LOS ANGELES – After Tyler Warren’s sensational performance Saturday, Penn State football coach James Franklin paid him the highest compliment yet.
“I’ve been talking about him being the best tight end in college football,” Franklin said, “but the reality is he’s now part of a conversation as one of the best players in all of college football.”
Warren set a school record with 17 catches that went for 224 yards and one touchdown in the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions’ pulsating 33-30 overtime victory over USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
He also completed his only pass for 9 yards, rushed once for 4 yards and made the key block on Kaytron Allen’s 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“There was a lot of different stuff, a lot of guys doing things on offense,” Warren said. “And this week (in practice), I was in a lot of different places. But I think it was really just trusting our game plan in general and Coach K (offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki) called a great game.”
Warren’s touchdown came on a first down from the USC 32 early in the third quarter. Penn State used backup quarterback Beau Pribula in the backfield with starter Drew Allar flanked to the left and an unbalanced line with Warren at center.
He snapped the ball to Pribula, who threw a lateral pass to Allar. Warren ran the route and hauled in the catch in the end zone to bring the Lions within 20-13.
“I’ve been practicing snapping a good amount,” he said. “It was a play we had in and we’ve run it a few times. I was looking between my legs. I wasn’t going to make it harder than it needed to be.
“I was just making sure I got it back to Beau and they did the rest.”
Warren leads Penn State in receiving with 40 catches for 513 yards and four touchdowns. He broke DaeSean Hamilton’s record for catches in a game, which he set with 14 against Ohio State in 2014. He also broke the record for most receptions in a game against USC, which was held since 2022 by former Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Pretty good numbers for a guy who was a high school quarterback.
“I’ve thrown the ball 17 times in high school but I just started catching balls when I got to college,” Warren said, “so it was fun.”
Fleming steps up: Former Southern Columbia High School star Julian Fleming enjoyed his best game since transferring from Ohio State in January.
Fleming caught two fourth-down passes on Penn State’s game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-7 from the Penn State 48, he made a 17-yard catch. On fourth-and-10 from the USC 39, he had a 16-yard grab.
“I was so happy with the way the offense responded,” Warren said. “Julian had two great catches to keep the drive alive, so I was really proud of him.”
They came after Fleming dropped a pass in the second quarter.
“I had the drop earlier in the game,” he said. “That kind of messed with my head for a second. I had a practice like that last week and I didn’t bounce back, so that was something that I was really trying to improve on.”
Fleming, who caught 60 passes the last two seasons at Ohio State, was proud that Penn State scored twice in the fourth quarter and once in overtime.
“We’ve been through this a lot,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of two-minute situations in our practices and it’s been a big part of our game. There was never any doubt in our minds.”
Singleton, Donkoh return: Penn State running back Nick Singleton and offensive tackle Anthony Donkoh returned to action Saturday against USC.
Singleton, Penn State’s leading rusher, carried 10 times for 26 yards and caught a 15-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter after missing last week’s game against UCLA with a leg injury.
Donkoh suffered an injury to his right arm or shoulder against UCLA, left the game and did not return. He started at right tackle, briefly left Saturday’s game and finished.
He helped Penn State gain 518 total yards.
Sahaydak absent: Penn State kicker Sander Sahaydak, who lost his job, did not make the trip to California.
Sahaydak, the former Liberty High School standout, had made 2-of-5 field goal attempts before he was replaced last week by Ryan Barker, who kicked the game-winning field goal against USC.
