Film review | No. 7 Penn State capitalizes on Delaware’s mistakes in 63-7 victory

On Saturday, Penn State defeated Delaware 63-7 in a matchup that featured a rushing touchdown master-class by the Nittany Lions. The Blue Hens struggled to contain the onslaught, but there was plenty of good and bad left at Beaver Stadium that Penn State must evaluate before heading on the road for the first time this season.

Mike Bolger and Amanda Vogt detail the plays that stood out during this matchup and provide some analysis.

Amanda Vogt

Play we liked: 1st&10 DEL 36 – Drew Allar escapes pocket and throws across body to connect with Dante Cephas for 26 yards.

Allar received the snap and looked left but faced heavy Blue-Hen pressure quickly forcing him to abandon the pocket.

Keeping his eyes downfield, the Medina, Ohio, native moved into space and continued to scan before connecting with Cephas downfield. The transfer from Kent State originally ran a slant up the middle of the field but cut back toward the outside in response to Allar’s scrambling.

Throughout the game, Allar demonstrated his ability to work through progressions and connect with receivers in the pocket and in situations where he had to avoid a heavy onset of pressure.

Cephas showed great awareness to track back and get open to provide Allar a target rather than be forced to throw the ball away.

Play we didn’t like: Offsides call on DEL punt

Head coach James Franklin was “disappointed” that his team didn’t win the penalty battle in the matchup.

In the Blue Hen’s first possession of the second quarter, Penn State’s defense forced a three-and-out, but during the punt, the Nittany Lions were called offsides.

Dvon Ellies jumped the line of scrimmage, so Delaware was able to return its offense to the field. Luckily, it was unable to capitalize, and the blue and yellow eventually punted again.

Special teams must continue to clean up those mental errors and small mistakes because as the opponents get tougher, penalties like that could become dangerous and momentum-changing.

Standout/Unique play: 1st&10 DEL 49 – Allar flea flicker with Singleton — connected with Lambert-Smith for 19 yards.

With offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich in the booth this season, there’s a higher chance of adding creativity to the playbook. Delaware struggled to contain Penn State’s running backs and force incompletions through the air.

The Nittany Lions exploited that weakness with this play. After Allar handed it off, he dropped back a few yards, anticipating Singleton’s pitch back to him. That gave him the room to set his feet and connect downfield to Lambert-Smith, who had a few yards of separation from the Blue Hen defender.

Because of the blue and white’s multi-threat offense, adding plays like this one will force defenses to be spread out too thin and get caught off guard.

Micheal Bolger

Play we liked: 1ST&GOAL PSU 2 – Drew Allar zips one to Tyler Warren across the middle of the endzone.

After a dropped pass by Harrison Wallace III that was reversed by a holding call on the defense, Penn State’s offense put two wide receivers to both the left and right of Allar. Delaware put five defenders on the line with Nicholas Singleton in the backfield and blockers in front of him.

As Delaware was in man-to-man coverage across the field with a safety and linebacker threatening to rush, Allar took a quick drop back. The sophomore quarterback stayed poised against a seven-man rush and fired one into the hands of Warren, who used his size to win the slant route over the middle.

The offensive line picked up the blitz well, especially as Nicholas Singleton made a massive block on a linebacker sprinting past the line for Allar to make a clean throw.

Play we didn’t like: 3rd&1 DEL 34 – Marcus Yarns bursts through the middle and across the field for a 66-yard touchdown run.

At the end of the first quarter, Delaware looked to keep pace with Penn State as it trailed 14-0 in hostile territory. Yarns gave the Fightin’ Blue Hens a chance with the biggest play of the afternoon from either team.

Penn State stacked the box with five defense linemen on the line and two linebackers five yards away from the ball against five offensive linemen and a tight end on either side. To see what the defense was in, Ryan O’Conner motioned Kym Wimberly from the far side of the field to the near.

As Wimberly gets close, O’Conner snaps the ball and hands it off to Yarns as Wimberly flies by simultaneously.

The entire right side of the line smushes the interior of the defensive line while three blockers push Zuriah Fisher and Abdul Carter past the play on the left side. Through the confusion, three defenders are left on the right side and out of the play.

Yarns ran up the middle but cut left at the last second as Tyler Eldson bit down on the run and missed the tackle. The senior was off to the races, with Cam Miller being the only defender around, who was not fast enough to catch the speedy back.

Standout/Unique play: 2nd&5 DEL 25 – Dominic Deluca picks off Zach Marker and takes it to the house

Penn State generated its first two turnovers on Saturday after Franklin commented that the team needed to win the turnover battle. The Nittany Lions won that battle with a Keaton Ellis forced fumble and Deluca’s pick-six.

On second down, Delaware drew up a designed role out with Marker to the far side of the field. The Fightin’ Blue Hens offensive line handled a five-man pass rush from the Nittany Lions but left Marker blind to the middle of the field.

Marker forced the ball down the sideline to an open receiver sitting in what he thought was a soft spot of the defense.

However, Deluca read his eyes the entire way before he jumped in front of the receiver and took it back for the eighth touchdown. To add salt to the wound, Deluca made Marker miss on the tackle during the runback.

Micheal Bolger is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mpb6233@psu.edu.
Amanda Vogt is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amandaevogt@gmail.com