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It turns out maybe all No. 8 Penn State needed to improve its much-maligned downfield passing game was to look inward.
An offseason of Keystone State consternation wondering how Penn State could truly contend in the College Football Playoff — and not just qualify for it — after adding only a quasi-productive receiver in the transfer portal was quickly quieted with a breakout first half by redshirt junior Harrison Wallace.
Wallace finished with five catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half before a two-plus hour weather delay as the Nittany Lions opened the season with a 34-12 win at West Virginia on Saturday in the debut of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.
How needed — and unexpected — was the passing game output, particularly from Wallace?
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound redshirt junior is the first Penn State receiver with five receptions for at least 100 yards and two touchdowns in a game since 2021.
The breakout game should not surprise Penn State coach James Franklin.
“He’s in a really good place,” Franklin told 247Sports in early August. “We’re expecting him to have a big year for us. We need for him to have a big year for us. He is super athletic; probably one of the most explosive guys we have in our program.”
Wallace, a former four-star prospect who prepped at Pike Road (Ala.) High, reached those numbers in the first half when he had five receptions for 117 yards and two scores.
When Jahan Dotson did it in 2021, he had 11 catches for 242 yards and three touchdowns at Maryland.
The headline-making change in Penn State’s receiver room during the offseason was the addition of Julian Fleming from Ohio State and the loss of leading receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith to Auburn. Fleming did not catch a…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/transfer-wide-receivers-penn-state-didnt-need-em-as-homegrown-harrison-wallace-breaks-out-vs-west-virginia/
Author : Brian Dohn
Publish date : 2024-08-31 23:43:31
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