Take a breath, folks.

Penn State football went back and forth with USC in a 33-30 come-from-behind victory that ended with a game-winning field goal off the foot of newly-appointed placekicker Ryan Barker.

During the heart-stopping action that included a slow start for Penn State, fans took to the internet to voice their concerns as Penn State crept back into the game for the win.

Tyler Warren For Heisman

CJ Doebler: By now, everybody knows about the absurd performance Tyler Warren had on Saturday with 17 catches and 224 receiving yards. We’ve seen Warren line up under center, at fullback, wide receiver, and now at center, too.

The way that Andy Kotelnicki uses his tight end is still evolving, as seen on Saturday when Warren snapped the ball before making a SportsCenter Top 10-worthy catch in the end zone for the Nittany Lions’ first touchdown of the day.

Warren has absolutely been Penn State’s best player thus far. The tight end leads the team in both receptions and receiving yards with 40 and 513, respectively. Trey Wallace is second on the team in receptions with 17, the same amount Warren caught against USC alone.

Mitch Corcoran: I don’t mean to rain on everybody’s parade, but it is very unlikely Warren will win the Heisman. However, he deserves to be in the conversation.

His stat line of 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown is insane, and I’m not sure any receiver, let alone tight end, can replicate it the rest of this season.

Warren is the best and most versatile player on this team, but a tight end — if you can even call him that at this point — winning the Heisman is simply unheard of in this day and age. The last time a tight end won the award was Leon Hart in 1949, and he was only the second ever to do it.

Nolan Wick: Warren won’t win the Heisman, which is understandable when there are players such as Ashton Jeanty who are carrying their teams’ offenses. It’s a shame Warren isn’t being talked about more because he’s doing the same thing, albeit to a lesser extent. He’s a dynamic, well-rounded player who again came up huge when needed on Saturday.

Joe Lister: Hell yeah. Tyler Warren is a ways off from winning the Heisman Trophy (my very official vote is for that freak of a running back in the Mountain West), but it’s awesome to just see a tight end mentioned. If we lived in a just and honest system, Warren would get looks over some of these quarterbacks who folks keep throwing around, but alas.

Tom Allen, Welcome To The Hot Seat

CJ: At halftime on Saturday, there were calls for both Tom Allen and James Franklin to be fired. Once the comeback was complete, Franklin no longer had the ire of the fanbase, but the defense was still getting called out.

Despite the early struggles that led to the 20-6 halftime deficit, the defense stepped up when it needed to. Drew Allar threw two interceptions that set up USC with great field position and a chance to extend the lead, and the defense held the Trojans to a field goal both times.

Slow starts are starting to become a pattern for the defense after the bad first half against Bowling Green and now USC. Regardless, this is still one of the top defenses in the nation and Allen isn’t close to the hot seat yet.

Mitch: I’ve talked about the slow starts offensively before, but the slow starts defensively are starting to be a problem. The tackling was bad in the first half against USC and the defense struggled to get to Miller Moss.

If you thought Penn State’s slow offensive starts were bad, USC’s were worse coming into the game and the defense allowed 248 yards and 20 points in the first half. Luckily, the second-half defense is still very good as it allowed just 161 yards and 10 points.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t think this happens under Manny Diaz.

Nolan: The defense is still one of the best in America, but the slow start almost doomed Penn State. That can’t happen again, but it’s going to be hard because teams now understand a big part of what would be required to beat Penn State. The elephant in the room is Ohio State, where there’s no margin for error, but the same can be applied to Wisconsin in two weeks. It’s something to work on over the bye week.

Joe: Allen’s defensive starts are going to kill Penn State one of these days. That doesn’t mean he’s on the hot seat. We haven’t heard Franklin get as upset with Allen’s defense as he did with Mike Yurcich’s offense last year, so I’m led to believe that while Franklin is upset, he’s far from a breaking point. In a worst-case scenario, Allen still finishes the season out.

Enough With The Trick Plays

CJ: We’ve talked about the polarizing Pribula Package a few times this year, but the offense threw a lot of different looks at the Trojans on Saturday. While Kotelnicki’s creative offense was a selling point for the coordinator when he was hired, it’s become a point of contention among fans during games.

As long as the offense is successful, I don’t think the odd formations and pre-snap motion are a bad thing. However, I also appreciate that this would be a completely different conversation if Allar had been blown up before finding Warren in the end zone on the trick play on Saturday.

Mitch: There is a fine line between being creative and being gimmicky, and this offense is leaning towards gimmicky. Still, when the game mattered most, the offense moved the ball well and didn’t have to resort to trick plays, which I admire.

But to me, running lots of trick plays is what bad teams do to try to get an edge over their more talented opponents. Penn State has been the more talented team in every game it has played this season and the trick plays are simply unnecessary.

I think running a trick play down 20-6 is fine because there needs to be a spark, but there is a certain point where it’s too much, i.e. the Pribula Package.

Nolan: I like the creativity. Not only is it fun to watch, it’s often efficient. Warren’s touchdown when he lined up at center is a big example of this. Another play that stood out to me wasn’t a Penn State play, but it’s an example of how effective creativity can be. During the 2018 season, I recall watching Kyler Murray at Oklahoma point in the opposite direction of where he threw the ball, which confused the defense and resulted in a big play. I love these kinds of plays, and I believe Andy Kotelnicki has more up his sleeve.

Joe: I’ve been saying for weeks that Kotelnicki is getting in his own way. I understand that Warren’s SportsCenter-level touchdown came off a trick play, but that doesn’t mean Beau Pribula needs to keep trotting out onto the field, especially with Drew Allar at the slot. The only time I’ve been happy to see that formation this year was in overtime of the USC game, simply because I wanted confirmation Penn State was going to keep it simple and run the ball.

Drew Allar Has The Clutch Gene

CJ: Drew Allar set his single-game passing yards record on Saturday with 391 on 30 completions. Allar also threw three interceptions, equaling the amount he’d thrown to that point in his Penn State career.

There was a world where the interceptions were the story of the game, but the missteps seemed a lot less consequential while he was leading the offense 75 yards down the field on a 12-play scoring drive that tied the game and included two incredible fourth-down conversions.

The game-tying drive was evidence that Allar can be the star player the team needs him to be. But, even after scrambling to stay upright in the pocket, he needs someone to catch the pass he’s throwing and the Nittany Lions showed that there’s support around Allar when there has to be.

Mitch: Saturday’s game was big for Allar. The junior quarterback hasn’t played in many clutch positions so far in his career but when he did, he did not play well. However, the USC game was different.

Allar looked more poised and in control while leading his team down the field on the game-tying drive. It was something Penn State fans have never seen before and his two throws to Julian Fleming were the definition of clutch.

I wouldn’t consider him a clutch player yet though. Let’s see how he can perform in big moments over the rest of the season.

Nolan: Allar’s not a proven clutch player yet, but he certainly could end up being one. If he’d marched down the field and thrown a touchdown pass to seal it in overtime, my answer would be different. USC was a major step forward, but he needs a talented supporting cast more so than other good quarterbacks. Allar has Tyler Warren and two elite running backs, but it would be nice to see him establish more of a connection with Trey Wallace or another wide receiver.

Joe: Sometimes. I’ve softened on Allar over this season, though I still rate him higher than others. We’ll see if he’s “clutch” in a few weeks when he’s put to the test against Wisconsin and Ohio State. Until then, the USC game could be considered a one-off.

Saturday Was A Turning Point For The Program

CJ: It was a win over an unranked team, but USC might be the best unranked team in the country. Franklin used the term “resilient” in his postgame presser, and being able to get punched in the mouth early and bounce back will pay dividends further down the line for the Nittany Lions.

It’s also important to note that the spread was 4.5 points before kickoff — it was never supposed to be a blowout. USC not having a number next to its name on the score bug doesn’t take away from the huge comeback and win that should give Penn State momentum through the tough part of the schedule.

This was game one of the four-game stretch that includes USC, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Washington, so it’s tough to say that Saturday was the galvanizing moment for the squad. However, winning the first game of the stretch puts the Nittany Lions in a very good position for the next three.

Mitch: Saturday’s game was a game Penn State lost in years past. Just look back to the Illinois game in 2021, the Indiana game in 2020, the Michigan State game in 2018, and the Pitt game in 2016. Penn State lost all those games to unranked opponents as the more talented team under James Franklin.

Being down 20-6 at halftime reeked of deja vu, but Penn State persevered and got the job done, which says a lot. Great teams always find a way to win.

Nolan: In some aspects, Saturday felt like an exorcism. It’s reminiscent of the 2017 Iowa game, a game that Penn State should’ve lost, but won in a gritty, clutch way. We’ve seen similar wins against Purdue in 2022 and Wisconsin in 2021, but this one felt different. This was the first game of Penn State’s toughest stretch of the season, one that includes a trip to Wisconsin after a bye week and a visit from Ohio State. If the Nittany Lions win both of those games, buckle up.

Joe: I’ve only been a Penn State follower since 2021, so take all of this with as many grains of salt as it deserves.

If Penn State can take this game and churn some momentum against Ohio State and into the College Football Playoff, then yes, it was a program-altering game. However, I compare this game to the Iowa game in 2017. That could’ve been the moment Penn State football became serious, but the Nittany Lions fell short against Ohio State and Michigan State and got stuck with another 10-2 season and another New Year’s Six berth.

If Penn State wants to change where the program is going, it needs to keep on winning before the USC game means anything.