Penn State Football: Nittany Lions look to gain steam vs. Kent State
Penn State football is looking to remain unbeaten and it’ll get a good shot at 3-0 with a cakewalk of a Week 3 matchup against Kent State.
Penn State looked vastly improved last week after a close call against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Week 1 where they had to duke it out in overtime to escape with a win.
It makes sense that the Nittany Lions looked improved, however, because they were going up against heated rival Pitt and coach Jonathan Franklin likely still has a bitter taste in his mouth after losing to the Panthers several years ago.
The offense is firing on all cylinders going into this matchup but has the defense made the necessary adjustments for a game against a fast Kent State offense.
Kent State might not be the best, but they certainly look better. Their defense has improved seven spots in total defense to 70th nationally and they are currently 38th nationally in total offense compared to 128th at the end of last season. Sean Lewis has coined the Golden Flashes’ offense as the FlashFast Offense and they are currently the 14th fastest offense in college football with 84 plays per game.
This offense has looked great due in part to Auburn-transfer Woody Barrett who has looked incredible in the air and on the ground. Can the offense do enough here to wear out an already shallow front seven?
Know that we’ve covered the past few weeks, let’s look into Saturday’s early matchup between the Nittany Lions and the Golden Flashes.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 15
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: University Park, Penn.
Venue: Beaver Stadium
TV: Fox Sports 1
Live Stream: FOX Sports Go or FuboTV
Players to Watch
Kent State
- QB — Woody Barrett
- LBs — Matt Bahr and Jim Jones
- DBs — Jamal Parker and KJ Sherald
Penn State
- QB — Trace McSorley
- RB — Miles Sanders
- WRs — Juwan Johson and KJ Hamler
- DB — Garrett Taylor
- LB — Micah Parsons
Keys To Victory
Kent State’s offense is really fast. Last year their offense was non-existent and they’ve already torn up Howard and Illinois’ defenses in the past two weeks. If Woody Barrett can keep this offense high paced and moving, they might be able to stretch out the lack of depth that Penn State has at linebacker. The Golden Flashes don’t look too bad on defense with seven sacks in the first two games and if they can get after quarterback Trace McSorley enough, they might have a shot.
So, this isn’t exactly the look ahead spot that Kent State is looking for from Penn State. If the Lions had Ohio State next week rather than two weeks from now, they might have lost focus next week but not this week.
On top of that, Kent State’s defense is nowhere good enough to stop a Penn State offense that averages 412 yards per game as well as 48 points per game. The Lions are also really stingy when it comes to turnovers with only two turnovers on the season and neither of them coming through the air.
Betting Odds
Courtesy of OddsShark
Points Spread: Penn State -35
Over/Under: 62
Next. Top 30 breakout candidates for 2018 season. dark
Prediction
Penn State is 0-2 against weaker competition and a scare in Week 1 against Appalachian State was absolutely eye-opening for the Lions. Kent State is going to need something drastic to happen to even come close to winning this game. Penn State wins with ease.
Final Score: Penn State 45, Kent State 14