How Penn State football’s Tyler Warren established himself as a Heisman Trophy candidate

Tyler Warren smiled lightly Saturday night as he was forced to do what he rarely does — talk about himself.

Warren shuffled his feet slightly as he softly spoke about his dominant performance on the field in his team’s 49-10 domination of Purdue.

The Penn State tight end is a favorite of head coach James Franklin for that reason — every time he gets asked about himself, he deflects, giving the credit to his teammates and those around him.

But on Saturday there was no avoiding it. And for good reason: Warren established himself as a legitimate Heisman candidate with yet another dominant game.

Mention those types of awards to him, though, and he’ll talk about everyone else.

“The individual stuff is, it’s nice to get recognized,” Warren said. “But I think really it speaks to, without the guys around me that stuff doesn’t happen.”

On Saturday, he caught eight passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. He ran three times for 63 yards and another touchdown — outrunning a Purdue defensive back in pursuit on the 48-yard scamper that he scored on. But even when he does talk about himself and those things he’s capable of, Warren downplays just how good he is.

“I’m just trying to do my job,” Warren said. “We talk about all the time, when you have the ball in your hands, you’re supposed to be a threat to score, and we’re trying to score the ball every time we touch it. So that’s just me doing my job.”

Although the Penn State tight end may not heap praise upon himself, his teammates don’t hesitate to.

Like backup quarterback Beau Pribula, one of Warren’s roommates, who was smiling from ear to ear when he was asked if Warren should be in the Heisman conversation.

“The answer is yes,” Pribula said. “Everybody knows he’s just an unbelievable all-around athlete. ... I’m just super proud of Tyler and everything he’s done this season so far. And I’m sure there’s more to come the rest of the season.”

This isn’t the type of situation where Warren is the best player on a good team, therefore he must be a candidate for the award, which will be given out on Dec. 14 in New York City. He is the reason the Nittany Lions have had success.

He does everything for this offense. He’s its top pass catcher, always finding his way open — despite presumably being at the top of opponents’ scouting reports — and then destroying everything in his path. He’s one of its best runners and its best goal-line back, using his size and strength to plow through opposing linemen and linebackers in short-yardage situations. He’s even a quality passer, throwing enough to keep the defense on its heels when he lines up in the shotgun. And he’s an excellent blocker, creating space in running situations by moving defenders out of rushing lanes.

There is very little Warren can’t do, and Saturday was just another example.

Just his presence worried Purdue, with the Boilermakers being so concerned about him touching the ball that when he lined up under center — and then let the snap go between his legs — it freed up the Nittany Lions to get the ball to the outside and get a first down, largely because of the 11 Boilermakers on the field staring at the tight end.

And Franklin may like that Warren doesn’t take credit for those many successes, but it doesn’t stop him from pounding the table for the best player on his team. He has coached many excellent players, but what the tight end is doing stands out. It’s not just about the production. It’s about Warren being so special that he’s capable of being used like a Swiss Army knife.

“What makes him, probably, more unique than most is he checks a ton of boxes,” Franklin said. “What I mean by that is, you may want to use a guy like this, but they don’t have the football IQ to handle lining up in all the different positions. The motioning, the shifting, being able to block — god forbid a tight end in today’s college football, and sometimes the NFL, block. He does that too and takes great pride in it. ... All of these little things that you can do with him, it is a headache. It is a headache.”

None of what Warren does surprises anyone anymore, because he’s done so much — and he’s done a lot for a while. He’s now over 800 receiving yards, with five receiving touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns and even one passing score. And he’s doing it with leaping grabs, like the one against USC where he had to fight back through a defender for a deep score, or by jumping the pile, like he did against Washington to score at the goal line after lining up at quarterback.

Franklin made sure to mention that the tight end has taken snaps at quarterback before, and been used in a variety of ways. But even Franklin admitted he didn’t expect this.

“Did I anticipate or did I predict us using him in this way? Yes. This level of success? No, I don’t know if I would necessarily say that. I thought he’d have a good year,” Franklin said. “I think he’s having one of the more special years that I can remember in my 30 years.”

And what this is, is no longer up for debate. This is the player who has taken Penn State’s offense to the next level and given it life that it hasn’t had for a few years — putting it in position to compete with anyone in the College Football Playoff.

And it’s a player who has earned the right to be in New York City on Dec. 14.