Drew Allar tied a career high by throwing four touchdowns and No. 11 Penn State cruised to a 51-15 victory over slumping Maryland on Saturday in College Park, Md.
Penn State (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) rebounded from a pair of shaky performances in a loss at top-ranked Ohio State two weeks ago and a 33-24 win over Indiana last week when it blew a 10-point lead in the fourth.
Allar delivered a steady performance by completing 25 of 34 passes for 240 yards while leading six lengthy scoring drives. He threw two TDs to Dante Cephas and one apiece to Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren.
Allar helped the Nittany Lions control the ball for 37:14 as their offense totaled 404 yards and gained 25 first downs.
Kaytron Allen rushed for 91 yards, including a 10-yard TD with about nine minutes left that gave Penn State a 37-15 lead and sealed matters.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith finished with eight catches for 95 yards, including a 20-yard reception that set up Allen’s score.
Alex Felkins added three field goals and backup quarterback Beau Pribula scored Penn State’s final TD.
Taulia Tagovailoa completed his first 17 passes and was 29 of 39 for 286 yards and threw TDs to Roman Hemby and Jeshaun Jones but Maryland (5-4, 2-4) struggled with its offensive line.
Tagovailoa also got sacked six times after taking six sacks in last week’s loss to Northwestern. Maryland also struggled to get anything going on the ground, finishing with minus-49 yards on 16 attempts while its offense committed four turnovers.
After Maryland did not convert a fourth down near midfield, the Nittany Lions went ahead with 8:41 left in the first when Cephas stayed in bounds after officials initially ruled he was out on a 6-yard score. Aided by Lambert-Smith’s 38-yard reception, Penn State took a 14-0 lead on Johnson’s 2-yard score right before the end of the first.
Tagovailoa survived three sacks on Maryland’s first drive of the second and his 7-yard pass to Hemby made it 14-7 with 7:59 left. Penn State countered with its third lengthy scoring drive and took a 21-7 edge on Warren’s 8-yard TD with 2:34 to go. Penn State settled for a 30-yard field goal by Felkins for a 24-7 lead with 9:26 left in the third, Cephas caught a 15-yard TD early in the fourth to make it 31-7.
–Field Level Media
