Penn State football's heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Notre Dame highlighted a weakness that has plagued this program for much of this season. Head coach James Franklin's team won the battle in the trenches Thursday night, rushing for 204 yards and three scores. Looking at that stat and comparing it to Notre Dame's rushing total of 116 yards on 2.8 yards per carry and it would be fair to assume that the Nittany Lions left Hard Rock Stadium as Orange Bowl winners.
Unfortunately, Drew Allar and the Penn State passing game struggled for much of the night against an elite Fighting Irish secondary. Heading into this game, James Franklin's team had a clearcut weakness; a lackluster wide receiver core. This flaw was consequently exposed on Thursday with a jarring statistic. ESPN NFL Draft and College Football Analyst Jordan Reid confirmed that the wideouts for the Big Ten power finished with zero catches for negative three yards.
Penn State couldn't resolve its wideout woes this season

One of the reasons why this weakness was able to be masked for much of the year was due to one of Penn State football's greatest strengths. The Nittany Lions have the best tight end core in the country, led by First-team All-American Tyler Warren. The future NFL starter was his usual elite self against the Fighting Irish. Warren caught six passes for 75 yards while also rushing for 21 yards.
However, despite his top target being in form, Drew Allar was out of rhythm for much of the game. The junior completed 12 of 23 passes for 135 yards and one interception. That pick was especially back-breaking as it came with less than a minute remaining in the game and led to a Notre Dame game-winning field goal.
Unfortunately, the Nittany Lions are already experiencing the consequences of this brutal loss with fans calling for head coach James Franklin's job. Despite this anger from the fanbase, it's been a successful season for Penn State football. The Nittany Lions set a school-record with 13 wins in a regular season and made it to the College Football Playoff semifinals for the first time. James Franklin, despite his flaws, has this program trending in the right direction.
Overall, the key heading into 2025 for this program will be Drew Allar's development and ability to build a good rapport with his wideouts. After Warren, wideout Harrison Wallace III ranked second on the team in receiving yards, catching 46 passes for 723 yards and four touchdowns. Should he return to Happy Valley, Wallace III will be relied on to be that first option as the Nittany Lions look to take that good-to-great step next season.