It certainly wasn’t perfect, but Penn State’s victory over USC last week showed both toughness and resiliency.

As Nittany Lions’ faithful are well aware, things aren’t always going to go your way. And there were many times during Penn State’s game last week against the Trojans where it could’ve folded, or it could’ve let USC pull away.

Thousands of miles from home and in the Coliseum, coming from 14 points behind to win the game in overtime in my opinion is something that will only make the Nittany Lions stronger as the season moves forward.

A huge reason for Penn State’s big win on the west coast was because of the play of both tight end Tyler Warren and quarterback Drew Allar.

Warren hauled in 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown. His 17 receptions are a Penn State record and tied the FBS tight end record. Warren also set a Big Ten tight end record with 224 receiving yards, and it’s the second-most receiving yards in a game by a Penn State player, trailing only Jahan Dotson’s 242 yards at Maryland in 2021.

Warren has now separated himself as the no questions asked best tight end in the country, and he’s starting to creep into the conversation as one of the best players in all of college football. His versatility and his ability to rack up yards after the catch make him one of the most dangerous weapons in all of college football for sure.

Nittany Lions’ signal caller Drew Allar is starting to play confident football. On a day where the Penn State rushing attack could not get much going on the ground, Allar stepped up throwing for 391 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. One of those interceptions came off a “hail mary” attempt at the end of the game.

Allar obviously will want some of those throws back, but he was able to find Warren open all game long and also made plays with his legs, moving around in the pocket and making throws on the move with the game on the line. Allar came through with two huge fourth down conversions on fourth-and-long plays to Julian Fleming to keep the game-tying drive (30-30) alive with under five minutes to go in the game, which ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass on a quick toss to the flat to Nick Singleton.

Simply put, Allar played winning football down the stretch and marched the offense down the field, making sharp throws while at times under pressure. That is an asset that most teams don’t possess. And I think Allar is only going to continue to get more confident as the season goes on. You can see he trusts a multitude of guys — both at running back, wide receiver and tight end — to make plays for him when the game is on the line.

On the defensive side of the ball, there’s no doubt it wasn’t the Nittany Lions best performance. I thought Penn State’s front seven was going to be able to generate more than one sack, and I really didn’t like how they gave up a few explosive plays to the USC offense.

You have to give the Trojans credit, because they have some legitimate playmakers on offense with a ton of speed. And USC running back Woody Marks is as solid as a running back as they come. He rushed 20 times for 111 yards, which is rare company to be in of late, tallying 100 yards rushing against the Penn State defense.

It wasn’t all bad for the defense, however, as they played stifling defense when forced into sudden change. Off of Allar’s two interceptions during the game, USC was only able to generate six points. Holding the Trojans to two field goals off those turnovers was maybe the biggest reason why the Nittany Lions were able to come away with the victory.

Overall, the Penn State defense has shown the ability to play at an elite level this season. Again, just like Allar and the offense, I think you’re going to see the defense continue to get better. They’re some players settling into new roles after some injuries to key players and the bye week certainly came at the right time as those players can continue to work and develop. The bye week will also obviously give some of the players that are banged up time to heal before a big-time road test at Wisconsin next Saturday night.

This is where the Penn State football team needed to be heading into its second bye week. Undefeated and ranked in the top five. There is plenty of work left to be done, but the Nittany Lions — for the time being — have put themselves in a good position.