Penn State football vs Akron: Nittany Lions lead comfortably at half

Penn State football settled in after a botched opening drive against Akron and methodically pulled away from the Zips, amassing a comfortable half time lead.

More: Penn State strikes first on an electric punt return touchdown

After going up with a 61-yard punt return score, Penn State got the ball quickly back for its offense. When Thomas Woodson forced the ball downfield, Amani Oruwariye read the ball perfectly to snatch the interception out of the air.

Here’s what it looked like live:

The diving pick put Penn State in position to double their lead, and the Nittany Lions didn’t falter this time around. Saquon Barkley started the drive with 22 yards on his first three carries of the game. Then McSorley took over, completing four of his five attempts on the drive. Penn State’s quarterback also carried twice more on the series.

He nearly hit Andre Robinson for a touchdown, then rebounded on the next play to find tight end Mike Gesicki in the corner of the endzone for the first offensive score of the new season.

After withholding the ball from stud running back Saquon Barkley for most of the first quarter, he finally started getting more carries. On their fourth offensive series of the first half against Akron, Penn State finally called Barkley’s number on the first snap. He burst through a big hole right up the gut, then veered toward the sideline as he accelerated past one Zips defender after another.

87 yards later, it looked like Barkley had scored his first touchdown of the new year. Instead, a video review determined that Barkley had stepped out of bounds at the Akron 7. The call was controversial, and not one that was well supported by the partisan crowd in Beaver Stadium. Take a look for yourself to determine whether Barkley went out of bounds.

The Nittany Lions reached the endzone two plays later, but it was quarterback Trace McSorley rather than Barkley who punched in the four-yard scoring run.

Though it was a disappointing reversal for Barkley and for Penn State fans, the Nittany Lions are still opening things up well against their MAC opponent. Down 21-0 midway through the second quarter, Akron continues to search for its first points of the 2017 season. Penn State’s defense clamps down on the Zips running game and has made things difficult for quarterback Thomas Woodson.

Barkley continues to play a limited role in what is turning quickly into a rout. While he has yet to score, the 80-yard run put Barkley over 100 yards for the game on just a half-dozen carries. The Heisman hopeful will certainly get plenty of chances to boost his scoring total as the season progresses, though he has been used sparingly in today’s contest.

Next: 2017 Top 50 players in college football

Through the first 30 minutes of play the Nittany Lions are controlling both sides of the ball and lead the Zips 35-0. That’s right on par with expectations, and a good sign as other big name teams like Texas are struggling.