Maryland Takeaways: Is Penn State football ready to pull an upset?

Penn State football looked rejuvented Saturday with a 51-15 win over the Maryland Terrapins. The Nittany Lions defense was lock down as usual, while Drew Allar and the offense turned in one of their best performance of the season. Overall, it’s exactly the type of outing you’d hope to see heading into the biggest game of the season. As the Michigan Wolverines get ready to come to town, did Penn State show enough against Maryland to make the upset look possible?

Drew Allar looks incredible

Drew Allar played his best game since the season opener against West Virginia. He finally had a road game performance that matched what we have seen him do in Beaver Stadium this year.

What was most impressive was the variety of throws and just the overall efficiency that Allar displayed. It started with a fade to Dante Cephas, where the young QB put it only where his WR could catch it in the endzone. We also saw an absolute strike to Tyler Warren in between defenders late in the first half that displayed elite accuracy.

One of his most impressive plays came late in the first quarter. A trick play where backup QB Beau Pribula took the snap and flipped it back to Allar who was supposed to look for a throw toward the pylon. Instead, the play was blown up, and Allar improvised, shoveling it to Theo Johnson who was standing wide open in the endzone. It was impressive how calm Allar remained even after the play was clearly blown up from the start.

One of the most important statistics in the game was Allar’s 7.1 yards per attempt average, combined with a 73.5% completion percentage. Drew Allar finished with a QBR of 96.9, which was his highest of the season. He consistently threw the ball down the sidelines and across the middle of the field against Maryland.

Both KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Dante Cephas, and Tyler Warren were used in downfield passing situations. If Penn State football can open up the passing game like we saw in College Park, the Nittany Lions will have an opportunity to pull off the upset against Michigan this week.

Offensive playcalling improves

Mike Yurcich’s playcalling has been largely criticized throughout the season. It reared its ugly head against Ohio State, where Penn State tried multiple trick plays with no success.

But what we saw against Maryland on Saturday should give Penn State football fans hope heading into the top-10 matchup with Michigan this week. Penn State finally debuted the Beau Pribula package. While not completely smooth on most of those plays, the potential is still there.

Yurcich mixed in some one-on-one fade routes in the red zone that led to touchdowns. It was something that we haven’t seen a ton of this year. What was even more promising was having Lambert-Smith and Cephas run deeper slants across the middle of the field. It is something that many Penn State fans have been wanting for multiple weeks.

The Nittany Lions will need to continue attacking downfield against Michigan to help open up the run game against a great defense.

Penn State defense suffocates Tagovailoa

It has become Groundhog Day every single week in the takeaways, but the Penn State defense once again dominated. The Nittany Lions were in the backfield all day tallying 6 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and four turnovers. Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa was running for his life all game long and was constantly behind the sticks, thanks to the pressure created by the Penn State front seven.

Penn State held Maryland to a record-low -49 rushing yards. Even taking away the sacks, the Terrapins only had 8 rushes for -2 yards. Maryland was forced to abandon the run early and allowed the defensive line to pin its ears back and get after it.

Penn State football will have a much tougher challenge against a great Michigan running game and a better QB in JJ McCarthy. If the Nittany Lions can force turnovers and get Michigan in 3^rd and long, they will have an excellent opportunity to come away with the upset. A task that this defense is certainly capable of.

Penn State had a complete team performance

This was one of the most complete performances we have seen this season. The defense has looked excellent all year, but the offense has struggled often in 2023.

Penn State looked threatening on offense for the first time since the West Virginia game to open the season. The Nittany Lions moved the ball with ease all game against a competent Maryland football team. The defense dominated as expected. Special teams had another solid game with Alex Felkins going 3/3 on field goals, and Nick Singleton contributing with a 51-yard kickoff return.

Special teams will be a key for Penn State to beat Michigan. The Nittany Lions will need to start with favorable field position, as it will be tough to move the ball on the Wolverines defense. That will require Daequan Hardy and Nick Singleton to have good returns on punts and kickoffs, something that both are certainly capable of.

Some things never change

There was discussion all week about Penn State being on upset watch. The line opened with Penn State as a 10.5-point favorite and moved all the way down to 7.5 points by kickoff.

Yet, as we have seen time and time again, Penn State football simply owns Maryland. The Nittany Lions are now 43-3-1 against the Terrapins all time with the last win for Maryland in College Park still being in 1961.

Penn State has now played Maryland 10 times since it joined the Big Ten. In that stretch, the Nittany Lions have outscored the Terrapins 382-134. Penn State has also outscored Maryland 207-32 in the four games played in College Park. It is always a fun time getting another win in Beaver Stadium South.

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