Penn State freshmen Drew Allar, Nick Singleton have a day against Ohio, helping power a big offensive outpour

STATE COLLEGE — Saturday was a day for firsts with Penn State dismantling Ohio 46-10 in its home opener.

Freshman Nick Singleton rushed for his first touchdown, which snapped a 17-game Penn State drought without a running back rushing for over 100 yards. Backup quarterback Drew Allar threw for his first career touchdown.

The pass? To freshman wideout Omari Evans — his first.

The Nittany Lions (2-0, 1-0) jumped out to an early lead, scoring on their first two possessions while holding the Bobcats (1-1) in check. For James Franklin, a 19-point lead early in the second half was enough to give Sean Clifford some rest and look to his bench.

Allar’s first drive of the day resulted in the 32-yard touchdown to Evans. He became the first true freshman quarterback to throw for a touchdown since Christian Veilleux last season.

Ohio mustered 263 yards of total offense (the Nittany Lions had 572). The Bobcats converted only 4 of 15 third downs and had 16 first downs, compared to Penn State’s 27. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed 14 of 30 pass attempts for 119 yards.

The 107,306 fans who packed into Beaver Stadium were the most for a home opener since 2007 hosting Florida International.

Penn State’s scoring had Singleton’s handprints — or footprints — all over it.

The Nittany Lions’ second drive and subsequent second touchdown capped a two-play, 85-yard drive. A 1-yard rush drew a 15-yard face mask penalty. On the following play, he bounced to the right, broke a few tackles, and dashed 70 yards up the sideline for a score. It was the longest rush by a Penn State player since Journey Brown’s 85-yard run vs. Pittsburgh in 2019.

Singleton finished with 179 yards on 10 attempts and two touchdowns.

He came out in the second half with a 48-yard rush that nearly went the distance. Then his 52-yard third-quarter rushing touchdown put him in rare recent air. He had two rushes farther than any Penn State running back had all of last year.

“He’s got such good speed that maybe in years past when we’re cloudy and you’d want to bounce it, we didn’t always have the speed to get to the edge [as] he does,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said. “He’s shown the ability to do that … I do think it has an impact on defensive coordinators when they know there’s a back on the other side that can go 80 yards at any point.”

The Nittany Lions’ backfield started with a new approach against Ohio’s subpar run defense, compared to the Purdue game. Rather than a per-drive rotation between Keyvone Lee, Singleton, and Kaytron Allen, they trotted out all three on the first drive.

They shuffled each of the running backs, plus Devyn Ford, sporadically the rest of the way, although no other running back surpassed 30 yards on the ground.

» READ MORE: Nick Singleton’s unrelenting ability to put in the work

Ohio’s offense struggled to manufacture much offensively. The first four Bobcat drives didn’t cross midfield. They only got past the 50-yard line three times all day.

Their fifth possession flashed some creativity, diving a bit deeper into the playbook. A flea flicker, a lateral, and a play that actually had shades of the Philly Special marched the Bobcats deep into enemy territory. That drive was capped off by a Sieh Bangura rushing touchdown.

Linebacker Tyler Elsdon led the way with six total tackles. Behind him was true freshman linebacker and La Salle College High School graduate Abdul Carter with five. Cornerback Johnny Dixon had the team’s only sack.

Penn State’s defense put points on the board, too, with a little help from a precise Barney Amor punt. Early in the second quarter, he landed a chip shot at the 1-yard line with enough backspin to keep it there. Rourke fumbled the first snap, resulting in a safety.

It was the first Penn State forced safety since 2018 against Pittsburgh.

Clifford’s day wrapped up early, not because of injury or poor play. A 19-point lead for Penn State early in the second half was all he needed.

Clifford completed his first six passes for 62 yards, finishing with 213 yards on 19-of-27 through the air with one passing touchdown. The sixth-year senior also scored Penn State’s first touchdown, rushing for a 15-yard gain that was called short of the goal line, which he put home on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

“Our plan was to play him a series in the second quarter and a series in the third quarter,” Franklin said. “I think sometimes, in the past, we’ve planned on getting guys in the game once there’s a certain lead. And when the game doesn’t play out that way, they don’t get the time you really wanted them to have.”

His best throw of the day came late in the first half. It was a gorgeous thread-the-needle pass through the tightest of windows to Mitchell Tinsley in the end zone — mind you, with two defenders draped over the passing lane.

In Saturday’s win, 17 Nittany Lions caught passes, nine more than against Purdue.

Allar finished with 88 yards, completing 6-of-8 passes before being replaced by Christian Veilleux, up 36 late in the fourth quarter.

“I think the biggest thing that jumps out to everybody is [Allar is] just super poised in there,” Franklin said. “For a young kid, the game seems slow to him already. I think he’s doing a really good job from a preparation standpoint. ... He ain’t Trace McSorley, but he does enough to keep people honest in the quarterback running game.”

Tight ends Theo Johnson and Jerry Cross missed their second-straight games because of injury. Neither traveled to Purdue. Defensive tackle Coziah Izzard and defensive end Smith Vilbert also missed Saturday’s contest.