Penn State wide receiver Liam Clifford (2) hauls in a 14-yard pass in the end zone to score his first career touchdown in the first half of an NCAA football game against Kent State, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa.
Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki pretty much had a field day with his Kent State counterpart on Saturday as he unveiled even more of his offensive creativity with a few new offensive wrinkles that the Golden Flashes had no answer for in a 56-0 drubbing in Happy Valley.
Penn State Football Takeaways From Blasting Kent State
Drew Allar was Large and In Charge
Drew Allar had another big day for Penn State, albeit against a defense that gave up 71 points to Tennessee last week.
Allar came into the season with a lot to prove and he’s been consistently effective with his reads, his throws, and especially his mechanics this year once again delivering for the Nittany Lions.
Allar finished his day early in the second half, but not before carving up that Kent State defense, going 17-of-21 for 309 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran one in for the Lions and did not throw an interception. The 309 yards that Allar put up though weren’t even half of the offense’s total production yesterday. All told, Penn State set a school record for most total offensive yards with 718.
The previous record was 707 and was set over 35,000 days ago against Susquehanna back in 1926. 718 yards to just 67 for Kent State, who, to be fair, did lose their top two quarterbacks to injuries in the first half. Believe it or not it wasn’t even the most yards that Kent State has given up in a game this year. Last week Tennessee rolled the Golden Flashes for 740 yards and dropped 71 points on them in the first of two major beatdowns in an eight-day period for the Golden Flashes.
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Penn State’s Wideout Breakout
Penn State scored eight touchdowns on Saturday and eight different players got a taste of it.
Tyler Warren, Nick Singleton, Allar, and Beau Pribula each made a house call.
Meanwhile, the wide receivers, who combined for just three catches for 37 yards against Bowling Green a couple weeks ago hauled in 14 balls for 297 yards with four of them going to Omari Evans for a game-high 116 yards and a touchdown and Liam Clifford adding three catches for 64 yards and a score.
Julian Fleming finally showed flashes of the hype that surrounded him coming into the year, doubling his previous season total with two catches for 60 yards on Saturday. All told 10 different players caught balls and all had double digits in yards.
Tyler Warren Puts On a Show
His coach calls him the best tight end in the country and I think he’s right. And you might have to prepare yourself for watching him play on Sunday starting next year.
The six-foot-six and 257 pound senior from Mechanicsville, Virginia continues to dazzle NFL scouts.
Warren did it all on Saturday. He lined up at quarterback, took a direct snap and rumbled for 16 yards on Penn State’s first drive of the game. He caught a touchdown pass from Drew Allar on the next PSU drive to open the scoring and then the southpaw threw a touchdown to Nick Singleton on his team’s third drive of the game.
Warren’s day was highlighted though, when he wowed a capacity crowd at Beaver Stadium with a one-handed catch down the left sideline in the second quarter. On the day Warren finished with five catches for 50 yards on seven targets. Penn State head coach James Franklin may be onto something with his assessment of his prize big man.
Things start getting real for Penn State next week as they host number No. 24 ranked Illinois.
The 4-0 Illini are coming off a huge upset win over Nebraska in Lincoln Friday night and face off with the undefeated Nittany Lions on Saturday night in front of a national audience. Kick-off is at 7:30 on NBC.
MORE: Drew Allar Report Card From Penn State’s Record-Setting Win
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
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Author
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A proud graduate of Villanova University, Staszak’s first gig in the industry was with PRISM sports in 1989, covering the four local home teams, the Flyers, 76ers and Phillies while also covering the Randall Cunningham-led Philadelphia Eagles.
It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008. It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run. In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic, and currently covers the Eagles for Heavy Sports, in addition to Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
About the Author
