McSorley’s 5 touchdowns lead Penn State’s rout of Kent State

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Trace McSorley accounted for five touchdowns and broke Penn State’s record for most rushing scores by a quarterback as the No. 11 Nittany Lions routed Kent State 63-10 on Saturday.

The Heisman Trophy hopeful completed 11 of 22 passes for 229 yards with an interception and ran for three touchdowns for the Nittany Lions (3-0), who led 28-10 at halftime. McSorley surpassed Daryll Clark’s 22 rushing scores and leads the program with 24.

McSorley also became the second Penn State quarterback to rush for 1,000 career yards, joining Michael Robinson with an 18-yard carry in the first quarter.

DeAndre Thompkins caught four passes for 101 yards and hauled in 40-yard touchdown pass to begin the rout for Penn State. Miles Sanders rushed for 86 yards on 14 carries while McSorley scored on runs of one, two and 13 yards. McSorley threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Polk with 2:37 to play in the third quarter before yielding his spot to backup Sean Clifford.

Mark Allen, Ricky Slade and Johnathan Thomas added rushing touchdowns for the Nittany Lions and Daniel George caught a late touchdown pass from Clifford.

Woody Barrett completed 20 of 38 passes with 176 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Mike Carrigan for the Golden Flashes (1-2). Matthew Trickett added a field goal.

THE TAKEAWAY

Kent State: The Golden Flashes hung around for a bit in the first half, but they struggled to protect Barrett and couldn’t cover Penn State’s speedy receivers. Overall, Kent State allowed seven sacks, gave up 667 total yards and committed 10 penalties for 83 yards, not a recipe for winning.

Penn State: The Nittany Lions built a big enough lead to rest most of their starters, with a short week and Friday night road trip to Illinois looming. The schedule has forced coach James Franklin to cancel his team’s planned off day on Sunday in order to prepare, so the extra rest in the second half should help. Franklin will need to find a way to clean up a host of mistakes, which included three penalties that washed out touchdowns, two fumbles and nine penalties for 109 yards.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Penn State: An explosive offensive showcase should keep Penn State about where it is.

UP NEXT

Kent State visits Ole Miss on Saturday.

Penn State travels to Illinois on Friday.

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