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By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
UNIVERSITY PARK -- KeAndre Lambert-Smith has turned himself into maybe the one trustworthy receiver Penn State has this season.
Quarterback Drew Allar has certainly built quite a rapport with the junior.
It was no surprise that Allar found Lambert-Smith for the game-winning 57-yard touchdown with 1:46 left in Saturday's 33-24 win over Indiana.
"I thought it was awesome. I enjoyed it," PSU coach James Franklin said. "KeAndre being able to make the play and stay inbounds was awesome."
The TD came three plays after Allar threw the first interception of his career. It was the 18th game of his career, and Allar set a NCAA record for throwing the most attempts (310) before throwing an interception to start a career.
"That's a legitimate first," Franklin said. "You throw your first interception, and now you have to respond. I thought he handled it well, and he delivered a big- time throw. That's a positive that we can build on."
Allar said he didn't realize he had thrown the first interception of his career until he saw the defense coming on the field.
Allar was under pressure and didn't get off a good throw, and the ball was picked by the Hoosiers' Josh Sanguinetti to set up an Indiana field goal that tied the game at 24 with 2:58 remaining in the game.
"In that case, I probably should have just took the sack and let the punt team have a chance to flip the field," Allar said. "Usually you hear the crowd react, but there was no reaction to it. I thought it was an incomplete pass. After that happened, I just had to flush it and move on."
Lambert-Smith said for Allar to come back after the interception and deliver the throw he did is just a testament to the quarterback.
"We told him, 'You're not the only one out there. We all got your back,''' Lambert-Smith said. "We have 100 percent belief in him. I knew he would come out next drive and lead us to a score."
There are plenty of question marks surrounding the PSU offense, but the duo of Allar and Lambert-Smith have turned into one of the better QB-WR combos in the Big Ten.
"We definitely weren't as clean as we would have liked to have been on the offensive end, but at the end of the day we found a way to win," Allar said. "Indiana was a tough opponent. Their record may not show it, but they played tough and hard."