys so much for tuning in.
Enjoy the stress free bye week. I certainly will, and
I will see y'all again in a bit to preview

(09:27):
that looming matchup with the Badgers.