The Penn State Nittany Lions have an obvious solution to their unimaginative passing attack, and it was blatantly obvious against FIU
The Penn State Nittany Lions, who came into the 2025 college football season with some massive expectations, were able to defeat the FIU Golden Panthers 34 to 0 on Saturday. In a vacuum, you see that final score, and would expect a solid showing overall. That couldn’t be further from the truth, at least from […]
The Penn State Nittany Lions, who came into the 2025 college football season with some massive expectations, were able to defeat the FIU Golden Panthers 34 to 0 on Saturday. In a vacuum, you see that final score, and would expect a solid showing overall. That couldn’t be further from the truth, at least from a Nittany Lion passing game perspective, which was extremely underwhelming overall.
Senior quarterback Drew Allar was very inconsistent during the contest, finishing the day 19 of 33 passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns. The raw numbers are even worse, completing just 58 percent of his passes, averaging a measly 6.1 yards per pass attempt, and getting sacked twice while struggling against pressure. It was an overall poor performance.
Despite that unimaginative passing attack, a potential solution for the ineptitude did show itself for Penn State. The biggest play of the day in the passing game came from former Troy wide receiver Devonte Ross, who hauled in a 42-yard touchdown reception for the Nittany Lions. It was not a very impressive throw from Allar, and needed an outstanding adjustment by Ross to finish for the touchdown.
Ross was previously an absolute weapon for the Troy Trojans last season. He finished the 2024 season with 76 receptions for 1,043 yards and 11 touchdowns. The 5-10, 175-pound pass catchers also returned a punt for a touchdown against Iowa. Whenever he had the chance to get the football in his hands, Ross typically made big things happen.
Along with fellow transfers Kyron Hudson (USC) and Trebor Pena (Syracuse), this passing attack was expected to make a massive leap. Ross wasn’t utilized much during the team’s 46 to 11 opening season victory against Nevada, hauling in just one reception for four yards. We saw him targeted a lot more on Saturday, leading the team with 61 receiving yards on only three receptions. It was a positive sign, hopefully, for things to come.
When you compare Ross to Pena and Hudson, they are much different players. Pena is the quick separator who excels as a route runner, while Hudson is the physical pass catcher who can make plays through contact. That wide receiver room lacks a lot of speed overall, something that Ross brings to the table. With a dominant offensive line and premier running back room, the Nittany Lions are going to need to find ways to create explosives in the passing game.
Ross is the easiest answer in order to do so. Getting him the football more and more over the next couple of weeks is very important for the overall health of this passing attack.
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