No. 4 Penn State stays on playoff track with narrow 26-25 win over Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Penn State left nothing to chance with a championship chase still on the line. The Nittany Lions were determined to end this game with the ball in their hands.

Drew Allar passed for 244 yards and a touchdown, rushed for a score and led two late fourth-down conversions to help No. 4 Penn State fend off Minnesota 26-25 on Saturday and stay on track for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Tyler Warren had eight receptions for 102 yards for the Nittany Lions (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten, No. 4 CFP), who dodged the upset on an afternoon when three other teams in the projected 12-team playoff were beaten and secured a third straight 10-win season. Penn State is 5-0 on the road for the first time since 1985.

“Records and stats are one thing, but they’re a physical team, they’re a tough team and they brought their ‘A’ game,” Nittany Lions center Nick Dawkins said.

Dragan Kesich’s third field goal of the game with 5:48 left brought the Gophers (6-5, 4-4) within one after they had first-and-goal from the 7. They tried to get tricky with a second-down screen pass to left tackle Aireontae Ersery, but it fell incomplete.

Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck trusted his defense enough to kick, a strategy that almost paid off until Penn State’s Luke Reynolds ran 32 yards on a fake punt to make up for two special teams gaffes in the first half.

Reynolds’ run was the first of three fourth-and-1 conversions on the Nittany Lions’ final drive. Allar converted the second on a keeper from the Minnesota 25 just before the two-minute warning and ended the game on the third conversion with an 11-yard pass to star tight end Warren.

“I just felt like we needed to be aggressive and end the game on our terms,” Franklin said.

Penn State trailed 10-0 and didn’t score until Allar found an uncovered Omari Evans for a 45-yard touchdown pass with 10:48 left in the second quarter. Nick Singleton’s 12-yard touchdown run with 3:43 left in the third gave the Nittany Lions their first lead at 23-22.

“All these times we have been down at halftime, there hasn’t been any pointing fingers or bad attitudes coming back in the locker room,” Warren said, reflecting on comeback wins over USC and Wisconsin. “I think that sets us up really well for the second half.”

Max Brosmer, whose streak of 206 passes without an interception ended when he was picked off by Dominic DeLuca in the second quarter, lost a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter. Both turnovers set up field goals for Penn State.

“I know it happens in football, but I know that I can be way better,” Brosmer said.

Daniel Jackson had six catches for 90 yards, and Marcus Major rushed for a touchdown for Minnesota.

“There’s a lot of tears in that locker room because of how hard they played, but Penn State found a way to make one more play than we did,” Fleck said. “It was a great football game. Sometimes you’ve got to step out of the head coach role to appreciate a game like that.”

Hands up

With Penn State punting from the back of the end zone, Derik LeCaptain deflected the ball that died at the 21. The Gophers dialed up a double-reverse pass on the next play with a pitch to Darius Taylor, who tossed it to Jackson and back to Brosmer for a TD pass to tight end Jameson Geers with 1:03 left in the first half.

The Nittany Lions cruised 75 yards in six plays, aided by a questionable pass interference penalty on Ethan Robinson, to score on a 4-yard Allar scramble. But Jack Henderson blocked the extra point, and Robinson scooped it up and raced 88 yards for two points and a 19-16 halftime lead.

The takeaway

Penn State: The offense was at its best in no-huddle mode, particularly when keeping Warren, the do-it-all tight end, as involved as possible. Allar’s ball security continues to be an asset.

Minnesota: The win in 2019 against a then-undefeated Penn State team showed what’s possible for this program, and the Gophers nearly repeated that feat. The two turnovers by Brosmer loomed in the end.

Up next

Penn State finishes the regular season at home against Maryland next Saturday, and Minnesota plays at Wisconsin next Friday for possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe.