While those who aren’t playing for any given team have begun to dominate bowl season, Penn State’s receiving corps was in an unorthodox situation — it was gaining a player.

During both of the media practice-viewing windows ahead of the Peach Bowl, wide receiver Trey Wallace was present. Wallace has spent two stints on the injury report this season, with the most recent coming after he was injured during the matchup with Indiana in late October. Wallace was expected to be a good complement to KeAndre Lambert-Smith and the receivers this season but was never healthy for a long enough period of time to contribute. His return, however, was supposed to be a bright spot for the passing game.

It wasn’t, and the wide receivers struggled more than they had in any other game this season. Wallace ended the game with four catches for 67 yards and a garbage-time touchdown.

Even when there were glimpses of success, it wasn’t because of the wide receivers. In fact, Liam Clifford was the first receiver to catch a pass from quarterback Drew Allar, but it came with just over 13 minutes left in the game.

“I think there were a couple passes in the beginning of the game that were going to receivers but Ole Miss got their hand on the ball and batted it down. So I think there would have been a lot more targets than people may realize in that aspect,” Allar said. “But at the end of the day, we’re gonna do whatever is best for the team and if that’s running the ball 50 times a game, we’ll do that.”

But Penn State’s run game wasn’t the issue. The Nittany Lions finished the game averaging exactly six yards per carry– Penn State needed its passing game to win. With the running backs not able to pick up the slack left behind by Allar and the receiver’s struggles, the tight ends were put in the spotlight.

Theo Johnson played in the first half of the Peach Bowl and recorded two catches for 16 yards. Tyler Warren, who’s expected to be next year’s workhorse at the tight end spot, made five grabs for 127 yards and was the team’s top receiver. However, 75 of his yards came on a broken down play where the tight end grabbed a tipped ball with one hand, reversed field, and got to the five-yard line before being taken down. It was the lone bright spot of the game and the longest passing play of the year.

The previous long pass of the year happened on the third play of the season on a 72-yard pass to Lambert-Smith against West Virginia. It was a positive preview of the passing game, but over the last three games of the season, Lambert-Smith has just two catches.

“I think it’s just because defenses started paying more attention to him and taking him away,” Allar said. “He was performing at like a really high level in the beginning of the season so teams saw that and tried to take him away whatever way they could.”

Lambert-Smith dropped his only target of the game and refused to answer questions in the locker room postgame.

The wide receivers have been taking the majority of the blame for the passing game’s recent struggles, but Allar hasn’t been capitalizing on every opportunity. When the receivers struggle to create separation in the first place, Allar needs to connect when they do.

James Franklin has been reluctant to blame Allar for the offense’s struggles, he even went so far as to fire his offensive coordinator to try and unlock his young quarterback’s full potential. After the Peach Bowl, Franklin finally admitted there needs to be some improvement. He’s got until August 31 to do so.

“We’ve got to make plays for him when we have the opportunity to make plays for him,” Franklin said. “It’s a little bit of Drew. I think it’s a little bit of the offensive line. I think it’s a little bit of the coaches. I think it’s a little bit of the wide receivers. It’s a piece of all of it.”