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Second-ranked Penn State routs Villanova in non-conference finale [updated]

STATE COLLEGE – Penn State’s defense dominated Villanova in the final non-conference tuneup Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

The offense, though, remained a work in progress in the second-ranked Nittany Lions’ 52-6 victory before an announced crowd of 109,516.

“Offensively we’ve just been inconsistent,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “We have to improve on third down. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Then we have to be more explosive overall. There’s a lot more room for growth in that area.”

Penn State drove inside the Villanova 30 five times on its first seven possessions and came away with two touchdowns and three field goals by Ryan Barker. That continued a theme throughout the Lions’ first three games.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar completed 16-of-29 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown with his first interception of the season. He was 0-for-5 on third down and did not see several open receivers.

“We go in spurts,” Allar said. “We started the game really hot, going down and scoring a touchdown on the opening drive. But sometimes we get out of sync. The times that we were out of rhythm, we hurt ourselves more than anything.”

Gov. Mifflin product Nick Singleton rushed 20 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions (3-0) and Kaytron Allen carried 10 times for 86 yards and one score.

Tight end Joey Schlaffer, a high school star at Exeter, made the first catch of his career, a 19-yard reception for a fourth-quarter touchdown from backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer.

Then backup cornerback Jahmir Joseph got into the act when he returned former Fleetwood standout Tanner Maddocks’ interception 49 yards for a touchdown.

Maddocks spoiled Penn State’s bid for its first back-to-back shutouts since 1996 when he threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Binkowski on the final play of the game. Maddocks completed 6-of-12 passes for 69 yards and carried five times for 3 yards.

The Lions have a bye next week before facing defending Big Ten champion Oregon (3-0) in the conference opener Sept. 27 at Beaver Stadium.

They might have some things to clean up on offense, but the defense under new coordinator Jim Knowles smothered the Wildcats (1-1), who play in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Villanova had just seven first downs until the final drive of the game and finished with only 179 total yards.

“I think our defense took a significant step this week,” Franklin said. “There was more confidence, more command and more control, especially from our safeties and linebackers, who are kind of running the show.”

Linebackers Amare Campbell and Tony Rojas again had a very productive afternoon. Campbell had seven tackles, including a sack and two other stops in the backfield. Rojas had five tackles, including two sacks.

Elliot Washington II had a third-quarter interception after Dani Dennis-Sutton pressured quarterback Pat McQuaide.

The Penn State defense was consistent; the offense was not.

False starts by veteran offensive linemen Nolan Rucci and Vega Ioane contributed to two stalled drives in the first half. A couple dropped passes, one or two curious play calls and Allar not seeing open receivers contributed to others.

The Lions’ best series came near the end of the first half when they drove 70 yards in seven plays in 36 seconds for a touchdown, Allar’s laser to Trebor Pena for a 23-yard score between two defenders.

“I think we’re really good in the two-minute offense and tempo in general,” Allar said, “because it’s plays that we know how to run like the back of our hand.”

Penn State outscored prohibitive underdogs Nevada, Florida International and Villanova by a whopping 132-17 margin. Now the prelims are over. The margin for error will be slim in two weeks when Oregon travels to State College.

“We won these three games, which is really good,” Singleton said, “but I can’t wait to get to the Big Ten schedule.”