No. 2 Penn State Declaws Florida International 34-0
No. 2 Penn State football (2-0) shut out Florida International (1-1) 34-0 at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Penn State struggled with putting the ball in the end zone in the first half once again, but the offense picked up in the second half. Drew Allar picked out Devonte Ross for a 42-yard score in the third quarter while Kaytron Allen iced the game in the final frame with a 67-yard touchdown run.
The Nittany Lion defense set the tone for the second week in a row through Alonzo Ford Jr.’s first-half interception. Chaz Coleman’s strip of FIU backup quarterback Joe Pesansky in the fourth quarter pushed Penn State’s season turnover total to five.
How It Happened
FIU committed a delay of game penalty on the first play of the game. The Penn State defense quickly silenced the Panthers with a three-and-out despite FIU quarterback Keyone Jenkins’ miraculous escape from a sack.
Penn State’s offense lined up in wildcat on offense to open its first offensive possession. Kaytron Allen handed the ball off to fellow running back Nick Singleton for a gain of nine yards. Allen picked up the first down up the middle on the subsequent play. Drew Allar misfired on a deep pass to Trebor Peña down the sideline on 3rd-and-4. He targeted Peña once more on fourth down, but FIU defensive back Mister Clark broke up the pass for the turnover on downs.
Jenkins picked out tight end Dallas Payne for FIU’s first first down of the game. Panthers running back Kejon Owens picked up 21 yards off a toss to the left before Zakee Wheatley and Kenny Woseley brought him down near the red zone. The Panthers continued running the ball until Xavier Gilliam stuffed Anthony Carrie for a 4-yard loss. Payne staved off Woseley, almost picking up a fresh set of downs, setting up 4th-and-2 on Penn State’s 13-yard line. Beaver Stadium forced an FIU timeout and Jenkins sailed his pass over Jackson Verdugo’s head for the turnover on downs.
Allar opened up the next drive with a deep shot towards Devonte Ross at midfield. Ross drew a pass interference call to gift the Nittany Lions 15 yards as Singleton unleashed a 16-yard rush down the left side. Singleton rushed twice more to set a 4th-and-1 from FIU’s 47-yard line. Penn State elected to go for it once more as Singleton picked up the first down with a 4-yard rush up the middle.
Allen checked in and belted a 20-yard rush down the right side. Allar and tight end Luke Reynolds connected to set up 1st-and-goal for the Nittany Lions. Allar lofted a ball up to Khalil Dinkins in the end zone for the opening score.
FIU’s next drive was thwarted by early penalties once more, but the Panthers found themselves in another 4th-and-short situation at their 34-yard line. The Beaver Stadium crowd forced FIU’s second timeout of the quarter. The Panthers picked up the first down on a quick screen pass to wideout Kyle McNeal.
FIU wide receiver Maguire Anderson registered the Panthers’ longest play of the day after taking a touch pass 22 yards to Penn State’s 22-yard line. Penn State defensive lineman Alonzo Ford Jr. picked off Jenkins on the subsequent first down to gift possession back to the Nittany Lions.
Allar found Ross on 3rd-and-6, who put an FIU defender on skates as he picked up a fresh set of downs. The Nittany Lions continued pounding the ball from the backfield as Allen ran for a 12-yard gain and entered FIU’s half.
Allar found Kyron Hudson up the middle for the first time on the day for another first down. Several misfires found Penn State facing a 4th-and-2 at FIU’s 22-yard line. The Panthers stopped Allen at the line of scrimmage for Penn State’s second turnover on downs.
FIU opened its drive with a 27-yard chunk play from Jenkins to wide receiver JoJo Stone. Dani Dennis-Sutton jumped running back Devonte Lyons for a 3-yard loss. Dennis-Sutton forced an incomplete pass with pressure on Jenkins rolling outside of the pocket to force FIU’s second punt. Dom DeLuca ran through the Panthers’ line and blocked the punt, setting up the Nittany Lions at FIU’s 45-yard line.
Several Allar misfires forced a quick three-and-out. Gabe Nwosu punted for the first time of the season. Audavion Collins downed the punt at the 2-yard line.
FIU failed to pick up the first down but prevented a safety despite Dennis-Sutton’s pressure on third down. Ross showcased his shiftiness once more on the subsequent punt, redirecting the field to set up the Penn State offense at FIU’s 37-yard line.
The Nittany Lions failed to pick up the first down once more on a third-down wildcat formation to Beaver Stadium’s dismay. However, Allar picked out Reynolds for the first down coming out of the two-minute warning.
The Nittany Lions tried some trickery with a reverse to Peña, but the wideout only picked up two yards. The Panthers sacked Allar on 3rd-and-8 for a loss of five. Ryan Barker put a 41-yard field goal right through the uprights to send Penn State up 10-0.
Penn State got the ball back after utilizing its timeouts. The offense set up Barker for a 53-yard attempt, but the Panthers tipped the ball to end the half.
Allen juked a Panthers defender on a 16-yard rush to open the second half for Penn State. Allar missed another throw, this time to Dinkins up the middle for what would’ve been a solid chunk play. However, Allar led the Nittany Lions down the field, connecting mostly with Hudson and Reynolds for small, methodic gains.
Allar threw a low ball to Peña on 3rd-and-4, just missing for an incomplete pass. Penn State stalled in the red zone again as Barker kicked another one through the uprights.
Wheatley prevented an FIU touchdown with an open-field tackle on Owens despite a 16-yard gain. Jenkins tried a deep ball with McNeal past the secondary, but Wheatley recovered and made another big play to force the incompletion.
Peña broke a tackle out wide for a 30-yard gain on Penn State’s first play of the drive. The offense continued to string together big gains and first downs with a 10-yard dash from Singleton. Allar shot a 42-yard deep ball to Ross in the end zone for the Nittany Lions’ first touchdown of the half. Ross somehow reeled the ball in despite heavy coverage for his first career Penn State touchdown.
Allar flipped the ball to offensive lineman Drew Shelton for a successful two-point conversion, but it was called back due to a holding call. Barker made the point after attempt.
FIU converted a fourth down on its next drive to prevent a three-and-out. However, the Panthers killed their own drive with penalties and punted the ball away in the last minute of the third frame. Penn State entered the fourth quarter up 20-0.
Johnny Chaney Jr. sacked Allar to set up fourth down and another punt for Nwosu.
Chaz Coleman registered a tackle-for-loss, and Enai White sacked Jenkins to push FIU back to its own 5-yard line. The student section forced the Panthers to spend their second timeout of the half on 3rd-and-22.
Lyons gained 11 yards on an elusive run, but FIU had to settle for the punt. Penn State exchanged the favor on its next possession.
Rojas and King Mack forced another turnover on downs for FIU. The Nittany Lions regained possession with just under four minutes remaining in the final frame. Allen put the cherry on top for Penn State with a 67-yard touchdown run to ice the game.
Coleman stripped FIU backup signal caller Joe Pesansky and returned the ball to the 5-yard line. Singleton rushed in for the score, sending Penn State up 34-0 with Barker’s extra point. The Nittany Lion defense held strong on FIU’s last possession to clinch the shutout.
Takeaways
- Offensive inefficiencies plagued Penn State once again in the first half. The Nittany Lions drove into the Panthers’ half in each of their six first-half possessions, but only came away with one touchdown to show for it. While the offense did pick up the pace and converted scores in the second half, Penn State’s struggle with scoring touchdowns early in the game is a point of emphasis for the squad as it heads into its final non-conference game.
- Penn State’s defense as a whole has shown nothing but dominance through the first two games of the season. The defensive line was the story against Nevada, but the secondary and linebacker core really flexed their strength against the Panthers. Tony Rojas and Amare Campbell were all over the field against FIU, combining for 19 total tackles. The pair is preventing big plays down the field and up the middle, contributing massively to Penn State’s first shutout of the year.
- After a lack of a clear-cut TE1 at the end of last week, Luke Reynolds made his case for the spot against the Panthers. The sophomore tight end totaled 58 yards on seven receptions. Allar targeted him nine times and looked to him on crucial third downs in the first three quarters.
What’s Next?
Penn State closes out its non-conference slate with an in-state battle against FCS Villanova at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 13, at Beaver Stadium.
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