Explosive plays by Allar, Singleton, Allen carry Lions to rout of Michigan State

DETROIT -- Everything finally came together for the Penn State offense in an explosive end to the regular season.

The defense was magnificent, as well, in what turned out to be a laugher for the "prestigious" Land Grant Trophy.

Yeah, this hideous thing:

"Super rewarding," backup quarterback Beau Pribula, who had a rushing and passing touchdown, said of Penn State's big night on Black Friday.

Just about everybody got in on the act offensively for the Nittany Lions in a 42-0 trouncing of Michigan State at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.

This was the kind of offensive explosion everyone's been waiting to see, from an offense that had been anything but explosive all season.

There were big plays -- lots of them -- such as this 60-yard dime from Drew Allar to Omari Evans. And yes, you're no doubt wondering: Where has this been all season?

"It was definitely a great throw," Allar said. "Omari did a great job of tracking it."

Both running backs had a big night, as Kaytron Allen (137 yards) and Nicholas Singleton (118) established season highs on the ground. They combined for 340 yards rushing and receiving, carrying the evening for an offense that finished with 586 yards.

Both also had highlight-reel plays.

There was this 50-yard run from Allen, his longest of the season. He also had a 40-yarder later on.

"It felt great because we didn't get to do any of that this year," Allen said of finally busting some long runs.

There also was this long gainer, a quick screen to Singleton that he busted for 53.

That play was designed perfectly to get Singleton loose in space, something else the offense has struggled with all year.

"It gives our offense the ability to put points on the board, great field position, obviously get a chance for explosive plays like we're trying to do so," Singleton said of getting the ball in space.

The TV broadcast showed a graphic that noted Penn State had only two plays over 40 yards all season, then the Lions had two in the first quarter alone Friday night.

Not to be outdone, the defense was lights out, holding Michigan State to a woeful 68 yards of offense. The Spartans had 59 yards in the first quarter alone, then only 9 the rest of the game. The defense was incredible in the second half, as Michigan State had minus-32 yards total over the final two quarters.

When told of those dominant numbers, linebacker Abdul Carter had this to say about the defense:

"Yeah, it's not surprising. It's definitely how we prepare, how we train, how Manny (Diaz) prepares us and our defensive mindset as a unit. We're just all connected, and we all know what we can do."

Penn State destroyed a Michigan State team that had a really rough year with the Mel Tucker scandal and clearly was just looking to wrap things up. The Spartans (4-8) are bad on both sides of the ball, and it showed in the final stats.

This is about as lopsided as it can get between two teams in a major conference.

Of all the good things that happened in the game, having both Allen and Singleton explode for big performances was clearly the most important.

This has been a tough year for the running back tandem, or at least specifically for Singleton, who hasn't been able to reproduce his dynamic play and long runs from a year ago.

Allen has emerged as the most effective running tailback, while Singleton has been bottled up most of the season. But there are other ways to use Singleton, such as in the slot or spread wide for the quick hitter above, and interim co-offensive coordinators Ja'Juan Seider and Ty Howle did a good job of exploiting that in this game.

"We're always trying to get better each and every day," Allen said. "It paid off today.  ... I feel great because both of us had a great game."

Franklin left Singleton in the game late, even with a lopsided score, to help the running back get to 100 yards for the first time this year. Singleton did just that on a 24-yard run in the closing minutes, which is his longest run of the season from scrimmage.

Singleton said the criticism about the lack of explosive runs has not bothered him.

"It really don't," he said. "Coach Franklin, the whole staff always tells us don't listen to everybody else, just the people inside the building.

"We knew it was gonna come," he added. "We've just got to stay with it. Obviously it happened today, so I felt good."

Franklin had said earlier in the week that Singleton has had a better year than most realize, and he repeated that again after the game about both of the tailbacks,

"I think they both had great years in the run game," the coach said. "In my mind, they match the expectations in the run game, in the pass game, when it comes to protection. They both clearly got better this year as overall running backs.

"I think there have been probably some other games where we could have gotten a few more yards, but we've got them out and tried to manage the situation to keep them healthy. But to see them both finish with 100 yards and get to the end zone was cool."

After the game, both Allar and Singleton committed to staying at Penn State next season, ending any speculation about them possibly leaving for the transfer portal.

We didn't see the offense produce the kind of big numbers or consistency that many expected this year, and it led to coordinator Mike Yurcich getting fired. But with the main members of the backfield all set to return, next year could be a different story.

Franklin, meanwhile, mentioned that he'll be Zooming with prospective offensive coordinator candidates this weekend, so we'll see how quickly he moves in making a hire.

Now ... about that wide receiver situation. That's been the biggest bugaboo for the program this year, and could be an issue next season, as well, depending on who stays and who comes.

There was a very good sign Friday with the Evans grab on the 60-yard pass from Allar. Still, leading receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith had just one catch for 22 yards and was targeted just three times. He had just two catches for 28 yards over the past two games.

There clearly were issues this season, but Penn State still finished 10-2, with the only losses coming to the No. 2 and 3 teams in the country. That's what Franklin chose to focus on after Friday's blowout win.

"We won 10 games this season," the coach said. "There's very few programs in the country that are able to do that. We've done it back-to-back seasons. I'm very proud of what we've done. I embrace the fact that this place has really really high expectations. Nobody has higher expectations than the players and coaches. ... But I'm proud of this team and how we played tonight, and how consistently we played this year.

"Obviously there are some steps that we have to take. I'm confident that we're gonna take those steps."

THE ESSENTIALS

• Box score
• Live file
• Team feed
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics

THE INJURIES

• LB Abdul Carter was banged up in the third quarter and did not return.

• QB Drew Allar returned to action after missing much of the second half last week.

• WR Harrison Wallace III was out again. He played in only four games this season.

THE SCHEDULE

Penn State now waits for its bowl destination. The most likely spot is the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 30.

THE CONTENT

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