The Penn State-Maryland Report Card
College Park, Maryland | Penn State made the most if its post-Indiana reset switch, tuning up Maryland 51-15 in another superior road performance at SECU Stadium. The Lions have won 15 straight games at Maryland and have scored at least 50 points three times here under James Franklin, Maryland's one-time head coach in-waiting. Franklin improved to 4-0 at Maryland, where his average margin of victory is 43.8 points.
The Lions turned a lovely November afternoon into a proper runway into next week's game against Michigan. With that, the Penn State-Maryland report card.
RELATED: Penn State completes another road rout at Maryland
OFFENSE: A-
This might have been Penn State's most complete offensive performance of the season and definitely a step forward after last week. Quarterback Drew Allar, who entered the game with a road completion rate of 48.1 percent, was outrageously good: 25-for-34, 240 yards, four touchdowns. He took advantage of cozy pockets (left tackle, and Maryland native, Olu Fashanu was fabulous) and delivered a variety of throws across the field (though he was 1-for-9 on attempts of 15+ yards).
Receiver Dante Cephas, who last scored a touchdown in October 2022 with Kent State, caught two TD passes. And he couldn't have emerged at a better time, especially with fellow receiver Trey Wallace injured. Running back Kaytron Allen was quietly lethal, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. The Lions were 9-for-9 on red-zone scoring opportunities.
DEFENSE: B+
Maryland's Taulia Tagovailoa floated a ridiculous completion streak, hitting his first 17 passes and completing 22 of 25 in the first half. Ultimately that meant little. Tagovailoa's completion rate fell to 50 percent in the second half, when he managed just 14 attempts and only one series that went more than five plays. Penn State sacked him six times and made 12 tackles for loss to completely shut down the Terps' run game. The Lions also shut down a potential scoring drive with a fourth-down stop.
This is withering: Maryland finished with minus-49 yards rushing, largely due to the sacks, though everyone besides Tagovailoa totaled eight carries for minus-2 yards. Abdul Carter (six tackles, sack) played his 2023 breakout game, helping mitigate Chop Robinson's absence, and leading a linebacker group that made 17 tackles. Props to fellow LBs Dominic DeLuca and Tony Rojas for their interceptions.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
The major knock here was Liam Clifford's roughing penalty on a punt-block attempt in the first half. That gave Maryland a free set of downs and led to a touchdown. Otherwise, special teams were sharp again. Nicholas Singleton demonstrated a burst on his 51-yard kickoff game, his second straight game taking a kickoff 50+. And kicker Alex Felkins was 3-for-3 on field goals and now is 12-for-13 on attempts under 50 yards.
COACHING: B+
Coordinators Mike Yurcich (offense) and defense (Manny Diaz) made their week of soul searching stand up. Diaz nearly did a back flip at the Lions' fourth-down stop early, and Yurcich seemed to be cutting loose. What the heck, let KeAndre Lambert-Smith throw again? More importantly, Yurcich green-lighted Allar to throw often when Maryland played no deep safeties, and those middle slants worked, especially to KeAndre Lambert-Smith (eight catches, 95 yards).
What's more, Franklin, who has teased promised to unveil the Beau Pribula package for eight weeks, finally did it a week before Penn State plays Michigan. It wasn't terribly effective, safe for the trick-play touchdown, but still was a deft move — even if the Lions don't consider running it next week.
OVERALL: A-
Penn State looooves playing at Maryland, which clearly shows. Now, it's time to channel that energy toward Michigan.
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