Penn State Finally Hits the Big Play at the Biggest Moment

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | Penn State's KeAndre Lambert-Smith lined in the slot with 1:46 left in the fourth quarter of a tie game against Indiana, which pushed Penn State much harder than anyone expected. He recognized man coverage from the Indiana defensive back, with no safety help over the top, and thought, “I’m ready to cook.” And he did.

Quarterback Drew Allar uncorked the long ball, finding Lambert-Smith for a clutch 57-yard touchdown that proved to be the difference in the Lions' 33-24 victory. After the game, Lambert-Smith said that he actually lost the ball in the lights for a split second before regaining it, making the catch and tiptoeing 10 yards down the sideline to complete the score. He added a somersault over the goal line for some flair, a changeup from the fake hamstring injury celebration he went with at the Rose Bowl.

The fourth-year wide receiver transported back to the Holuba Hall practice field as he lined up to run his slot fade.

“It was like routes on air," Lambert-Smith said. "It was literally like the big box where we work routes on air. Like, coach [Marques] Hagans is usually five yards apart, but this time it was a dude from Indiana. Just attacked him with speed and made the play.”

Earlier in the game, Lambert-Smith had dropped a pass near the goal line that could have set Penn State up to score. Head coach James Franklin and his staff also dialed up the same play he scored on earlier, but Indiana covered it and forced a checkdown from Allar. Those plays didn’t linger in Lambert-Smith’s mind because of an anecdote from Hagans.

“I never forget it. He said, 'When you get in a car, you don't think about crashing.' So when you're receiving, I don't think about dropping the ball,” said Lambert-Smith, who has talked at length about developing mentally as a key part of his improvement. “They happen, and I gotta live with them. I don't like them, but drops happen. But I don't ever think I'm dropping it.”

Resiliency was a key theme of Penn State’s win. Allar, who set an FBS record for consecutive pass attempts (311) without an interception to start a career, threw his first interception Saturday at the most stressful moment. Facing pressure on third and long inside his own 15-yard line — and in a three-point game in the fourth quarter — Allar floated a ball over the middle of the field with no receivers particularly close.

“In that situation, I can't put the ball in jeopardy — being up three, backed up in our own territory,” Allar said. “I can't do that. I should have probably just ate the sack and given the punt team a chance to flip the field.”

Indiana kicked a field goal to tie the game, but Allar’s response mattered most. He turned the page and converted the highlight to Lambert-Smith, doing what he hadn’t done yet: winning a game with his passing. Allar finished the day 20-for-31 for 210 yards and three touchdowns.

“I told him, ‘You’re the best in the country and don’t forget it. That doesn’t define you,’” tight end Theo Johnson said of his message to Allar after the pick. “I thought it was really cool to see him bounce back after that and show up when we needed him.”

Johnson caught one of Allar’s touchdowns, a pretty play in which he ran a seam one-on-one with a safety. Allar lofted a pass, and Johnson ripped it down over the Indiana defender’s back for his third score of the season. Johnson said the play was called differently in the huddle, and Allar audibled to the seam at the line of scrimmage because Indiana showed a Cover 0 look. All in all, it was another explosive play from an offense dying for them through the first seven weeks. Allar completed passes of 15-plus yards to four different receivers Saturday.

“Based on the coverage we're getting, that's something that we've been able to dial up. Every Sunday we work zero checks,” Johnson said. “That's exactly how we teach it. Throw it up, and it's either a [pass interference] or a big play. And it was a big play.”

Allar dismissed the idea that throwing his first interception might in some ways be a relief. On the contrary, he said, "that talk is kinda weird."

“That’s not what you have to do at quarterback," he said. "You have to take what’s there and sometimes you do have to be aggressive, sometimes it comes back to bite you like it did for me today, but I don’t think it relieved any pressure or anything like that.”

Penn State’s offense scuffled through the first two quarters. Then, Jaylen Reed’s first career interception turned into a 10-point swing in the “middle eight” minutes between the end of the first half and start of the second. Allar and Co. got contributions from multiple people, weathered the Hoosier storm and walked away with a major offensive confidence boost that it didn’t get against Ohio State.

Afterward, Franklin called his team resilient and Allar's pass "awesome." He used the word five times, in fact.

“Really proud of our guys. Battled, were resilient. Found a way to get a win. Found ways to make plays at critical moments,” Franklin said. “I’m just proud of the guys. So, obviously we’ve got some things that we got to get cleaned up and corrected. But moving forward, we’ve got to get back to stacking days, stacking wins and learn from the last few weeks’ experiences.”

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AllPennState 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 Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.