Final Thoughts on Penn State's Dominant Win Over Washington

The Nittany Lions set a necessary first-half tone against the Huskies in moving to 8-1.

Penn State students cheer during the third quarter against the Washington Huskies at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

After the Ohio State game, Penn State coach James Franklin rang the Beaver Stadium victory bell, in part to last-word a fan who had thoughts on the loss. Late Saturday night, Franklin returned to the bell, ringing it to celebrate the Nittany Lions' 35-6 win over Washington, and a few fans waited to cheer him. All's forgiven, right?

Penn State improved to 8-1 with its best, and most necessary, half of football this season, one that acted as a post-Buckeyes tourniquet. Before moving on to the final three weeks, here's a last-look at the Nittany Lions' latest turning-point victory of 2024.

The Nittany Lions make the first half count

First, a hypothetical. What if the 35-6 final score remained, but the halves were reversed, and Penn State led 7-6 at halftime before scoring 28 unanswered in the second half? Would the win resonate as decisively?

Consider that, during pregame introductions, some fans in the White Out crowd of 110,030 booed when Franklin was introduced. Beaver Stadium still seemed haunted by the 20-13 loss to Ohio State and required a quick exorcism. Penn State needed more than a bounceback offensive game; it needed an alpha first half as well.

Penn State scored on its first four possessions, converted its first four third-down attempts and went 4-for-4 in the red zone in the first half. It called the red-zone plays for which fans pined against the Buckeyes: a stretch with Beau Pribula and two Wildcat touchdown snaps to Tyler Warren. A receiver (Julian Fleming) caught a Big Ten touchdown pass for the first time this season. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki wrote the public apology with his gameplan.

"It’s the best complete half we've had this season," Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said. "We've had our moments this year, but I think we really put it together in that first half."

Penn State mixed execution and its talent advantage into a cathartic night vs. Washington. That first half gave Penn State permission to close the Ohio State chapter, at least for now.

RELATED: What we learned from Penn State's win over Washington

The run game's immediate future

Penn State ran for 266 yards against Washington, its highest total of the Big Ten schedule, and scored four rushing touchdowns. Kaytron Allen got into the end zone in the fourth quarter, which he made a priority. "I'm not going to be stopped, I can't be stopped, not again," Allen said of his fourth-quarter mindset. Still, ther game ended with some concern.

Running back Nicholas Singleton left the game in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury, one that could impact the Nittany Lions' final three regular-season games. However, the team has some breathing room. Penn State opened as 28-point favorite at Purdue, according to DraftKings, and should be fine if Singleton needs to sit out the game. Still, depth is something to watch.

Penn State already is down two scholarship running backs: Cam Wallace is out long-term, and true freshman Quinton Martin Jr. has missed the last three games, though he was available to play against Washington. Conversely, fellow true freshman Corey Smith proved electric in his first career action, stretching the left side for a 78-yard gain, Penn State's longest from scrimmage this season.

Singleton on Saturday looked as explosive as he has since sustaining an injury against Illinois. To make a playoff run, Penn State needs Singleton to be his most explosive self. A week off for Purdue isn't the worst idea.

Some perspective from Washington

Washington isn't the same team that reached the College Football Playoff title game last season. First-year head coach Jedd Fisch made that clear after the game Saturday. He also provided some perspective for Penn State fans who believe their program has reached its ceiling and should consider a management change.

Washington is undergoing a total rebuild, not only with a new roster and coaching staff but also in a new conference. "The transition between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten is a huge transition," Fisch said after the game. "This team has been recruited as a Pac-12 team."

Fisch said that, in reading the programs' comparative two-deeps, Penn State's was about 1,000 pounds bigger. That's what he's trying to build at Washington, but it will take time.

"We're going to build and create in the way we know it's going to take to win in the Big Ten, and that's [with] size," Fisch said. "You need size in the Big Ten if you're going to beat teams like Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan on a consistent level."

Read the officiating room

Under oath, Franklin might not be so kind to Big Ten officiating this season. He didn't even bother sending video from a penalty in the Ohio State game to the conference for review because, to paraphrase, what's the point? But then against Washington, Penn State went out of its way to argue a Warren fumble, possibly icing its own kicker in the process.

Warren was ruled for a catch-fumble in the third quarter Saturday, a play tonally similar to Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins' catch-fumble play that was ruled incomplete. After Warren's play, Franklin called a timeout, and his sideline continued arguing the call — both calls, probably. And kicker Ryan Barker then missed his first field goal of the season. Here's how Franklin assessed the moment.

"Obviously we’ve got to decide, is it a first down or not?" the coach said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, they’ll buzz that down and review it. But they said not only did they do it, but they did it in Chicago that quickly. I haven’t seen that done all year long. So, we end up burning a timeout trying to give up more time to review it. But they already said they had reviewed it. That’s typically why I don’t challenge things, so kind of unusual to me. Usually they’ll buzz it down, stop there and take a second look at a big play in the game."

It was a big play against Ohio State. This week, Penn State led 28-0. Seemed like overkill to litigate two fumble reviews at the same time, but that's where Penn State's head was.

Up next

Penn State visits Purdue for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.