Penn State Nittany Lions vs Kent State Golden Flashes Football Recap

Penn State 24, Kent State 0

The offense is still a work in progress, and results are coming only grudgingly, but then again, the experience of a 24-0 win sure beats a 24-3 loss, no matter who the opponent might be.

A week after being blasted on the road by Alabama, Penn State returned to Beaver Stadium on Saturday and shut out Kent State.

Freshman quarterback Robert Bolden completed 17 of 27 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown.  He carried four times for 33 yards and a touchdown.  He also threw two interceptions and was often shaky in his third career start. Bolden simply has to get better in order for this offense to thrive against the Big Ten opponents that are about to come Penn State’s way. Bolden has not settled into the quarterback position, and he’s not executing offensive coordinator Galen Hall’s attack with the precision PSU needs. Elite defenses such as the ones from Iowa and Ohio State awaits the Nittany Lions’ schedule, so Bolden has to become not just a competent field general, but a somewhat dynamic one, for coach Joe Paterno to have a shot at yet another Big Ten title.

The Nittany Lions scored on their first two drives on Saturday afternoon.  Bolden’s one-yard run made it 7-0, and Evan Royster’s three-yard run gave Penn State a 14-0 advantage with 4:06 left in the first quarter.  Royster’s touchdown was set up by a 55-yard completion from Bolden to Derek Moye.

Penn State’s offense struggled after that, managing just one more touchdown, a 48-yard pass from Bolden to Devon Smith in the fourth quarter. That’s right – Penn State scored exactly one touchdown in the final 49 minutes of this game. That’s not going to get it done against the upper-tier teams in the Big Ten.

The Nittany Lions’ defense was impressive in shutting out Kent State’s passing game.  Golden Flashes quarterback Spencer Keith completed 20 of 36 passing attempts for 170 yards, but was picked off twice and was often under pressure.  Kent State was held to a 4-of-14 success rate on third down. It’s apparent that if Penn State is going to do big things in 2010, the defense will have to lead the way and produce turnovers in addition to the three-and-outs it generated against the Golden Flashes this past weekend.

Royster – the upperclassman who is having a mysteriously disappointing season and is just not playing with the verve displayed in past years – finished with 11 carries for 38 yards, and Stephfon Green ran 11 times for 59 yards.

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