'That's Just the Beginning,' Penn State's KeAndre Lambert-Smith Says

'Big-Play Dre' leads the Lions' rejuvenated receiving corps to a huge game vs. West Virginia.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | Former Penn State standout wide receivers Allen Robinson and Jahan Dotson were among an impressive contingent of lettermen at Beaver Stadium for Saturday night’s season-opening 38-15 win over West Virginia. And they got a sideline view of Penn State’s next No. 1 wideout.

Drew Allar dialed up the long ball on Penn State’s third offensive play to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who left his defender on the ground and looked back at him as he waltzed in for a 72-yard touchdown. Lambert-Smith needed just four catches to put up the second-highest receiving total of his career and his second straight game with more than 100. His final stat line included 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Lambert-Smith has strung together three consecutive impressive performances dating to last year’s game against Michigan State. In that span, he has accounted for 330 yards and three touchdowns on 12 receptions. Among them was the longest touchdown catch in Rose Bowl history. Lambert-Smith is averaging 27.5 yards per catch in his last three games. He also threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Theo Johnson against Michigan State.

Late Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, Lambert-Smith wore a shining silver necklace with the letters 'B-P-D' as the pendant. It stands for "Big-Play Dre,” the nickname Lambert-Smith gave himself in high school. It’s been more than true of late, and Lambert-Smith told those around him that he hasn't reached his ceiling yet.

“I don’t like to seem cocky or anything, but the player I know I am and the standard I hold myself to, that was only four catches," Lambert-Smith. "That’s just the beginning."

The junior from Norfolk, Virginia, has been Penn State's breakout candidate for some time but bided his time behind the high volume of targets going to Dotson, Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley the past two years. He’s solidly in the No. 1 spot now and should see more targets because of it. It doesn’t hurt that Allar’s arm talent is better than anyone else Lambert-Smith has played with.

“I’m not gonna lie, I definitely felt like the guy," Lambert-Smith said.

Penn State's KeAndre Lambert-Smith played to his nickname 'Big-play Dre' on Saturday, catching 4 passes for 123 yards and 2 TDs vs. West Virginia. He also made one of the game's biggest PBUs.

'Dre saved me,' QB Drew Allar said of this play.

📸Dan Rainville pic.twitter.com/mkoqyNOhHb

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) September 3, 2023

And he had a strong cast. Tre Wallace was the clear No. 2, running crisp routes and creating space on numerous occasions. He finished with seven catches for 72 yards on eight targets. Combined, Lambert-Smith and Wallace generated 195 passing yards and fielded 15 of the Lions' 30 passing targets.

"I do feel like I left a play out there, I thought I could’ve scored," Wallace said of a second-half red-zone drop. "But I just feel like the work me and the receivers put in as a whole during the offseason going against our defense set me up to come out and have a positive season."

Six different receivers caught passes, including both transfers. Florida State transfer Malik McClain caught four and scored a touchdown thanks to a nice run after the catch. Liam Clifford was announced as the official "third starter," though Penn State began with two tight ends, and caught two passes for 25 yards. Even Kent State transfer Dante Cephas, whose camp struggles were well documented, had a 22-yard reception before dropping a surefire touchdown the next play. In all, the receivers generated 307 of Penn State's 332 total passing yards, 135 of them after the catch.

"We have a ton of talent in that receiving room, and I think it showed tonight," Allar said. "Tre had a big night for us, Cephas had a couple nice catches tonight and so did McClain. McClain had a really solid camp, so it was great to see him get out there and find the end zone too and he did a great job tonight. Dre had an excellent game, obviously."

It was an encouraging performance all around for Penn State’s wide receivers after they spent the offseason as one of the roster's chief unknowns. "We got a group,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “We had two drops down there in the red zone that both would have went for touchdowns, so we gotta get those things cleaned up. But there’s a group of guys that we feel good about."

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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.