Penn State Kent State Football Recap 2024

James Franklin wanted Penn State to play a cleaner game in their last non-conference friendly against Kent State.

Nittany Lions fans wanted an easy, stress-free, overwhelming win against the worst FBS team in the country.

Both got what they wanted to a certain extent on Saturday.

Penn State started slowly but eventually achieved a program-record 718 yards of offense (409 of them passing) and 40 first downs in a 56-0 win over Kent State.

The slow start was largely due to an interception by backup quarterback Beau Pribula on the first drive. At the end of the first quarter, Penn State only led 7-0, leading to some talk of another slow first half against a MAC opponent.

But Penn State came into its own in the second quarter, spreading the ball around and scoring 21 points. The Lions had 396 yards of offense, 21 first downs and 4 of 5 third downs converted at halftime.

Drew Allar threw two touchdowns and ran for another touchdown in the first half, while Tyler Warren caught and threw and scored a touchdown. Additionally, Penn State spread the ball around in the first two quarters. Liam Clifford, Juilan Fleming, Warren, Omari Evans, Harrison Wallace III and Nicholas Singleton all caught multiple balls. Singleton and Kaytron Allen each averaged at least six yards per carry in the first 30 minutes.

Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton each recorded a sack in the first half for a defense that allowed just 41 yards. Kent State's offense lost its two best quarterbacks to injury in the first 30 minutes.

The second half started with an easy touchdown catch by Allar for Evans before the substitutes got the bulk of the snaps. Along with those substitutions, there were a few penalties for Franklin that drew cries of outrage, but it also meant an acrobatic catch by Luke Reynolds, the first catch of his career for Tyseer Denmark, plenty of runs for Cam Wallace (before he got injured recently), Max Granville charging the quarterback (and nearly forcing a defensive touchdown), and a whole bunch of other guys making their first contribution in a Nittany Lion uniform.

Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium for its third consecutive home game next Saturday when they face nationally ranked and undefeated Illinois in primetime. The kickoff time and network for the homecoming game have not yet been determined.