No. 7 Penn State makes light work of FCS-foe Delaware in 63-7 rout

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State did just about everything it needed to and then some against Delaware.

By way of a run-heavy offense, the Nittany Lions dominated the Blue Hens, 63-7, in a tune-up game at Beaver Stadium.

Kaytron Allen led the way on the ground with 103 yards and a touchdown, while Nicholas Singleton, on 12 carries, added a career-best three scores and 47 yards. Drew Allar was sharp again after his starting debut last week, going 22-of-26 for 204 yards and a touchdown.

Allar took a seat for backup Beau Pribula with 9 minutes, 41 seconds to go in the third quarter. Pribula threw and ran for a pair of touchdowns as well. He engineered a five-play, 31-yard drive in which he ran for 26 of the yards, the last being a 6-yard scamper into the end zone with 7:16 remaining in the third.

“Offensively, I just thought we were very efficient,”head coach James Franklin said after the win. “We were able to stay on the field, we were able to sustain drives, we were able to convert on third down, converted a few times on fourth down.”

Delaware’s (1-1 overall) lone score came on a 66-yard scamper by senior running back Marcus Yarns in the first quarter. The Penn State (2-0) defense was otherwise dominant, including an interception returned 26 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Dominic DeLuca.

Yarns’ run broke through the left side of Penn State’s line, where he broke a tackle from linebacker Tyler Elsdon and outraced the Nittany Lion secondary. The defensive line slanted away from the run, but Elsdon was slow to fill the open gap. Run defense was also a weak spot against West Virginia, and Yarns’ run didn’t do much to remove doubt that there’s room for improvement.

“I thought we played really well. We had the one play where we were not gap-sound,” Franklin said. “The ball found that gap, and they got some talented guys that can run. Just a really good example of everybody’s got to do their job on a consistent basis.”

After minimal usage and just one catch last week, Penn State used its tight end room heavily Saturday. Tyler Warren hauled in six passes for 37 yards and a score. Theo Johnson caught two for 14 yards.

Penn State had eight different receivers catch a pass before Allar left the game. It was the second week that the load was shared after having nine different pass catchers against West Virginia. True freshmen and backups galore saw the field thanks to the blowout but performed well under the circumstances, showcasing important depth on Franklin’s roster.

Columbia transfer Alex Felkins started at kicker after Sander Sahaydak won the job out of camp but missed two short field goals last week. Neither one attempted a field goal against Delaware, but Felkins was 8-for-8 in PATs and Sahaydak did convert his only PAT when called upon in the second half.

Singleton walked into the end zone untouched for the hat trick midway through the second quarter. He scored from 5 yards out twice and 2 yards once, including a touchdown out of Penn State’s coveted T-formation.

Penn State was solid but not dominant on the ground against West Virginia and used Saturday’s FCS opponent to establish physicality. Second-team offensive linemen rotated in before the first half ended.

Penn State hits the road on Saturday for its Big Ten opener at Illinois for a noon kickoff on FOX. The Fighting Illini have started 1-1 after losing multiple players to the NFL from last year’s team, beating Toledo and losing at Kansas.

» READ MORE: The Drew Allar era at Penn State starts now | Mike Jensen