Nicholas Singleton ran for two touchdowns and Drew Allar threw for a touchdown as No. 2 Penn State cruised over visiting Villanova 52-6 on Saturday in University Park, Pa.
Allen finished 16-of-29 for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Kaytron Allen ran for a team-high 86 yards, Singleton ran 20 times for 84 yards for the Nittany Lions (3-0), while Trebor Pena chipped in 60 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches.
Villanova quarterbacks Pat McQuaide and Tanner Maddocks combined to go 13-of-27 for 96 yards with an interception each. Maddocks got the Wildcats (1-1) on the scoreboard with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Binkowski on the final play of the game.
Penn State opened the game with a 12-play, 78-yard touchdown drive. The Nittany Lions converted a pair of third downs on the march before Singleton punctuated the drive with a 4-yard TD run.
Those were the only points of the first quarter, which ended with Penn State holding a 114-6 advantage in total yards.
Ryan Barker’s 45-yard field goal made it 10-0 early in the second quarter, and his 28-yard kick increased the advantage to 13-0 midway through the period.
On the ensuing possession, Villanova attempted a field goal of its own, but Jack Barnum’s 47-yarder was wide left. Seven plays later, Penn State found the end zone on Allar’s 23-yard TD pass to Pena – a laser between two defenders – to make it 21-0 after a two-point conversion.
Following a Barker field goal early in the third quarter, the Nittany Lions tacked on another touchdown late in the third. Singleton ran for 4 yards on fourth-and-1, setting up his own 3-yard TD run two plays later.
The hosts pulled away in the fourth quarter behind three touchdowns in less than 4 1/2 minutes.
First, Allen unleashed an 18-yard TD run to make it 38-0, and then backup QB Ethan Grunkemeyer found Joey Schlaffer for a 19-yard score. Jahmir Joseph provided the exclamation point with a 49-yard pick-six with 6 1/2 minutes to play.
