'You can't get tired of being great.' Will Penn State football's rise be good enough?

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland − Penn State football was, by all accounts, a steadily successful team heading into this most traditionally opportunistic trip to the D.C. suburbs.

And yet, understandably, the Nittany Lions were still a lot of loose ends away from being the kind of team many expected. To live up to the expectations built by their stellar recruiting and development and promise on the field the past two seasons.

A quarterback needing confidence and trust in his abilities.

A lost receiver patiently working to find his way.

An all-star linebacker trying to recover his big-play mojo.

A defense needing to step up and come together and honor its teammate who wanted to play this Maryland game more than any other but could not.

A Penn State team that not only needed to beat the Maryland Terps once again here, but one also attempting to prepare for its season-defining meeting next weekend in Beaver Stadium.

There was a lot more than usual going on behind the scenes of Penn State 51, Maryland 15.

Penn State key No. 1: Drew Allar to Dante Cephus

The most visible, sure enough, was quarterback Drew Allar giving his most steady, impressive effort of his spotlight career, certainly so on the road. To have a shot at beating Michigan in Beaver Stadium, Allar must help his receiving group maybe more than any Penn State QB has needed to in years.

And he, quite suddenly did just that here. Allar ate up the day, firing more confident, precise passes that at any point this fall.

His numbers were stellar, completing 74 percent of his throws for a quartet of touchdown and no interceptions. But, most impressive, was how he did it: calmly delivering one perfectly-placed, lofting pass after another against Maryland's sold-out, attacking defense.

Which leads to the critical teammate he may have helped more than any other − senior transfer Dante Cephus.

The Kent State transfer was nearly invisible, a lost man for most of the first eight games. So much expected, so little produced. Just 11 receptions coming into Maryland for a guy who was expected to challenge for Penn State's No. 1 spot.

Cephus was struggling to adjust to his new home, to put it one way. Head coach James Franklin had talked repeatedly about his need for consistency, above everything.

Suddenly, against Maryland, he gave it and more. First, an over-the-shoulder catch sliding out of the end zone that was so good officials didn't believe it at first. A review overturned their call and his early touchdown stood − his first in over a year.

Then came five more catches and yet another sterling TD.

Afterward, he admitted how talks with family members and former coaches and friends helped keep his spirits up when nothing seemed to be going as planned the past few months.

"There definitely was some relief," he said. "You know you always got in the back of your mind like when is it going to happen, when it is going to come.

"It was just a test. God puts everyone through tests. I just felt like it was a test to stay poised, stay calm, keep my composure through this whole season and see how it played out. I wouldn’t say I got down but there were some thoughts, some conversations with my family. But I just stuck to it.

Just keep your head up, keep working. Plays will come ..."

Penn State key No. 2: Abdul Carter

It was so important, this Maryland performance, for its defense, too. The one so deep and talented that it can get by well enough without giving its best.

It should have been salty after the past six quarters of work − tortured by small and big passing plays against Ohio State and Indiana. Nearly allowing one loss to become two.

“I feel like we always had the feeling of playing hard," defensive end and senior leader Adisa Isaac said outside their Maryland locker room. "Our standard is the standard, so when we get out of that we all know it. It’s not like a surprise to us.

"But ...," he added, "you can’t get tired of being great."

And that, in many ways, is what they delivered against Maryland and dynamite QB Taulia Tagovailoa. They swarmed, they communicated, they gave up plays and yards they had to but almost never ones they didn't.

So what if Tagovailoa completed his first 17 passes and 29-of-39 overall? They clamped down on him and his receivers repeatedly with pressure and sure-tackling from all angles.

Eventually, they neutered him − led by another superior talent who seemed a bit lost, in a sense, for much of this fall. Abdul Carter was a preeminent talent as a rookie last year, resembling former star Micah Parsons in speed, pursuit and big-play flair.

Our PSU grades: Penn State football report card vs. Maryland: See why these are the best grades yet

Not so much before Saturday. Just two tackles behind scrimmage and one sack all season.

And then, like Allar and Cephus, he showed the best version of himself against the Terps. He routinely met ballcarriers faster and with more violence. His six tackles (four solo) and sack and pass breakup seemed like much more.

In a way, this charged-up effort made some sense. Undefeated Michigan is coming and if these Lions have a shot at winning and challenging for a Big Ten title and qualifying for their first-ever playoff, then they needed much more, now.

Penn State key No. 3: Playing for Chop Robinson

They played for one of their best Saturday, too: Injured pass rusher Chop Robinson.

He was there in uniform for this homecoming game. The Gaithersburg, Md. native was a former Terp, himself, before transferring in the spring of 2022. He wrecked his former team in last year's PSU victory. But he couldn't play this one after suffering an injury two weeks ago, presumably a significant concussion.

He appeared to tear up on the sideline before the game.

How he's so good now: The rise of a Penn State football 'weapon.' Why did it take Daequan Hardy so long?

"Not having one of our most explosive players on defense and still being able to play the way we did tonight?" James Franklin acknowledged after the game.

“We wanted to play well, not only for Penn State but also for Chop. We wanted him to understand we were playing well for him."

This was not to be overlooked. Isaac talked about the need for this defense, this team, to come together for each other − to have any chance of fulfilling it promise, to properly represent its statistical standing as one of the top defenses in the nation.

It may well need Robinson, too, to properly battle Michigan next week. It may need that feeling and belief even more.

“I was like, 'Yeah, I got to get you one,'" Isaac said, relaying his pregame conversation with Robinson. "It’s all love, you know. When we get on the bus (back to Penn State) we’re going to Chop it up some more.

"We still got a season to go, so you’re going to see some more Chop coming soon," he added with a smile. "Something to look out for."

It would be, indeed.

The Lions may well enough need all of this and more at Saturday at noon to earn arguably the biggest regular season win of Franklin's decade in State College.

They at least got closer, it seems, at Maryland.

Which may be about the best thing possible, for now.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football: Drew Allar, Abdul Carter prepare for Michigan