Everyone says records are made to be broken, and one was when Drew Allar found Tyler Warren from Washington’s 3-yard line for a 2-yard gain late in the fourth quarter, giving Warren the Penn State single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end.
The previous record was held by Mike Gesicki, who recorded 679 receiving yards in 2016. Warren left the Nittany Lions’ 35-6 win over the Huskies with 681.
“To be in that conversation with as many great tight ends who have played here and that I’ve played with is special to me,” Warren said. “That’s kind of what makes it special to me is knowing the guys that have been here and how talented Penn State tight ends are, so that’s kind of why (the record) means so much to me.”
Warren didn’t only break Gesicki’s single-season receiving yards record, he also broke Gesicki’s record for most single-season receptions by a tight end in Penn State history with 58.
Those aren’t the only records Warren has broken this season — James Franklin said there’s “about 33 more.” As a result of his record-breaking season, Warren was named a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end, and a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award, given to the most versatile player in college football.
“I don’t see how this guy doesn’t win the Mackey Award and the Paul Hornung award,” Franklin said. “They would be proud of that guy representing their award. He does everything right on and off the field, he’s done it that way since he stepped on campus, so just a great example of what a Penn State football player is.”
After losing to Ohio State last week, one of the biggest complaints Penn State fans had was the lack of involvement from Warren. The Nittany Lions had the ball inside the 5-yard line and didn’t attempt to get the ball into the tight end’s hands once, something Franklin said Penn State should’ve done.
To remedy that, Penn State gave Warren the ball at the goal line twice. The first time, Warren jumped over the entire Washington defensive line to put the ball across, which he joked was a bit scary, but the end result was all that mattered.
“I was up there for a little while. There’s a point where I was getting a little worried,” Warren said. “I did have to stretch out a little bit, but getting six points in that situation is what we want to do, so I was happy with it.”
Warren tallied his second rushing touchdown of the game on Penn State’s next drive, and finished the contest with three rushes for seven yards on top of eight catches for 75 yards.
“Obviously you can see how many ways we got him involved today, run-game wise, pass-game wise and even some of our option stuff,” Allar said. “We just try to get him involved in the game plan as much as we can, because we know what type of player he is and how much he helps our offense just generate explosive plays in general.”
Warren has cemented himself as a Penn State great, but the work doesn’t stop for the senior, who was disappointed with his fumble in the third quarter and a few other plays.
“(I think the offense) did a great job,” Warren said. “In the second half, that’s on me stopping that first drive with that fumble, so that’s something I got to work on.”
Regardless, Warren showed Saturday what’s been clear all season — the sky’s the limit for the senior tight end, who the Nittany Lions are always trying to involve.
“He’s our best playmaker on offense and the best tight end in the country,” Allar said. “We’re going to get him involved in the game somehow, in some way, in some form or capacity … Just getting him easy completions. He’s hard to bring down. There weren’t many cases where one guy brought him down today.”
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