Kent State University
1-3
Penn State University
3-1
Kent State falls 34-0 at Penn State
9/21/2013 7:51:00 PM | Football
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Kent State stayed within striking distance of Penn State for the better part of three quarters before finally falling 34-0 on a soggy Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium.
Despite a difficult day on offense, the Golden Flashes trailed by just 14 points before Penn State's Zach Zwinak scored the second of his three touchdown runs to put the Nittany Lions ahead 21-0 with just 4:53 to play in the third quarter.
Zwinak's second three-touchdown day in as many weeks included scoring runs of 2 yards in the second quarter, 1 yard in the third quarter and another 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter.
"This was another tough loss, but we'll go back and evaluate film to continue to try and see what we are doing well and to improve some of the things we need to fix," said Kent State head coach Paul Haynes. "Our guys fought hard and kind of got worn out in the end. We started to get banged up. That's tough when you go against a physical team like Penn State."
Despite losing a starting nose tackle to injury for the second consecutive week, Kent State's depleted defense forced the Nittany Lions (3-1) to work for all of their 34 points. Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg struggled to complete just 13 of his 35 passes for 175 yards, one interception and one touchdown. Prior to the start of the day, the freshman had completed better than 71-percent of his attempts in his first three starts.
Star wide receiver Allen Robinson, who racked up seven catches for over 100 yards in each of his first three games this season, managed just three catches for 43 yards against a Kent State secondary that gained some valuable confidence.
Safety Luke Wollet led the Flashes in tackles with 11 while cornerbacks Dylan Farrington and Darius Polk recorded eight tackles each.
"Our coaches challenged us after we played LSU last week," said Farrington, who intercepted Hackenberg and batted down several fade passes for Robinson in the end zone during the second half. "We made a lot of plays in the back end, but that doesn't matter as much if you can't stop the run in the front end as well."
Led by Zwinak and a career 123-yard day by Akeel Lynch, Penn State out-rushed Kent State 287-to-56. The Nittany Lions out-gained Kent State 463-to-190.
Kent State misfired on an opportunity for a fast start in the first quarter after its defense forced a quick three-and-out on Penn State's opening drive. Unfortunately for the Golden Flashes, after marching to the Lions' 24, Anthony Melchiori slid a 31-yard field goal attempt just wide to the right.
Melchiori more than made up for that early miss with a brilliant day punting the football. The sophomore punted 10 times for a 46.5-yard average that included a long boot of 54 yards.
Trayion Durham led the Kent State ground game with 38 yards on 11 attempts. Colin Reardon completed 12-of-28 passes for 100 yards and one interception. Chris Humphrey added five catches for 47 yards.
Kent State (1-3) returns to action next week when it returns to Mid-American Conference play with a visit to Western Michigan at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28.
"I'm proud of a lot of the things we did today," said Haynes. "You know, this is where our season really starts. Right now with the MAC. Our guys will go back to work and concentrate on Western Michigan."
Post Game Notes
Senior Tyshon Goode raised his career catch total to 152, tying Darrell Dowery for second place among Kent State's career leaders.
Junior Dylan Farrington made his first career interception and a had a career-high eight tackles in his first start of the season.
Senior Roosevelt Nix raised his Kent State career leading tackles for loss total to 58.0.
Sophomore Matt Dellinger made his first career sack.
Sophomore nose tackle Chris Fairchild and freshman linebacker Darius Redmond made their first career starts.
Freshman defensive lineman Terrence Waugh made his first career appearance and first tackle.
Redshirt freshman Ernest Calhoun had a 22-yard run, giving him a pair of runs over 20 yards on just four carries this season.
Senior Zack Hitchens forced a fumble and had a tackle for loss.
Senior David Fisher completed his first pass of the season, finishing 5-of-8 for the game
Junior Chris Humphrey has made four or more catches in three games this season.
Sophomore Anthony Melchiori averaged 46.5 yards per punt on 10 punts.
Senior tight end Mike Levandowski made his first career catch.
Senior Darius Polk's 35-yard kick return was Kent State's longest of the season.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Team Stats
KENT 0, PSU 7
PSU - Belton, Bill 15 yd pass from Hackenberg, C. (Ficken, Sam kick) 9 plays, 87 yards, TOP 3:39
KENT 0, PSU 14
PSU - Zwinak, Zach 2 yd run (Ficken, Sam kick), 10 plays, 82 yards, TOP 2:59
KENT 0, PSU 21
PSU - Zwinak, Zach 1 yd run (Ficken, Sam kick), 9 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:55
KENT 0, PSU 24
PSU - Ficken, Sam 25 yd field goal 10 plays, 72 yards, TOP 3:26
KENT 0, PSU 31
PSU - Zwinak, Zach 1 yd run (Ficken, Sam kick), 12 plays, 83 yards, TOP 5:34
KENT 0, PSU 34
PSU - Ficken, Sam 54 yd field goal 6 plays, 10 yards, TOP 2:59
