The coming weekend marks another round of college football games. As the regular season enters its latter stages, teams are looking to make the most out of their remaining outings for either a CFP bye — if they still have a chance at contention — or at least a strong finish to end the year. One team that's scheduled to play on Saturday is Penn State Football. The Nittany Lions are currently 7-1 (4-1 in-conference), with their only loss occurring against Ohio State this past weekend. Having a chance at a nearly unblemished record is no doubt the plan moving forward. And on Saturday, an obstacle comes in the form of Washington football.
So far, the Huskies haven't had the most ideal season. They've lost three out of their last five games. In all, they are 5-4 (3-3 in-conference), with most of their losses occurring on the road. Washington's struggles can be attributed to several factors, but it's all resulted in many analysts counting them out for the upcoming clash. Penn State is the heavily-predicted winner, but this article won't delve too much into that storyline. Instead, it'll focus more on how one particular Nittany Lion could perform this Saturday. He's one of the main stars of the team and is arguably the tone-setter of the Penn State offense: Drew Allar
Drew Allar throws for just 150 yards at most, but he makes up for it with a rushing TD and a season-high 50 yards on the ground
Allar didn't have the best game against Ohio State. Due to a suffocating Buckeyes defense, he was sacked twice and threw for 146 yards and an interception. Things won't be any easier this time around. Despite Washington's record, they're still one of the Big Ten's more formidable defensive teams. The Huskies particularly excel in pass coverage, leading the conference by allowing just 142 opponent passing yards per game. Their secondary — led by safety Kamren Fabiculanan and CB Thaddeus Dixon — has been stellar and is deemed one of the country's best.
It's not easy to see Allar having a field day against this team. His best pass catcher is tight end Tyler Warren, who leads the Nittany Lions with 606 yards and four receiving touchdowns. However, Washington will likely assign Fabiculanan to cover Warren, which means that Warren will have his work cut out. Fabiculanan is capable of covering top-tier NCAA tight ends. Besides his current count of 35 tackles, the safety already has two interceptions this season, one of which transpired off an attempted pass from Michigan QB Jack Tuttle to Colston Loveland — the nation's number-one ranked collegiate tight end.
On the bright side, Drew Allar and his offensive corps have the advantage on the ground. For all the excellent pass defense that the Huskies boast, the same can't be said about their run coverage. Washington gives up 150.8 opponent rushing yards per game — fifth-worst among all Big Ten teams. Thus, Penn State can rally behind their run attack, one that ranks third-best in the conference due to an average of 187.5 yards each outing (stats via ESPN). Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton will lead the way, while Allar will have his fair share of carries as well. Expect the quarterback to find the endzone in this manner and put up a season-high of around 50 rushing yards.
Moreover, another reason why Penn State football can fully stick to the run game is the recently-quiet Washington offense. The Huskies have yet to score at least 30 points ever since their second game back in September. Their three in-conference losses were also their lowest-scoring games of the season. With this in mind, even if — for example — Washington scores first on Saturday, it's unlikely that Penn State will find themselves in a situation where they're down big. To word it another way, the Nittany Lions won't have to rush things and have leeway to be patient on the ground.
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