LOS ANGELES — Penn State head coach James Franklin broke down his team’s dramatic 33-30 overtime win over USC Oct. 12, 2024, calling his team “resilient” after falling behind by two touchdowns early.
It was not a roaring comeback, but a slow and steady effort, paced by quarterback Drew Allar and do-it-all tight end Tyler Warren, who Franklin said is entering the conversation as one of the best players in college football. Warren finished the win over USC with a program-record 17 catches for 224 yards and one touchdown.
In the end, the No. 4 Nittany Lions survived their toughest test yet thanks to the leg of walk-on kicker Ryan Barker, who nailed the overtime kick to send Penn State home from L.A. a winner. Barker, who replaced Sander Sahaydak as the team’s starting kicker just last week against UCLA, has remained perfect this season, hitting kicks of 34, 33, and 20 before nailing his 36-yard game-winner in overtime.
Allar was part of the necessarily resilience. He threw three interceptions, two of them leading to USC field goals, but kept on finding Warren, and also had two clutch fourth-down conversions to wide receiver Julian Fleming to keep things going on the final Penn State touchdown drive to tie at the end of regulation.
Now the Lions will enter their bye week at 6-0.
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