Penn State cruises to 46-10 victory over Ohio in home opener behind offensive explosion
Penn State football rolled in its home opener to get to 2-0 overall, defeating the Ohio Bobcats 46-10 in Beaver Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions were able to move the ball easily on the Bobcats early and often. The team’s first touchdown was on a quarterback sneak by redshirt senior Sean Clifford after a long drive that took up 77 yards and lasted just under six minutes. It was followed by a 70-yard touchdown by freshman running back Nick Singleton that ate up less than a minute.
Penn State added five more points on a safety and field goal before Ohio finally got on the board. The Bobcats pulled out all the stops, including a hook and ladder and a wide receiver pass, on a drive that ended with a one-yard Sieh Bengura run.
The Nittany Lions responded, much like they did during the middle eight minutes last week, scoring a touchdown on a seven-yard pass from Clifford to senior receiver Mitch Tinsley. The score was preceded by a big catch and run by Parker Washington, who nearly scored but was ruled to have stepped out of bounds prior to reaching the endzone.
The halftime lead was more than enough for Penn State, who brought in freshman quarterback and former five-star recruit Drew Allar for the majority of the second half.
Allar kept the offensive momentum rolling, adding a touchdown throw to Omari Evans before Singleton scampered in for another score to make it a blowout at 40-7. The Nittany Lions coasted from there, closing out the 46-10 victory.
Player of the game
Penn State running back Nick Singleton
Singleton broke the game open early with his 70-yard touchdown run and looked like the five-star back he was touted as out of high school. He’s fast, powerful and can accelerate with the best of them. The freshman had 10 rushing attempts for 179 yards in the game, with his big play standing out among his touches. He left several defenders in the dust on the play — many of whom looked like they had an angle to potentially bring him down. That type of run — a one-cut, foot in the ground and go run that he nearly replicated later in the game — will likely be a staple for Singleton this season and the rest of his Penn State career.
What the win means
The Nittany Lions handled business in a game they needed to win easily to inspire confidence heading into the remainder of the season. The narrow victory against Purdue left the team on somewhat shaky ground on how it would do, but defeating Ohio with relative ease should give Penn State confidence moving forward. That’s a good thing, because they head on the road to face the Auburn Tigers in what will be their most difficult non-conference matchup of the season.
This story was originally published September 10, 2022 at 3:42 PM.
