9/9/2023 football Edit

Penn State routs Delaware 63-7 in warmup for Big Ten play

Dylan Callaghan-Croley • Happy Valley Insider

Editor

The Nittany Lions dominated both on offense and defense en route to a 63-7 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens on Saturday afternoon in front of 108,000 at Beaver Stadium.

The Nittany Lions offense scored on each of their first drives and eight of ten total in the game, showing the ability to move the ball at will throughout the contest.

Drew Allar, making his second career start, was nearly perfect in his seven drives, completing 22-of-26 passing attempts for 204 yards and one touchdown. The Nittany Lions' star backfield duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined for 150 yards and four touchdowns across 30 rushing attempts.

The Penn State defense allowed just 140 yards in the game while forcing six three-and-outs across Delaware's 11 drives (not counting their lone snap before halftime). The Nittany Lions also forced a pair of turnovers while allowing just two Blue Hen drives to go for more than 10-yards.

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After forcing a three-and-out on Delaware's first drive, the Nittany Lions offense would get on the board with a methodical 13-play, 60-yard drive that was capped off by a Nicholas Singleton touchdown out of the T-Formation.

Kaytron Allen would add another rushing touchdown a few minutes later before Nicholas Singelton added on twice more in the second quarter to give Penn State a 28-0 lead within the first 25 minutes of the game. Tyler Warren got on the board for the first time this season just before halftime with a two-yard reception, giving Penn State a 35-7 lead heading into halftime.

In the first half, Delaware struggled to get anything going, their lone bright spot being a 66-yard rushing touchdown from tailback Marcus Yarns. Outside the Yarns' touchdown run, the Blue Hens had just 18 yards of total offense in the first half.

Overall, the Nittany Lions outgained Delaware 322 to 84 in the 30 minutes of play.

In the second half, Drew Allar would lead Penn State on one more touchdown drive, much like their first drive; the Nittany Lions would be methodical, going 74 yards across ten plays to make it a 42-7.

Beau Pribula would come in for Allar following the Nittany Lions' sixth touchdown drive with Allar under center and immediately lead the Nittany Lions on a scoring drive of his own, scoring his second career touchdown on a six-yard touchdown run, making it 49-7 midway through the third quarter.

A Dominic DeLuca pick-six and Omari Evans touchdown reception from Pribula would cap off the Nittany Lions' scoring efforts on Saturday afternoon in their 63-7 win.

Penn State outgained Delaware 541 to 140 for the game while totaling 315 rushing yards. The Nittany Lions' dominated not just the boxscore but also the time of possession, with over 42 minutes to Delaware's mere 17 minutes.

Overall, for Penn State, Saturday was exactly what James Franklin and the Nittany Lions coaching staff wanted to see out of their team. While it wasn't squeaky clean, it was a strong performance in which the Nittany Lions dominated both offensive and defensively while staying what appears to be pretty healthy.

Now 2-0 on the season, Penn State will turn their attention to the Illinois Fighting Illini, who are 1-1 after losing to Kansas on Friday evening 34-32. It will be the two program's first meeting since 2021, their infamous nine-overtime game in which the Illini came out on top 20-18.