Drew Allar emerges as gunslinger, leader Penn State has needed all along in come-from-behind win over USC

The worst thing you could say about Drew Allar on Saturday is that he threw three interceptions. Remember? Don't beat yourself up over it if you don't. By now, no one in central Pennsylvania remembers either.

Saturday proved why No. 4 Penn State went all out in getting the five-star quarterback prospect to become its next generation star more than two years ago. Saturday proved why Allar didn't go to Ohio State -- 90 minutes from his Medina, Ohio , home -- but chose a hated conference rival instead.

Saturday was Allar's career day. On a field stocked with career days against USC , Allar's might have shown brightest. Well, at least once you get past tight end Ty Warren's 17 catches for 224 yards.

But at the end of a wild shootout that kept Penn State among the nation's elite, Allar became the leader, the talent and the difference in a 33-30 overtime win over the Trojans .

Much will be written about Warren, a Travis Kelce-like figure all afternoon. Warren played quarterback, receiver and, on one play, both snapped the ball and caught Allar's touchdown pass that cut USC's lead to 20-13.

Call Warren the best at that position midway through the season -- but, hey, somebody had to throw those balls to the tight end who tied an FBS record for tight ends with those 17 catches.

Somebody had to rally up the Nittany Lions after they had fallen behind 20-6 at halftime. Somebody had to throw the game-tying touchdown with 2:53 left in regulation. Somebody had to convert two fourth downs with his arm during that drive, both to Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming .

That last drive was ice-in-veins type stuff. With defenders draped all over him, Allar hit Fleming. With no one open downfield, Allar surveyed the field from USC's 14 then wisely flipped it off laterally to the right for running back Nick Singleton, who zipped untouched to the end zone.

Those interceptions? Penn State's quarterback equaled the total in his 28-game career against USC. But it was that type of game.

Penn State had lost its last three road games as a top-five team, all by five points or fewer. The 14-point deficit faced by the Nittany Lions was its largest of the season. For a moment, it seemed as if no one was going to get out of the Coliseum alive -- at least in a football sense. You had to shake off the mistakes or cry trying.

Such was the battle at a sun-splashed Los Angeles Coliseum. This is why Allar went to Penn State, to win games like this, to be the center of the effort. He got half his wish at USC.

There was just too much excellence in Penn State's win to heap all the praise on one guy. The nation's No. 4 defense picked off Miller Moss and held the Trojans' offense to 2 of 11 on third down.

But when the sun set on the Coliseum, Allar had taken over the team in a cerebral sense. You see, Penn State doesn't win unless Allar sets career marks for completions (30), attempts (43) and yards (391).

It doesn't win unless James Franklin and the coaching staff put their full faith in Allar to win this game with arm. It doesn't win unless offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki goes all Andy Kotelnicki in calling an option pass from Allar to Warren in the third quarter. Warren lined up as the center on the left side of the line on the play, uncovered, making him eligible. The snap went to backup quarterback Beau Pribula in the shotgun, and Pribula threw a lateral to the left side where Allar was lined up as a receiver.

Penn State doesn't win unless its erupts for 13 explosive plays (gains of at least 15 yards). All 13 came from Allar's arm. The last of those went to Fleming for 16 yards to the USC 23 on the drive that tied the game for the final time.

Franklin called Warren the best tight end in the country. Maybe. Why stop there? The entire Penn State squad is one of the best in the country.

In winning, Penn State passed the West Coast test. The 2,300-mile trip began after the team was forced to drive two hours to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, because the State College airport didn't have a long enough runway.

Big Ten teams traveling West had been 1-8 to this point, but Air Allar solves all the airline problems.

"F---in' awesome," Franklin said on national TV while hugging freshman kicker Ryan Barker .

It was more than that. It was time for Penn State to have bigger hopes than being the third-best program in the Big Ten behind Michigan and Ohio State. We'll find out more about that later; Michigan isn't on the schedule but Ohio State visits Happy Valley on Nov. 2.

When the Buckeyes make that trip, they'll have to deal with a gunslinger in blue and white. Allar earned that label, among others on Saturday. Turnovers be damned.