Penn State Football: Week 3 Studs and Duds against Kent State
By Corey Hunter
Penn State closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a resounding triumph over the Kent State Golden Flashes. Who made the cut for the Studs and Duds list this week?
It was a warm, sun-splashed late summer afternoon at Beaver Stadium as the Penn State defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes last Saturday by a score of 63-10. The Nittany Lions were firing on all cylinders both offensively and defensively. And, perhaps best news of all, they escaped the non-conference portion of their season without any major injuries.
Penn State (3-0) used the game as a way to keep its starters sharp, a chance to clean up some lingering defensive miscues, and to get a number of true freshmen and reserves meaningful game snaps. As Penn State head coach James Franklin mentioned in his opening remarks in his post-game presser(via GOPSUSports.com),he noted three things, “Number one, we won. We found a way to get a win against a good opponent here at home. That team was beating Illinois at half time on the road. So, I am pleased with that. Number two, we stayed healthy. Number three, and these are things I don’t want the players thinking about, but as a head coach I’m trying to manage all these things. So, number three, we got a lot of guys reps.”
For Penn State, a big question still remains…how good are they? How consistent of a team can they really become?
A lopsided win over Kent State doesn’t indicate how the Nittany Lion players will react when put into pressure situations against some of the best teams in the Big Ten. At what distance can true freshman Jake Pinegar be counted on for field goals? Can the defense put together four quarters of solid defense without needing significant changes at halftime? Does Trace McSorley have three wide receivers that he can trust to catch the ball?
All of these questions will begin to sort themselves out as the Nittany Lions open Big Ten play this Friday at Illinois. In the meantime, let’s take another look back at Saturday’s win over Kent State with this week’s installment of Studs and Duds.
We begin this week’s list of Studs by looking at perhaps the face of the 2018 Nittany Lions team — quarterback Trace McSorley.