Penn State WR Omari Evans' 55-yard grab a 'confidence booster' in Year 3

For the second time in the West Virginia game, Omari Evans sprinted on a go route between the hash mark and numbers to quarterback Drew Allar’s left side. The first time, protection broke down and caused the play to go awry. Evans and Allar were on the same page the second time.

With the ball on their own 27 and less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Allar said he saw the Mountaineer safety get “flat-footed” and uncorked a 55-yard throw. Evans stopped in his tracks, fought through the safety and secured the grab.

“I was just running, and I’d seen the safety, but I’m like, ‘You might as well just throw it,’” Evans said after Wednesday night’s Penn State practice. “I was pretty far down the field as he threw it, so I knew it was gonna be underthrown a little bit. Coach (James) Franklin’s been telling me all week to attack the ball, so that really came to my head once I’d seen the ball in the air. I tried to slow down and just go up and get it.”

Allar connected with Harrison Wallace III in the end zone on the next play, giving Penn State a 20-6 lead before a 2-hour, 19-minute halftime.

“If we don’t get that play, we’re just running out the clock in that half, and it’s a really different ballgame,” Allar said Saturday.

It was one of the biggest plays of the game for myriad reasons: a momentum-building score, another explosive play in offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s debut and a statement of validation for Evans.

The third-year wide receiver was one of Penn State’s most-hyped players before the 2023 season, coming off of a freshman campaign in which he burned his redshirt. He wound up buried in the depth chart throughout the year, making just four catches for 94 yards and a touchdown through the season.

“(The WVU catch) is a big confidence booster,” Evans said. “Just gonna continue to keep it rolling and keep making big plays happen.”

Three of Evans’ four 2023 receptions came after Franklin fired ex-offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Franklin frequently cited a need to play to the roster’s strengths in wake of the move, something players and coaches alike have raved about since Kotelnicki’s arrival. Evans might be the biggest benefactor of that.

“Coach K uses everyone to their strength,” Evans said. “I know he’s going to use me to my strength, which is speed. So I just feel good knowing that.”

On Wednesday, Evans cited consistency on the field and in his general energy through the locker room as some of his biggest areas of improvement over the past year. Penn State’s breakout star from Week 1, Wallace, had seen “something extra” in Evans through the offseason while trying to put last year’s disappointment in the rearview mirror.

“He doesn’t want to have another year like he had last year,” Wallace said in fall camp. “He’s been putting in the extra work. He’s been perfecting his routes, on the Jugs (passing machine) nonstop, really just trying to make it to where there’s no way the coaches can’t play him.”

The discussion surrounding last year’s Nittany Lion receiving corps additionally motivated Evans. He said the room worked extra this offseason, so “we can never feel like last year, getting talked about and all that.”

Saturday’s 34-12 win was a statement, with Evans’ big play and Wallace’s 117 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

“That wasn’t really what was going on. Because we’ve got guys that can do everything, make plays,” Evans said. “We just took it, shoved it to the side and just kept working.”

Franklin had high praise for Evans in the week leading up to Penn State’s season opener. After the game, he noted how proud he was of Evans for fighting through contact to make the 55-yard grab. He then said Evans can “run run,” which “scares” a defense.

“He’s one of these guys that his career could just take off,” Franklin said last week. “You talk about speed, size, athleticism, intelligence — he’s got all the things that you’re looking for.”

“A few big catches and a few big plays,” Franklin added, “and he could be a guy we’re talking about very differently at the end of the season than maybe the conversations that are going on right now. And we believe that will happen.”