Tyler Warren used to play quarterback at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Now, he’s a star tight end for Penn State football who seems to find new ways to outduel his opponents every week.

Saturday night was no exception for Warren. He went off for eight catches and 75 yards, his third-most of the season. However, his latest performance will be remembered for lining up under center and maneuvering past Washington’s defense to score two touchdowns in Penn State’s 35-6 White Out win.

On his first touchdown play in the second quarter, Warren dove over the Huskies and into the end zone. Although that isn’t a typical way to score, gut feelings and heat-of-the-moment decisions factor into those plays.

“It’s kind of just a reaction. And when you get down tight like that, there’s not always going to be gaps, they’re going to get movement,” Warren said. “It’s hard to stop the momentum when you’re going up in there at that close of an area, so sometimes that’s the path of least resistance.”

Six minutes later, the Nittany Lions were knocking on the door again. Warren lined up under center and scrambled into the end zone with minimal resistance.

Warren is 6’6″ and 261 pounds, which makes it difficult for other players to stop him. However, given Penn State’s blocking, nobody had a chance on that play.

“The running backs are supposed to be ones running in. And [Nick Singleton] had a great block on that second one that I scored on, something that kind of speaks to their mentality as running backs and kind of our offense as a whole. And guys just know what their job is on each play and then focus on that,” Warren said.

“The one that stuck out to me was Nick on the second one. The lead-up and the touchdown block was something that just stuck out to me and speaks to that room’s mentality,” he continued.

Warren’s two touchdown runs put him in good company. He joined Wisconsin’s Stu Voigt and Maryland’s Chigoziem Okonkwo as the only Big Ten tight ends to have three or more rushing touchdowns since 1956. Warren said he wasn’t a “records guy,” but James Franklin had plenty of praise.

“Tyler Warren continues to make plays in a ton of different ways, and I’m proud of him there,” he said. “I got a list here of about 35 records that Tyler Warren has broken. I’m not going to get into all of them, but he’s a really good football player…I can’t see how this guy doesn’t win the Mackey Award and the Paul Hornung Award. I don’t see how he doesn’t, and they’d be proud of that guy representing their award, because he does everything right, both on and off the field.”

Franklin has labeled Warren the best tight end in college football multiple times. Warren leads all power five tight ends with 681 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

“Obviously, he’s our best playmaker on offense and best tight end in the country,” quarterback Drew Allar said. “And we’re going to get him involved in the game, somehow, in some way, in some form or capacity.”

Warren and the Nittany Lions had their hands full heading into the game. Washington had just taken care of USC with a 26-21 win in regulation at home, a team that took Penn State to overtime. It boasted playmakers on defense who were capable of stifling opponents.

The Huskies were particularly efficient on defense. The defense was the No. 2-ranked passing defense and No. 10-ranked total defense heading into the game. Tight ends coach Ty Howle made sure Warren and the rest of the position room were prepared.

“He does a great job of just having stuff ready each day and getting it to us early before practice, and then meeting before practice, having it before that is really important but yeah, he does a great job. He loves football, and it’s hard not to want to play for him and play hard and play the right way,” Warren said.

Everyone was indeed prepared, and Warren’s two touchdowns helped the Nittany Lions get off to a 28-0 start. The fast start set the tone, and Penn State cruised to victory.

“We’re just focusing, focusing on all we had to do, and focusing on our game plan and trusting coach [Kotelnicki] and the guys around us. And I think when we play good football and trust each other, it’s going to be a good outcome,” Warren said.

Warren’s only shortcomings were a muffed pass that was ruled incomplete and a fumble in the third quarter. He owned up to the fumble, but like last week’s loss against Ohio State, he stressed the importance of moving forward and refusing to dwell on mistakes.

“I know what our mentality is as an offense,” he said. “And we knew that once we got past Sunday, it was onto Washington this week, and they were a great team. So we knew we had a lot to prepare for. So it’d be kind of shame on us if we let that kind of bleed into this week, which I think we did a good job of focusing on our opponent this weekend.”