Rushing Attack<\/h3>\n
Penn State has arguably the best running back room<\/a> in the country, featuring Nick Singleton<\/a> and Kaytron Allen<\/a>. \u00a0They are threats each time they touch the ball, either through rushing or receiving. \u00a0Last week, Singleton was the focal point of the offense, with over 100 yards rushing and a touchdown. \u00a0Against Bowling Green, Singleton had very similar statistics, picking up his seventh career 100-yard rushing game, and second in a row. \u00a0Additionally, he had a receiving touchdown.<\/p>\n Franklin has said on numerous occasions that the work at running back would continue to be shared between Singleton and Allen. \u00a0The game against Bowling Green gave a glimpse of what can be. \u00a0Allen also had a 100-yard game. \u00a0While he was kept out of the end zone, he did impact this game.<\/p>\n The quarterbacks continued to contribute to the running game as well. \u00a0Allar picked up his first rushing touchdown of the season on a five-yard first-quarter score. \u00a0Backup quarterback Beau Pribula<\/a> was also involved in the game plan. \u00a0Interestingly, Pribula started the second half at quarterback.<\/p>\n Coming out of the West Virginia game, it seemed that Trey Wallace<\/a> was the go-to receiver for Allar. \u00a0Against Bowling Green, he did not have a catch. \u00a0Julian Fleming<\/a> was held without a catch last week, and Franklin said during the week that they would look to get him involved early in this one. \u00a0That did not happen, and Fleming had one catch for three yards. \u00a0However, similar to last week, Fleming was able to make his presence felt more through his blocking. \u00a0Omari Evans<\/a> had a touchdown for the second straight game and could have had another big play touchdown that was called back due to offensive pass interference.<\/p>\n A standout on the offensive side was tight end Tyler Warren<\/a>. \u00a0He was on the receiving end of eight of Allar’s 13 completions. \u00a0Warren was seemingly open on every play, easily beating Bowling Green’s coverage. \u00a0He also displayed a propensity for solid yards after the catch. \u00a0Warren’s blocking ability was on display throughout the game, too. \u00a0He is solidifying his reputation as an all-around tight end<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking of the balance on the offensive side of the ball, after the game Franklin said, “We’re sporadic, and have to be more consistent.” \u00a0He was referring to the quick scores in the first half, compared to holding the ball longer in the second half but having some drives stall (including an Allar end-zone interception). \u00a0Penn State only converted two of nine third-down attempts. \u00a0Franklin also said, “We need more opportunities on offense, to get guys more touches.”<\/p>\n After a first half where the defense struggled, coordinator Tom Allen had to go into his toolbox to make adjustments. \u00a0Whether he went with the Allen Wrench, hammer, or something else, it worked. \u00a0Bowling Green’s big offensive line had leverage throughout the first half and converted three of five third downs. \u00a0The first play for the Falcons was a 30-yard completion, and the first drive ended in a touchdown. \u00a0That set the tone for Bowling Green’s 24-point first-half offensive outburst, a half where Penn State did not have a sack.<\/p>\n In the second half, the Penn State defense stepped up. \u00a0They generated two turnovers, and interceptions by Tony Rojas<\/a> and Zakee Wheatley<\/a>. \u00a0While the defense did not produce any sacks in the second half either, they only gave up a field goal in the fourth quarter. \u00a0For the second week in a row, the safeties<\/a> led the charge for the defense. \u00a0Jaylen Reed<\/a> led the team in tackles. \u00a0Abdul Carter<\/a> had more of an impact in this game, with seven tackles, including one for loss, and a pass defended. \u00a0Just as the first series of the first half set the tone, so did the first Bowling Green offensive series of the second half. \u00a0Penn State’s defense produced a three-and-out and did not look back from there.<\/p>\n Regarding the defensive adjustments, Franklin said it was important to, “Calm the guys down and don’t force plays to happen.” \u00a0It was important for players to, “Play within the defensive scheme.” \u00a0Additionally, Franklin noted, “Turnovers were huge obviously. \u00a0The turnovers our defense was able to get were the difference in the second half.”<\/p>\n Penn State survived a scare and beat Bowling Green 34-27 in the 2024 home opener. \u00a0Here are some of the key statistics that underpinned the Penn State win.<\/p>\n Passing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State threw for 204 yards, compared to 254 for Bowling Green. \u00a0Allar completed 13 of 20 for 204 yards, with two touchdowns and his first interception of the season. \u00a0For Bowling Green, Connor Bazelak<\/a> was 25 of 39 for 254 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. \u00a0Tight end Harold Fannin Jr.<\/a> threw an incompletion on his only pass attempt.<\/p>\n Rushing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State had the edge with 234 yards, compared to Bowling Green’s 121 yards. \u00a0Singleton led all players with 119 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. \u00a0Allen ran 14 times for 101 yards, and Allar contributed seven yards, including a touchdown. \u00a0Jaison Patterson<\/a> led Bowling Green with 57 yards on 16 carries. \u00a0Jamal Johnson<\/a> had 46 yards on five carries, including a 41-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n Receiving:\u00a0<\/strong>The tight ends were the receiving stars of this game. \u00a0Warren led all players with 146 yards receiving on eight catches. \u00a0Evans had 34 yards on two catches. \u00a0For Bowling Green, tight end Fannin had 137 yards on 11 catches with a touchdown. \u00a0Malcolm Johnson Jr.<\/a> contributed 81 yards on eight receptions with a touchdown.<\/p>\n Defense:\u00a0<\/strong>Reed led all defenders with 10 tackles. \u00a0Rojas and Wheatley each had an interception. \u00a0Joseph Sipp Jr.<\/a> led Bowling Green with eight tackles. \u00a0Jacorey Benjamin<\/a> had the Bowling Green interception.<\/p>\n Special Teams:\u00a0<\/strong>Sander Sahaydak<\/a> was back as the kicker again. \u00a0He converted both of his field goal attempts and all four extra points. \u00a0Riley Thompson<\/a> had four punts, averaging 47.0 yards per punt. \u00a0For Bowling Green, Jackson Kleather<\/a> converted both of his field goal attempts and all three extra-point tries. \u00a0John Henderson<\/a> had three punts, averaging 40.7 yards per punt.<\/p>\n Penalties:\u00a0<\/strong>Penalties continue to be an area for Penn State to clean up. \u00a0In total, they were flagged for seven penalties and 76 yards. \u00a0Bowling Green was called for three penalties and 18 yards.<\/p>\n On a beautiful day in State College, the Penn State Nittany Lions had a much more interesting 2024 home opener against Bowling Green than anyone would have anticipated. \u00a0Playing their first of two straight MAC opponents (Kent State visits after next week’s bye), eighth-ranked Penn State survived a scare, beating Bowling Green by a score […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":63716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[32817,228,3446,837,3440,309,1073],"class_list":["post-63697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-beaver-stadium","tag-bowling-green-falcons","tag-james-franklin","tag-penn-state-defense","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-tom-allen"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Wide Receivers\/Tight Ends<\/h3>\n
Allen Wrench on Defense<\/h3>\n
By the Numbers: Penn State Beats Bowling Green 34-27<\/h3>\n
Offense<\/h3>\n
Defense\/Special Teams<\/h3>\n
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