Kent State Golden Flashes vs Penn State Nittany Lions Match Player Stats On Sep 15, 2018

Senior quarterback Trace McSorley matched his career best of three rushing touchdowns and also passed for two scores to lead No. 11 Penn State to a 63-10 trouncing of Kent State on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.

McSorley completed 11 of 22 passes for 229 yards and one interception and rushed for 54 yards as the Nittany Lions (3-0) won their 16th consecutive home game. Senior receiver DeAndre Thompkins caught four passes for 101 yards and one touchdown, and junior wideout Brandon Polk also caught a scoring pass.

Redshirt freshman backup quarterback Sean Clifford helped cap the rout with a school-record 95-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Daniel George with 6:55 remaining.

Sophomore quarterback Woody Barrett was 20 of 38 passing for 176 yards and one touchdown for Kent State (1-2). The Golden Flashes were outgained 643-221 while falling to 0-6 all-time against Penn State.

McSorley accounted for four first-half touchdowns as the Nittany Lions took a 28-10 halftime lead.

Penn State struck just 2:09 into the game when McSorley connected with Thompkins, who made a diving catch off the post pattern for a 40-yard touchdown. Kent State tied the score just more than three minutes later when Barrett threw a 47-yard scoring pass to junior wideout Mike Carrigan down the left sideline.

McSorley scored on two short runs to help the Nittany Lions take a 21-7 lead, scoring from the 1 with 5:07 left in the quarter and from 2 with 1:09 remaining.

Kent State freshman Matthew Trickett kicked a 24-yard field goal with 35 seconds left in the half. The points were set up by sophomore safety Elvis Hines, who recorded an interception when Penn State running back Miles Sanders couldn't handle McSorley's pass and returned it 26 yards to the Penn State 7.

But the Golden Flashes left too much time on the clock, and that became more apparent when Nittany Lions redshirt freshman KJ Hamler returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards to the Kent State 43. Four plays later, McSorley scored on a 13-yard run with four seconds remaining.

Penn State pulled away in the third quarter as senior Mark Allen scored on a 7-yard run with 10:05 left and freshman Ricky Slade scored from the 2 to make it 42-10 with 7:42 remaining. The Nittany Lions stretched their lead to 39 when McSorley tossed a 41-yard scoring pass to Polk with 2:37 left, before adding two fourth-quarter scores.

--Field Level Media