PSU escapes USC behind Warren’s 17-catch day
-
Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
LOS ANGELES — Nearly seven years ago, James Franklin watched a USC kicker split the uprights in Pasadena as the clock hit zero and Penn State squandered a 17-point fourth-quarter lead to lose the Rose Bowl Game.
On Saturday, just a handful of miles west of the storied venue, Franklin found himself doing the same. This time, however, it was at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and it was his kicker, Ryan Barker, who converted a 36-yarder in overtime to beat USC 33-30 and keeping No. 4 Penn State’s undefeated season alive.
The kick capped the Nittany Lions’ comeback after they trailed 20-6 at halftime.
“We found a way to get a tough win on the road,” Franklin said. “I’m going to take it and run to the airport.”
Though Barker’s laces sent the Nittany Lions on the long trip back to Happy Valley with a smile on their faces, it was tight end Tyler Warren who carried the offense — and team — on his back Saturday.
“Game saver,” cornerback A.J. Harris said of Warren. “We really needed him today.”
To be able to save the game from an upset, Warren needed to break it. And he did, catching 17 passes for 224 yards, tying the FBS record for most catches by a tight end in a game and posting the second-most receiving yards in school history.
Coming into this game, Warren had never had double-digit receptions in a game.
“I’ve been talking about him being the best tight end in college football,” Franklin said. “But the reality is, he’s now part of a conversation on one of the best players in all of college football.”
Warren gave the Trojans’ revamped defense fits all game long. When they didn’t cover him, he made them pay. When they tried to cover him, he still found his way to the ball like a magnet. There was no stopping Warren on Saturday, but the Trojans couldn’t even begin to contain him. And that’s just what he did in his normal role — a position he had only started playing once he arrived at Penn State.
Elsewhere, Warren was a Swiss Army knife. In what was perhaps the play of the game, Warren lined up as the center. He snapped the ball to backup quarterback Beau Pribula, who lateraled it to starter Drew Allar, who then found Warren in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown.
“Actually, my first position I ever played in football was center my first year of flag,” Warren said postgame. “I’ve thrown the ball 17 times in high school, but I never [had 17 catches]. … So yeah, it was fun.”
Warren also ran the ball for 4 yards on one play and even had a pass himself — a 9-yard completion that resulted in a first down for the Nittany Lions.
While the Penn State offense got off to a slow start against the Trojans, scoring only six points via two field goals in the first half, there wasn’t too much that was conservative about offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s game plan Saturday. He tried trick plays at will, moved skill position players around like chess pieces and left the revamped USC defense under D’Anton Lynn looking, at times, confused. Warren was at the center of Kotelnicki’s madness and in the second half, the unit found their stride, gaining over 300 yards and scoring 24 points. Allar, who had thrown two second-half interceptions, totaled 391 yards and two touchdowns by the end of the game.
“Coach K, Coach Franklin, they never lost faith in me,” Allar said. “We always talk in the QB room, to keep shooting. Keep shooting no matter what. Some things aren’t going to go your way. But it’s about how you bounce back.”
“I feel like our offense has stepped up a lot since last year,” Warren said. “Playing to win was something we preached on all week, not playing conservative, being aggressive. We did a great job”
It helped, too, that as Franklin and Co. made their way west, plenty of Penn State fans who were either local or made the trip peppered the stadium in bright white Saturday.
“Once we started making some plays, you could feel our Penn State presence in the stadium,” Franklin said.
USC coach Lincoln Riley took responsibility for the Trojans blowing a 14-point halftime lead. With his Trojans falling to 3-3, Riley said they have had a chance to win all six games despite playing one of the hardest schedules in the country
“To put yourself in position to win these games is friggin’ hard to do to begin with,” he said. “I get it. We have to do a better job at the end of games, I have to do a better job. We’ve got to be able to finish, and it all falls on my shoulders. That’s why they call me the head coach.”
Before the game, Riley had asked Trojans fans to bring the energy. But by the time Barker, a former walk-on, had won the game with his left foot and the stands had mostly emptied out of cardinal and gold, a gleeful Franklin and his team celebrated as if they were right at home.
Looking at the points race one month into the season gave us a glimpse into the future — even if for one fleeting moment.
Upon gazing at the very mountaintop of goals and assists prior to Saturday night’s games, one wouldn’t see the familiar names of Connor McDavid (21 points, tied for third), Jack Eichel (also 21, after leading for much of the season), Nathan MacKinnon (20 points, tied for eighth) or even Leon Draisaitl (17 points).
It was Macklin Celebrini‘s 23 points in first, and Connor Bedard in second with 22. According to ESPN Research, Celebrini and Bedard are the only players both 20 or younger to rank top two in points (tied or outright) through that stage of season or later (230 GP) in NHL history.
I found it poetic that in a week where hockey fans celebrated what could be one of the last meetings between two of the greatest rivals in NHL history — Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin — we see perhaps the next big hockey rivalry emerging atop the leaderboard in the 20-year-old Bedard and the 19-year-old Celebrini. Like Crosby and Ovechkin, who were selected first overall a year apart (2005 and 2004), Bedard (2023) and Celebrini (2024) are also sequential first overall picks.
Bedard had Crosby-like hype entering the league. Unlike Crosby, Bedard won the Calder Trophy his rookie season. But entering the 2025-26 season, there was already some chatter about whether Celebrini is better than Bedard right now.
That chatter is thawing in favor of the excitement that is surely growing in seeing future NHL superstars cement their status right before our eyes. Even if the “rivalry” might not be as intense as the heyday of Ovi vs. Sid — until the two meet in the playoffs once or twice — Bedard vs. Celebrini can at the very least be a battle of skill and flash that both clearly possess.
Will they remain atop the points race for the entire season? Maybe not. McDavid (still the best player in the NHL), MacKinnon and the rest of the usual suspects will certainly have a lot to say about that. But, even if it’s for this one fleeting weekend, it’s fun to have a taste of the NHL’s long-term future.
Jump ahead:
Games of the week
What I loved this weekend
Hart Trophy candidates
Social post of the week
Stick taps
Biggest games of the week
I’m going to keep an eye on the New York Rangers this week. So far, they have this wild “Amazon on the road, Temu at home” record to start the season: 7-1-1 away from Madison Square Garden … and 0-6-1 at the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” with five of those losses being shutouts. That home shutout mark ties their single-season record … in the first seven games!
The Rangers host the Nashville Predators on Monday and Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, with two road games — Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets — sandwiched in between.
This week could either be more of the same or a change of pace for the Broadway Blueshirts. And it’s fascinating to watch unfold.
Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. ET | TNT
The Ducks are 10-3-1 and lead the Pacific Division. They are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games and have the No. 2 goal differential in the Western Conference at +14.
Their first meeting of the season with a stacked Avalanche team — first in the Central, with the West’s best goal differential at +21 — will be a solid test.
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+
I’m curious about this game, which is also a 2006 Stanley Cup Final rematch — with Rod Brind’Amour, the captain of the champion Hurricanes, now behind the bench.
Brind’Amour’s style of hockey typically results in few goals for the opposition; the Canes are allowing the eighth-fewest goals per game this season. How will that fare in this tough test against McDavid, Draisaitl & Co.?
Other key matchups this week
Thursday, 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Thursday, 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Thursday, 10 p.m. | ESPN+
Saturday, 5 p.m. | ESPN+
What I loved this weekend
As an avid puck collector, I want to throw some flowers to the Philadelphia Flyers and their assortment in the team store. While attending their Star Wars Day on Saturday, I ventured into the shop and saw a cornucopia of landmarks, legends and game pucks.
The mark of a good collectors’ puck is uniqueness and quality. The 3D printing on pretty much all of the pucks was a value add, and the different materials (metal vs. rhinestone, for example) offered great variety.
Gritty even had his own puck, complete with googly eyes and an orange beard. Creative.
If you’re a Flyers fan and you walk past this, you’re probably picking up a puck or two.
Hart Trophy candidates if the season ended today
It might be the only week I can do this …
Congratulations Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, you are Hart Trophy finalists if the award was handed out on Nov. 10, 2025!
If the Capitals were in a playoff position, I would easily give the third spot to Logan Thompson (.930 save percentage, only 16 goals allowed in 10 games despite a 6-4-0 record). William Nylander has 21 points — including a league-leading 18 at even strength — and is a plus-8. Alas, he also falls prey to the “your team is not in the postseason right now” fate.
You know which team is firmly in that playoff position as we head to the all-important American Thanksgiving cutoff? The Avs. And they just dismantled the Oilers over the weekend 9-1. Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists in that game alone and took over the league lead in points — which is very rude after I made the whole point about Celebrini and Bedard above. He gets the nod as my third pick.
Honorable mention: Leo Carlsson. Uncle Leo is on an absolute tear so far this season. He had 45 points last season and already has more than half of that (23) through 14 games; he’s riding a nine-game point streak, I believe we call that a heater! He’s going to be a finalist on this list a few times coming up, I’d bet.
Social media post of the weekend
NJ Devil is one of the best mascots in sports, full stop. Speaking with Devils fans, they would point to his tireless work in the community, creating core memories for kids at Devils home games and keeping the vibes high during those games as the main reasons for the honor.
But I will add the fact that his social media game is tight; he’s routinely collaborating with influencers such as Kickball Dad and Frank the Tank. On Saturday, NJ got help from current AEW wrestler Claudio Castagnoli to put a Penguins fan through a table:
Castagnoli, a native of Switzerland, caught up with his fellow countrymen Timo Meier, Jonas Siegenthaler and Devils captain Nico Hischier, who presented him with a Jersey jersey:
Stick taps
You might know the story of Logan Coyle, a 9-year-old boy who is battling cancer and put out a call earlier this year for mascots to send him videos of encouragement.
Hundreds of mascots from across all sports, including hockey, flooded Logan with videos, gifts and visits.
The New York Islanders were among the first to do so, with Sparky visiting Logan in his hospital room.
Logan battled through another setback this week but fought hard and is now back home. Mascots continue to send him all the good vibes, and in recent weeks, Logan has been strong enough to attend games and meet some of them in person! I know that one of his favorites, NJ Devil, is waiting to roll out the red carpet at The Rock when he’s ready.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024