{"id":67642,"date":"2024-11-05T16:30:35","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T21:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=67642"},"modified":"2024-11-05T09:49:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T14:49:39","slug":"penn-state-vs-washington-preview-right-the-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/11\/05\/penn-state-vs-washington-preview-right-the-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State vs. Washington Preview: Right the Ship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previewing Penn State vs. Washington this weekend, the sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will look to right the ship when they host the Huskies in the White Out Game.\u00a0 This is Penn State\u2019s sixth Big Ten contest of the season, and they are 4-1 in the conference so far.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions suffered their first defeat last week. With a\u00a020-13 loss to Ohio State<\/a>. \u00a0Penn State should not need any extra motivation to win conference games at this point in the season.\u00a0 However, it is the White Out Game.\u00a0 Additionally, James Franklin, Drew Allar<\/a>, and company will be looking to prove losses last week are an exception (though they seem to happen every year).\u00a0 Following Washington, Penn State faces Purdue on the road before traveling to Minnesota.<\/p>\n

The Huskies enter the game with a record of 5-4 and are 3-3 in their Big Ten games.\u00a0 Washington has had a bit of an up-and-down season thus far.\u00a0 They have won Big Ten games against teams like Michigan and USC.\u00a0 On the other hand, they have lost to Rutgers.\u00a0 Following the Penn State game, Washington will host UCLA before traveling to play #1 Oregon to finish the season. \u00a0The Huskies are fighting to confirm bowl eligibility.<\/p>\n

Washington (5-4) at #6 Penn State (7-1) Preview: Right the Ship<\/h2>\n

When & Where: <\/strong>Saturday, November 9, 8:00 pm ET, at Penn State (Beaver Stadium)<\/p>\n

Last Game\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State lost to Ohio State by a score of 20-13.\u00a0 Washington beat USC at home by a score of 26-21.<\/p>\n

Last Season\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State finished ranked #13 after a 10-3 season that ended with a Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.\u00a0 Washington finished #2, with a record of 14-1 overall.\u00a0 Their season ended with a 34-13 loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff final.<\/p>\n

Series History: <\/strong>This is the fourth time the teams will meet.\u00a0 Penn State won all three prior contests.\u00a0 The teams last met in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl, where Penn State won 35-28.\u00a0 The last, and only, regular season matchup was in 1921.<\/p>\n

Penn State vs. Washington Preview: Key Nittany Lions to Watch<\/h2>\n

Quarterback Drew Allar<\/h3>\n

After a tough game against Ohio State last time out, quarterback Drew Allar will look to right the ship against Washington.\u00a0 However, he will be facing a very tough Washington passing defense.<\/p>\n

Allar\u2019s talents are undeniable.\u00a0 In the offseason, he worked on developing two areas in particular.\u00a0 First was his ability to run with the football.\u00a0 Allar has shown good development in this area.\u00a0 He is third on the team with 44 carries for 160 yards.\u00a0 Allar\u2019s three rushing touchdowns are tied for second on the team with Nick Singleton<\/a> (one behind Kaytron Allen\u2019s<\/a> team-leading four rushing scores).\u00a0 Second, Allar wanted to become more of a leader.\u00a0 With Andy Kotelnicki coming in as the new offensive coordinator, Allar started the 2024 season with a clean slate.\u00a0 He stepped up and was named a team captain.\u00a0 His leadership skills will now be put to an even greater test after the team\u2019s first loss.<\/p>\n

The biggest criticism of Allar is his ability to win the big games.\u00a0 His stats were adequately padded against lesser competition in 2023.\u00a0 However, in the heavyweight games against Michigan, Ohio State, and Ole Miss, he did not perform as well.\u00a0 Last week\u2019s loss to Ohio State did not quiet those concerns.\u00a0 Allar completed 12 of 20 passes for 146 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception.\u00a0 His ability to bounce back and right the ship makes Allar a Nittany Lion to watch.<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s pass defense is second in the country entering this game.\u00a0 They have allowed 142 passing yards per game, only behind Texas\u2019s 135.8 yards per game.\u00a0 Franklin alluded to this in his Monday press conference.\u00a0 He said of Washington, \u201cStatistically their numbers are really good.\u00a0 Specifically, when you talk pass defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defensive Backs Jaylen Reed and Zion Tracy<\/h3>\n

While there have been question marks throughout the team, the defensive backs have stepped up.\u00a0 Entering this season, they were a strong point<\/a> for new defensive coordinator Tom Allen and his scheme.\u00a0 The long-term injury<\/a> to leader KJ Winston<\/a> proved a significant hurdle to their development, but they have continued to perform well.<\/p>\n

Penn State has returned an interception for a touchdown in two straight games.\u00a0 Jaylen Reed<\/a> had a 19-yard touchdown return in the win over Wisconsin.\u00a0 Zion Tracy<\/a> followed this with the only touchdown the team scored against Ohio State.\u00a0 This is the first time that Penn State has scored pick-sixes in two straight games for the first time since 2003.<\/p>\n

Reed leads the team with 50 tackles this season.\u00a0 Additionally, he has two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), one and a half sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.\u00a0 Losing Winston put more pressure on Reed, but he has responded very well.<\/p>\n

Tracy is an interesting player.\u00a0 The sophomore cornerback scored the touchdown against Ohio State last week.\u00a0 However, he has contributed in a multitude of ways, including both defense and special teams.\u00a0 He has returned eight punts on the season so far.\u00a0 Franklin called out Tracy\u2019s development in his Monday presser, saying, \u201cI did think that Zion Tracy is really coming on, not only as a defensive player but also as a special teams player.\u00a0 Looked a lot more confident catching and returning punts.\u00a0 He continues to trend in a really positive direction for our team.\u201d\u00a0 The playmaking ability, and versatility, that both Reed and Tracy provide make them Nittany Lions to watch as Penn State looks to right the ship.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo Credit: Dan Rainville \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Previewing Penn State vs. Washington this weekend, the sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will look to right the ship when they host the Huskies in the White Out Game.\u00a0 This is Penn State\u2019s sixth Big Ten contest of the season, and they are 4-1 in the conference so far.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions suffered their first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":67651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[32817,7983,79,837,3440,309,7524,1073,33090],"class_list":["post-67642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-big-ten-football","tag-college-football","tag-james-franklin","tag-penn-state-defense","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-penn-state-quarterbacks","tag-tom-allen","tag-washington-huskies-football"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}