After weeks of being questioned about Penn State’s lack of ability to create big plays on offense, the Nittany Lions ended up pulling one out of the bag to grab a late lead on Saturday afternoon against Indiana. A 57-yard touchdown pass from [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] to [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] broke a 24-24 tie mere moments after Allar had thrown his first career interception, allowing the Hoosiers to tie the game at 24-24.
Naturally, after the game came to a close and Penn State celebrated a 33-24 victory over Indiana, head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] was asked to share his insight on how the play unfolded.
“You know, typically when we call a go route, it’s not just a go,” Franklin said of the play call. “So, it’s a read route. If they’re off and bailing, then we sit it down in front of them.”
Penn State has struggled a bit this season with connecting on the deep ball opportunities it attempts. Fortunately for Franklin and his team, they managed to connect in the biggest moment of the game to help avoid an upset loss to a struggling Indiana program.
Franklin made a point of explaining that this game-winning touchdown play was the same play that was called earlier in the game, which didn’t connect for a big gain.
“The one that we threw to KeAndre, earlier in the game on a crossing route that we missed, that was the same exact play call,” Franklin recalled. “They bailed their corners. And obviously, we’re not just going to throw it. Went to take the check downs… and then came to KeAndre. We missed it, then we called it again.”
Drew Allar to KeAndre Lambert-Smith for 57 yards and the game-winning score
How it sounded on Penn State radio pic.twitter.com/QXbfwwrvZ8
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) October 28, 2023
Penn State’s game-winning touchdown was the third touchdown in the game that covered at least 50 yards. Indiana scored a pair of touchdowns on a 90-yard and a 69-yard pass in the first half. Earlier this season, Penn State also allowed a 66-yard touchdown run to Delaware.
Penn State will hope to connect on a few more deep balls next week when they visit Maryland. Maryland has lost three consecutive games and is hoping to pull a big upset on the Nittany Lions in College Park next Saturday, Nov. 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET on Fox.
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