Penn State football’s KJ Hamler is a bona fide star at this level, and he proved that yet again in Saturday’s White Out game.

Hamler hauled in a Penn State-leading six passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns in his team’s 28-21 victory over Michigan. Although the Nittany Lions’ offense sputtered for most of the second half, Hamler was a driving force in why it was firing on all cylinders.

The redshirt sophomore scored a 25-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter to extend Penn State’s lead to 21-0. He also scored an absolutely crucial 53-yard reception in the fourth quarter to extend his team’s advantage to 28-14 early in the final frame.

Hamler’s second score of the game eventually stood out as the game-winner, but he took on a bit of a different role late in the fourth to help Penn State secure the victory. Noah Cain picked up seven yards on the first two downs of the Nittany Lions’ final drive of the evening, but instead of going back to the freshman, Penn State put the ball in Hamler’s hands. The 5’9″, 176-pound star delivered by powering the ball forward for four yards after taking a handoff on 3rd and 3.

“We just thought that instead of just handing the ball off with [Michigan] overloading the box, we needed to go to one of our read plays,” head coach James Franklin said postgame. “Sean [Clifford] had the opportunity to keep it or KJ [Hamler] could’ve got it on the perimeter.”

Penn State has mostly utilized Hamler as a slot receiver and kick/punt returner throughout the 2019 season. That’s only natural because of his electrifying speed and incredible ability to make defenders miss in space, which are particular skills that don’t necessarily help that much in the power running game.

Although Hamler’s size and skill set might not necessarily apply all that much to the power game, he wasn’t fazed after the play-call was made.

“We worked on a lot of new things in practice. It was a gutsy call, but I wasn’t nervous with the ball in my hands,” Hamler said after Penn State’s 28-21 win over the Wolverines. “I know I can do a lot of things with the ball in my hands. It was a normal thing. I was saying in my head that I had to get those three yards no matter what.”

Hamler posted more than 100 receiving yards in a game for the third time this season on Saturday. He’s only been held below 60 receiving yards in a game once so far in the 2019 season, and he’s less than 200 yards away from matching his 2018 total of 754 receiving yards with five games remaining on Penn State’s schedule.

The wideout, who leads the Nittany Lions with 32 receptions for 563 yards and seven touchdowns, has quickly become Sean Clifford’s favorite target this season. Hamler leads the Nittany Lions in all three of those categories by a longshot, and it’s easy to see why.

“[KJ] is the most electrifying player in college football,” Clifford said. “He showed it tonight on a national stage.”