The Penn State Nittany Lions’ receiving core was not known as a strength heading into the Orange Bowl. All season, tight end Tyler Warren has carried much of the receiving load. But the performance from the Penn State WRs was shockingly bad in the loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as pointed out by one prominent analyst.
Penn State WRs Will Be Remembered for the Wrong Reasons After Orange Bowl Defeat
Penn State Nittany was defeated Thursday night by Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The loss came on a game-winning field goal following a Drew Allar interception with 33 seconds remaining.
On the play, he targeted Penn State wide receiver Omari Evans. Evans did not record a single catch in the game — and neither did any other wide receiver, a truly astounding stat that was immediately pointed out by Stewart Mandel of the Athletic.
Crazy but true: Penn State did not have a single catch from a wide receiver in tonight’s game.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 10, 2025
On the night, Allar completed only 12 of 23 passes for 135 yards with zero touchdowns and that back-breaking interception. His number one target, as has been all season, was do-it-all tight end Tyler Warren. He posted a solid six catches for 75 yards.
The next leading receiver was running back Nicholas Singleton, who totaled 33 yards on two grabs but also dropped several pivotal opportunities. Backup tight end Khalil Dinkins contributed two catches for 21 yards, while tight end Luke Reynolds and running back Kaytron Allen each posted one catch for under 10 yards.
That was it for the passing game. Not a single catch by a wide receiver. Head coach James Franklin had praised their impact in the ground game earlier in the week, crediting their dirty work for the program’s success, but in the biggest moment, they came up empty-handed.
It’s not as if there’s zero talent at the receiver position for the Nittany Lions. Junior Harrison Wallace III caught 46 passes for 721 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Evans had 21 catches for 415 yards and five touchdowns — his ability to stretch the defense was a key element of their offense.
Those were the second and third-ranked pass-catchers in terms of yards for Penn State. Warren topped the team in all three statistics, nearly doubling the next closest contender in every category.
Penn State knew their strengths coming in. Against Notre Dame, they ran a significant amount of 21 personnel (two tight ends, one running back, and two receivers on the field) that led to more opportunities for the tight ends and running backs to catch the ball.
Allar looked uncomfortable throwing over the middle of the field as well — highlighted by his eventual game-ending interception on Penn State’s final meaningful drive. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki seemed to try to take the game out of his quarterback’s hands and instead place it into the grasp of running backs Allen and Singleton.
The running back duo combined for 166 yards on 34 carries while Singleton scored three touchdowns. The ground-and-pound attack certainly took opportunities away from the wide receivers as well.
Coming into the game, the Fighting Irish passing attack was seen as more of a weakness. Instead, they were one of the reasons the game changed. The Notre Dame wide receivers caught 10 passes, headlined by sophomore Jaden Greathouse.
He’d never had a 100-yard game in his college career until Thursday night, when his seven catches for 105 yards and a game-tying touchdown turned the tide for the Irish, leading them to a victory.
The script was flipped. Zero catches for a receiving core should never happen, much less in a game featuring two of the four best teams (supposedly) in the country.
But Penn State did just that — and they came away with a loss to show for it.
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