FINAL
PENN STATE 34, KENT STATE 0
FOURTH QUARTER
13:12 ... A Sam Ficken 25-yard field goal extends Penn State's lead to 24-0.
Cornerbacks are leading the way for Kent State in tackles ... which is never a good sign.
The good news is that those cornerbacks, Dylan Farrington and Darius Polk (7 tackles each) are having very good games.
They've made several nice plays on lobs from Hackenberg for Robinson today. That duo did came into today playing extremely well, but neither has had much of an impact today. Penn State is starting to pull away because of the running game and its defense.
6:42 ... The third touchdown of the day for Zwinak, a one-yard dive, puts Penn State ahead 31-0, and after a defensive holding extended the drive, allowing Penn State to go for a 4th-and-2.
Hackenberg's day is over. He completed just 13-of-35 for 176 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Robinson caught just three passes for 43 yards and had a hard time shaking Farrington and the rest of the Kent State corners in the second half.
While today's game has to be frustrating for Kent State fans, they may be able to take some encouragement from the effort of a defense that kept this one close for the better part of three quarters ... and in particular a secondary that pretty made life difficult for what had been a very hot passing tandem in Hackenberg and Robinson.
2:45 ... A 54-yard field goal by Ficken clears the crossbar by just a few inches.
Penn State 34, Kent State 0
THIRD QUARTER
15:00 ... The rain is light at best, but most of the crowd has still decided to take off at halftime. Beaver Stadium is less than half full at the start of the second half.
A good return by Darius Polk to the Kent State 37 gets the half underway.
13:30 ... Boyle is limping a bit after an incomplete pass on third down. A quick three-and-out for Kent State's offense.
The attendance announcement of 92,371 draws loud laughter from the media assembled in the Beaver Stadium press box.
11:20 ... An incomplete pass by Penn State on 4th-and-2 from the Kent State 36 ... Turnover on downs and a good job by Kent State's defense.
David Fisher in at quarterback for Kent State.
11:20 ... An incomplete pass by Penn State on 4th-and-2 from the Kent State 36 ... Turnover on downs and a good job by Kent State's defense.
David Fisher in at quarterback for Kent State.
11:07 ... Another Kent State player helped off the field. Anthony Meray injured.
9:32 ... Kent State forced to punt again after Fisher is sacked on third down.
So far the Golden Flashes injury-riddled defense has played as well as you could expect after the loss of another big body up front. The offense has struggled, however. With the offensive line unable to provide a push in the running game. It's a tough assignment again against a BCS front seven and without a veteran like McShane.
8:43 ... Back-to-back interceptions.
First, Hackenberg is picked off by Dylan Farrington of Kent State on a nice third-down play.
That followed Reardon throwing his first pick of his career. Also the first interception of Ryan Keiser's career for Penn State.
8:27 ... Kent State's defense continuing to play well, forcing three straight incompletions by Hackenberg, who is now just 12-for-30 after coming in 71.7-percent of his passes.
7:00 ... Both quarterbacks are struggling in the third quarter. Penn State is getting back to running the ball.
6:23 ... I've know seen it all... Kent State's defense was just called for an illegal block in the back? The defense? An illegal block in the back?
Polk is playing well in the secondary for Kent State. Hackenberg is just 1-of-10 in the second half.
4:53 ... Zwinak with his second touchdown of the day, a 1-yard dive.
Penn State 21, Kent State 0
2:02 ... Kent State offense moving the ball a bit, but now facing a 3rd-and-11, thanks in large part to a an apparent missed pass-interference call on first down following a 22-yard reverse by Calhoun. Penn State's Jordan Lucas appeared to be on the back of Tyshon Goode.
Paul Haynes was furious on the Kent State sideline. Officials have not been a help to Kent State today.
SECOND QUARTER
12:11 ... Penn State offense is back on the field after Kent State's third drive of the day comes up empty, but not before finally showing some life in the running game on a second-down audible, slipping a handoff to Durham for 11 yards.
Timing has been off on a few screen passes so far today.
11:26 ... Another scary moment as Kent State may be in danger of losing another nose tackle. Chris Fairchild being helped off the field with what appears to be an injury to his lower right leg.
He is walking off very gingerly.
Kent State gets smaller and smaller along the defensive line. The biggest body now on the defensive front is 270-pound tackle Andrew Christopher.
Defensive line has gone from a perceived strength to a question mark with two of the strongest players on the defensive front now sidelined.
Hopefully the injury to Fairchild isn't serious.
9:26 ... Penn State worked over the injury-riddled and size-depleted defensive line of Kent State on a 10-play, 82-yard touchdown drive, capped by Zach Zwinak's 2-yard touchdown run.
Defensive line has gone from a perceived strength to a question mark with two of the strongest players on the defensive front now sidelined.
Hopefully the injury to Fairchild isn't serious.
9:26 ... Penn State worked over the injury-riddled and size-depleted defensive line of Kent State on a 10-play, 82-yard touchdown drive, capped by Zach Zwinak's 2-yard touchdown run.
Penn State 14, Kent State 0
8:30 ... Fairchild is on a cart headed for locker room.
This is another frustrating day, and not because of the scoreboard. Losing Terhune and Fairchild in back-to-back weeks is a major blow ... if Fairchild ends up missing some time.
6:22 ... Kent State is having a very tough time switching plays at the line of scrimmage. Kent State forced to punt for a third consecutive drive ... and all three by Melchiori downed inside the 20.
4:03 ... Matt Delllinger gets his first career sack, dropping Hackenberg for a loss of seven yards.
Two plays later, Penn State forced to punt after an incompletion on 3rd-and-17. Just good to get off of the field on third-and-long.
Ernest Calhoun with a dangerous lunging grab of the punt. Kent State will start at its own 37, hoping to cut into a 14-0 Penn State lead.
2:19 ... Thank goodness for Anthony Melchiori ... he's a big reason this game is just 14-0. He has flipped the field with every punt ... This last one a 53 yarder downed at the Penn State 2.
1:20 ... Nice play by Zack Hitchens, dropping Zwinak for a 3-yard loss. After KSU timeout, if the defense can get a stop here on 3rd-and-13, the Flashes could get a shot here at the end of the quarter.
Throw and an incomplete pass ... Penn State set to punt with Calhoun back at midfield waiting to receive for Kent State... Fair caught at the Kent State 47 with 1:10. A short 36-yard punt for Penn State.
The local paper had advantages checked for Penn State in every phase of the game. Kent State certainly winning at punter.
1:10 ... Kent State may have had 12 on the field on that Penn State punt ... Officials are reviewing. If this goes against Kent State, it would be the second time in three weeks that the Golden Flashes are stung for 12 men on the field ... and a chance to cut into the Penn State lead late in the first half would be lost.
UPDATE - The penalty did not give Penn State a first down, so the Lions declined. Kent State ball.
HALFTIME: Penn State 14, Kent State 0
Anthony Melchiori made up for his missed 31-yard field goal with a great first half punting the football, averaging 50.5 yards on his four kicks.
Penn State leads in every statistical category, 142-to-83 through the air, 74-to-18 on the ground.
The Flashes have done a decent job, however, against Christian Hackenberg, who came in completing better than 70-percent of his passes. The Penn State quarterback was 11-for-21 in the first half. Star wide receiver Allen Robinson has three catches for 43 yards.
For Kent State, Colin Reardon is still playing interception-free football after the first 14 quarters of his college career. Reardon completed 10-of-17 passes in the first half for 83 yards. Five of those were to Chris Humphrey, who had 47 receiving yards in the first two quarters.
FIRST QUARTER
14:55 ... Penn State will open from its own 17-yard line after good coverage by Kent State on the opening kickoff.Redmond is in as the starting linebacker, but not for Dellinger as we were told prior to the game.
He starts instead for DeVante' Strickland.
13:30 ... A quick three-and-out for Penn State, and a near interception on the third-down pass as the Nittany Lions tried to set up the screen.
Possible disaster as the punt hit Calhoun, but we may have a penalty for fair-catch interference. The Golden Flashes will start at the Penn State 36.
Kent State tried to go up top right off the bat, and Reardon had Tyshon Goode a step behind the defense. The ball was slightly under-thrown, and Goode couldn't make the play on the jump ball at the goal line.
Love the aggressiveness, going for the big play on first down.
12:28 ... A quick slant from Reardon to Humphrey on 3rd-and-8 picks up 10 and a first down at the Penn State 23. A good start for the Golden Flashes.
10:23 ... Throw for Humphrey on 3rd-and-6 goes for 5 yards, setting up a field-goal attempt of 31 yards by Anthony Melchiori.... which sails wide right. Still no score.
8:03 ... Kent State defense forces another Penn State punt. The blitz forced Penn State's Christian Hackenberg to throw high to his intended receiver on 3rd-and-7 after the Lions had marched across midfield to the 49.
A quick kick on 4th down by Hackenberg rolled dead at the Kent State 8, forcing the Flashes to start drive No. 2 deep in their own territory.
A screen throw to Boyle for 18 yards on second down has given the Flashes a little bit of breathing room.
6:09 ... Near disaster for Kent State as a zone read led to a fumble and a four-yard loss. Reardon clearly intended to keep the ball while Durham tried to take it.
5:47... One heck of a leaping grab by Humphrey for another 18 yard gain on 3rd-and-14 moves the chains again for the Flashes. Reardon and Humphrey have a good thing going here in the first three weeks.
Reardon fumbles on first down sack, and a very clear facemask by a Penn State defender fails to draw a flag. Break for Penn State.
3:56 ... Reardon very nearly throws his first career interception, throwing into double coverage on the sideline – Late and off of his back foot on third down.
Melchiori flips the field with a 49-yard punt. Fair caught at the Penn State 12.
2:57 ... Two big throws by Hackenberg has Penn State on the move at the Kent State 35... A 29-yarder to Kyle Carter and an 18-yarder to Allen Robertson.
0:50 ... A break for Kent State as Hackenberg fumbles on play-action throw on 2nd down. A loss of nine sets up third and goal at the Kent State 15.
0:09 ... Penn State on the board first with a 15-yard touchdown pass on third down to Bill Belton on what looked like a wheel route. Kent State's defense has had its troubles getting off the field on third-and-10-plus this season.
Penn State 7, Kent State 0
PREGAME
3:38 p.m. ... Dri Archer is in full uniform to represent the Golden Flashes as a captain for the opening coin flip. We are told, however, that he is still not expected to play.
Penn State won the opening coin toss and has decided to receive the opening kickoff.
3:33 p.m. ... The torrential downpour has arrived.
3:26 p.m. ... The rain had been letting up over the last 20 minutes, but dark clouds are gathering to the north. It looks like another downpour is coming.
Beaver Stadium is less than three-quarters full. There had been some debate among the scribes here in the press box over how many fans would actually show up for this game. One regular in the Penn State media said he expected an announced crowd of over 90,000, but the actual attendance to be closer to 50,000.
2:44 p.m. ... Official: Dri Archer is definitely out, as is McShane.
Matt Dellinger is not in the starting lineup at linebacker for the first time this season. He will be replaced by Darius Redmond.
(Update: 3:01 p.m.) Dellinger does not appear to be injured. He is out there at the moment, working out with the linebackers.
2:42 p.m. ... Exactly one hour before kickoff and the rain is now a downpour.
Interestingly, this is the second consecutive game on a natural grass surface for Kent State. That doesn't happen very often for the Golden Flashes, who played just one game on grass last season ... That game was at Kentucky, where they lost their only regular-season game, 47-14.
Elton Alexander of the Plain Dealer is here in the press box, and he's hoping to see the turf at Beaver Stadium turned into a giant mud pit.
2:07 p.m. ... To me, the key even in this rain is going to be finding a way to slow down Penn State wide receiver Allen Robinson, who is fourth in the nation in receiving yards with 405 after big games against Syracuse, Eastern Michigan and Central Florida in the first three weeks.
It will be interesting to see how Colin Reardon handles the rain and another big-time college atmosphere here at Beaver Stadium. He was extremely poised again last week when at Louisiana State.
Finding a running game to take some pressure off of Reardon would also help. Despite Trayion Durham's struggles to get going, head coach Paul Haynes has talked about how pleased he is with the big back's play so far in his junior year. There haven't been many running holes for Durham, but he is still having an impact as a blocker. He has hustled to keep plays alive, recovering a fumble at the goal line to make Kent State's only touchdown possible last week, and working hard in pass protection.
What do you think? What are the biggest keys to keeping this game close?
1:48 p.m. ... The team has arrived at Beaver Stadium. Gold pants this week with the white tops.
I spent my morning experiencing a few Penn State traditions ... including some "Peachy Paterno" ice cream at the Berkey Creamery with some Kent State fans. It is the largest university creamery in the United States ... and it boasts over 100 flavors.
After taking a bike taxi from campus back to Beaver Stadium, we visited with a large group of Kent State fans tailgating in the shadow of the north stands. Just like last week at LSU, the team brought along a large group of supporters and some members of the Kent State University Board of Trustees.It still looks like no Dri Archer today. Same for guard Pat McShane. In this rain, it's probably a good idea to hold both out. It's been spitting rain for most of the last hour, and it's only supposed to get stronger as the day goes on.
It'll be interesting to see if the rain impacts the Penn State passing game, with quarterback Christian Hackenberg throwing to Allen Robinson. In his three games this season, Robinson has caught 7-for-133 vs. Syracuse, 7-for-129 vs. Eastern Michigan and 9-for-143 vs. Central Florida, including one touchdown reception in each of those games. He is a tough assignment for cornerbacks Darius Polk and Malcom Pannell, who will need help over the top from safeties Keenan Stalls and Luke Wollet.
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