Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1026347
Obviously, it's going to be a little bit louder, but from our vantage point we need to do what we need to do and build a game plan that highlights our players' strengths. We're looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge that lies ahead of us in Happy Valley." A big part of that challenge will involve trying to slow down Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley. This will be the second time that Kent State has faced McSorley. When the Golden Flashes visited Beaver Stadium on the opening weekend of the 2016 season, he was making his first career start. He threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns and added 47 rushing yards as the Lions coasted to a 33-13 victory. McSorley has only gotten better since then, and Kent State is well aware of the threat that he poses. "It starts with their quarterback," Lewis said. "He's a dynamic athlete. He can hurt you in a lot of different ways. He's a proven winner and continues to do that this year and find ways to get it done. The drive that he led in the App State game to come back and tie that thing and get it to overtime, and for them to find a way to win, it's a tes- tament to him. "They have dynamic skill with Miles Sanders at running back and [Juwan] John- son [at wide receiver]. And last but not least, there's their returner, DeAndre Thompkins. It seems like every single time he touches it I'm going to be holding my breath, because he has the ability to take it to the house in a heartbeat." Through two games, Lewis has mostly been pleased with the team's defensive ef- fort. Kent State has given up only three first-half points this season, and even those points were from well outside the red zone, as Illinois hit a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter. Howard wasn't able to manage even that much productivity in the first two quarters, and the last two quarters weren't much better for the Bison. The Golden Flashes held them to only 65 rush- ing yards and stopped 15 of 17 third-down conversion attempts. Lewis called it a "phenomenal day" for his defense. He also praised the effort of his special teams units, which had a 22-yard punt re- turn and blocked a punt to set up a score. Kent State's offense "was very oppor- tunistic but needs to be cleaner," Lewis said in balancing his evaluation. "Disappointed in how many times we turned the football over. We need to put a premium on our ball security." In addition to an interception thrown by starting quarterback Woody Barrett, the Golden Flashes had four fumbles and lost three of them. Against Penn State on Sat- urday, based on Lewis's scouting of Nittany Lion personnel, those miscues will be far more difficult to overcome. While working under Dino Barbers at Syracuse the past two seasons, Lewis gained firsthand knowledge of some of the best high school football prospects from the mid-Atlantic region. Parts of the Or- ange's recruiting territory overlapped with Penn State's, and in those two seasons Lewis saw more of the region's top prospects choosing to sign under head coach James Franklin. When scouting the Lions' first two games of the season, Lewis sees those former re- cruits now shining as a collective. He views them as a team that is solid up front com- plemented by skill players along the edges and in the backfield. "He's got a galaxy over there with the number of stars he's been able to accumu- late in recruiting," Lewis said. "They're long, they're athletic, they're nasty, they hunt the ball, they're opportunistic and they play the game the right away, which is a credit to Coach Franklin and his staff." S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 3 NATE BAUER 2-0 | When Penn State's opponents are unable to be multidimensional on either side of the ball, it typically spells trouble for those teams. Kent State is no excep- tion. Through two games, the Golden Flashes have not passed the ball with any particular efficiency, and their rushing defense has proven to be problematic. Given the Nittany Lions' own versatility in all three phases of the game, especially with the backing of the momentum of Saturday's thrashing of the Panthers in Pittsburgh, this final tune-up to the Big Ten season is likely to be exactly that. | PENN STATE 52, KENT STATE 13 PHIL GROSZ 2-0 | One gets the feeling aAer their total dominance of Pitt on offense and defense in the second half of this past Saturday's game that the Nittany Lions are due for a breakout performance against Kent State. Expect Penn State's offensive and defensive lines to dominate at the point of attack. I expect Miles Sanders to have his second consec- utive 100-plus-yard rushing performance, and it would not surprise me at all if Trace McSorley were to finish with close to 300 yards of total offense. Defensively, I predict Penn State will hold Kent State to under 300 yards of total offense. That would be more than 150 yards under what Kent State's offense averaged in its opening two games against Illinois and Howard. | PENN STATE 52, KENT STATE 10 MATT HERB 2-0 | In some respects, this game is a little bit scarier than last week's visit to Pitt. Kent State runs a high-speed offense that could cause some problems for an in- experienced Nittany Lion defense. Yes, the Lions are coming off a dominant second-half performance against the Panthers, but it would be premature to assume that they've ar- rived. They are, aAer all, only two weeks removed from a very tentative showing against Appalachian State. I do think, however, that the defense is headed in the right direction. What's more, the Lions will get their share of chunk plays on offense, meaning that it will take a lot of chunk plays by the Golden Flashes to pull off an upset. They may get a few, but not enough. | PENN STATE 44, KENT STATE 17 TIM OWEN 2-0 | Penn State is looking for more explosive plays. Against Kent State this week, those plays will come. This will be an easy win for the home team, but probably not a cover. | PENN STATE 45, KENT STATE 17 RYAN SNYDER 2-0 | Following last weekend's lopsided victory over Pitt, don't be sur- prised if Penn State starts out slow, especially when you consider that it's a noon kickoff. Kent State played well against Illinois in week one, but the Nittany Lions will prove that they're on a different level than the Illini. Look for Penn State to come alive in the second quarter. | PENN STATE 48, KENT STATE 14 S T A F F P R E D I C T I O N S