2023 Penn State football game grades: Delaware

No. 7 Penn State was nothing short of dominant in its Saturday evening matchup against Delaware. The Nittany Lions offense scored on eight of their 11 drives while the defense allowed five first downs throughout 60 minutes of play.

With a near-perfect performance from the blue and white, here are the grades from all three phases of the game.

Offense: A

315 yards and six touchdowns on the ground from seven different carries kept Penn State far ahead of Delaware on Saturday. Nicholas Singleton’s hat trick of touchdowns in the first half, paired with Kaytron Allen’s 103 yards rushing and one score, opened the playbook for everyone involved.

Drew Allar continued to build off his week one performance with another impressive outing in front of his home crowd. The sophomore threw for 204 yards and one touchdown while he gave Penn State fans plenty to be excited for.

After they received a few targets against West Virginia, Tyler Warren and Theo Johnson got a ton of attention throughout the game. Warren, in particular, caught six passes for 37 yards and a score, while Johnson played a significant role in the blocking game.

Speaking of the blocking game, the push that the Nittany Lions got in the trenches from the overall size difference gave the backfield room to work while not allowing a single sack.

With a 42-7 lead at the start of the third quarter, Penn State fans got to see Beau Pribula, Trey Potts and Tank Smith that proved the talk about how deep this roster truly is.

Defense: A-

The Nittany Lions defense allowed one touchdown, five first downs and 140 yards throughout Saturday’s contest. The defense also forced six three-and-outs against Ryan O’Connor, Zach Marker and the Delaware offense.

Penn State notched seven tackles for loss and four sacks from four different players. Zane Durant and Jaylen Reed were two of those players who not only recorded a sack but also had a part in putting the pressure on the line.

One of James Franklin’s main points of improvement out of West Virginia was to win the turnover battle. Saturday, a Keaton Ellis forced fumble and Dominic Deluca pick-six helped the Nittany Lions win that battle.

Another of Franklin’s notes was to improve in the run game, which the defense did outside of one 66-yard run from Marcus Yarns. Franklin said there was a missed assignment on the play, and while they held Delaware to 82 total yards, there are still some things that need to be cleaned up.

Special Teams: B-

Despite no field goal attempts occurring in the game, Alex Felkins went perfect in PATs, which continued to build his confidence after he took over for Sander Sahaydak last week.

While special teams didn’t see much action on Saturday, there was a case where the Penn State defense forced a punt, but an offsides penalty gave Delaware a fresh set of downs. Outside of one other hold, not much for the special teams to do after a near-perfect day from the offense.

Coaching: A-

Penn State’s coaching staff had the team ready to play and a game plan that worked to perfection. The offense played as efficiency was fueled by the plan to lean on the run while the defense put pressure on the quarterback throughout the game.

Mike Yurcich even pulled some tricky and unique plays from the playbook with the T-Formation and a flea flicker that led to a chunk gain from Allar to KeAndre Lambert-Smith.

Even in a 56-point victory margin at home, there are still some aspects of the game that need to be looked at. The main one being the seven penalties for 55 yards and the timeout before the half that was used after the offense couldn’t get set before the play clock ran down.

Micheal Bolger is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mpb6233@psu.edu.