Allar, Cephas have offense finally firing on all cylinders in rout of Terrapins

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- This is just what Penn State does to Maryland, especially on the road here.

And this is exactly what Penn State needed to do to Maryland this time around, to get its mojo back heading into the season next week against Michigan.

The No. 11 Nittany Lions were coming off an ugly 33-24 win over Indiana last week, which left a sour taste in everybody's mouth and probably cost them a couple of spots in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Needing a bounce-back performance, Penn State ran over the Terps yet again, 51-15, at SECU Stadium. It was another laugher at this place, where the Lions have outscored Maryland, 207-32, over the past four meetings.

That's in Maryland's own backyard, no less, with final scores of 51-15, 31-14, 66-3 and 59-0 going back to 2017.

"For me and a lot of the guys, this is somewhat of a homecoming game being from here," left tackle Olu Fashanu said.

It's not just that Penn State won this game easily. Given everything that will be at stake next week, how they won this game is what matters.

The offense looked good. Really, really good, as coordinator Mike Yurcich had an outstanding day with creative playcalling.

Drew Allar threw four TDs while completing 25 of 34 passes for 240 yards. Allar finally connected on some big throws to Dante Cephas, who caught six for 53 yards and two impressive touchdowns.

And, not to be outdone, Allar did something very important within the scope of the offense, as he took off and ran four times for 39 yards, including a 21-yard gain.

"Just really smooth is how I kind of describe it," Allar said of the offense. "Once you find that rhythm, it's really hard to break it. You just need to stay in the moment and just stay calm and present."

Allar was awful in his last road game, at Ohio State, and had struggled away from home all season. But not in this game, as he was sharp early and remained that way.

"I just think Coach Yurcich, the whole offensive staff did a great job of getting us in rhythm," Allar said. "Not only getting me in rhythm, but the whole offense. I think we did a great job in the beginning of the game, getting the ball out to (KeAndre Lambert-Smith) and (Cephas) on the perimeter, and that really opened up the whole whole run game."

This was the kind of game -- from creative play calling to execution -- that everyone had been hoping to see from the Penn State offense for a long time. Yurcich even finally got the Beau Pribula package involved, which led to this fascinating razzle-dazzle play:

Two huge things had been missing from the offense all season, and we finally saw them appear in this blowout.

First, nobody has stepped up behind KLS to be a legitimate threat as the No. 2 wide receiver. Cephas finally lived up to his billing, having a good day all around beginning with this terrific TD grab that originally was ruled out of bounds before being overturned.

"Today felt great," Cephas said. "Just going out there, executing with the team. We've been doing it in practice all week. Today, it just felt great."

What can Cephas' production mean for the offense going forward?

"It means a lot," he said. "It just puts more confidence, adds more fuel to the fire for the offense to make shots and just complete the runs."

Lambert-Smith caught eight passes for 95 yards and was targeted 12 times, so he remains Allar's top target. But Cephas was targeted seven times and caught six passes, so that's very high efficiency.

Cephas came into the day with only 11 catches for 146 yards and no TDs. He talked about staying patient and being a team player, and now it appears he's finally taken the step to be more of "the guy" at receiver.

"I feel I'm the most confident, comfortable I've ever been," he said. 

There were a lot of highlight plays for Penn State on the day -- obviously that's the case when you score 51 points -- but a few very important plays stuck out because of what they can do for the offense.

Facing a second-and-3 in the first quarter, Allar took a shotgun snap and ran up the middle on a keeper for 7 yards.

Later on, on a third-and-4, Allar did another keeper that turned into a 21-yard gain.

Those are the kinds of plays that have a chance to really open up the Penn State offense. Allar hasn't done much running this season, and James Franklin talked during the week about how getting some big runs from the QB could help out.

Allar is a pocket passer, so you can bet that he would prefer to hang in there as much as possible. But in this offense -- the kind of offense Franklin wants to run -- it is absolutely paramount that the quarterback be able to run and keep defenses honest.

"It's definitely something that I've been working on ever since I got here, specifically in the offseason with the strength staff getting leaner and faster," Allar said. "I think that's starting to show off more now, especially today.

"We had a couple nice draws game planned in, where it was like a little bit of RPO, and they emptied the box with the motion. The line did a great job of getting up to that second level on the defense and giving me two ways to go. Yeah, it's definitely something that I just want to keep improving on, for sure."

Rounding out the offense, Kaytron Allen had 91 yards rushing on 18 carries, plus he kept chugging and bulldozed his way in for a 10-yard score late.

Nicholas Singleton had only eight carries for 20 yards.

"I thought offensively, probably the most important thing is we were able to stay on schedule first and second down," Franklin said. "We were efficient, created manageable third-down situations. I thought the whole line did a great job of protecting the quarterback. Drew was comfortable moving through his progressions and using his eyes to open people."

Maryland's defense obviously isn't anything close to what Penn State will face next week against Michigan. The Wolverines aren't just going to let Allar sit back in the pocket with no pressure and pick apart the defense.

So, it's possible that what we saw from the offense in this game was a bit of a mirage. Again, the Lions always do this kind of stuff to Maryland, which simply cannot match up physically on either side of the ball with Penn State.

Can the Lions repeat this formula against Michigan? Will Yurcich continue to be as creative with his play calls? Will Franklin be open to all of it, as opposed to getting tight in a big game, as he's been prone to do?

We'll find out.

THE ESSENTIALS

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THE INJURIES

• DE Chop Robinson missed the game, which was difficult for him as he used to play for Maryland before transferring to Penn State. Some Penn State players said they were playing this game for him in some ways.

• WR Harrison Wallace III missed the game after suffering what appeared to be a shoulder injury last week.

• DE Amin Vanover also was out.

THE SCHEDULE

Penn State hosts Michigan next week at noon, with the game airing on Fox.

THE CONTENT

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