September 15, 2018 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Penn State defends the belt, 63–10, at home over Kent State.

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Penn State 63

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Kent State 10

AI-Written

Recap

Penn State dominated from the opening kickoff, with Trace McSorley orchestrating an explosive offensive performance that saw him score four touchdowns on the ground and through the air in the first half alone. Kent State managed an early touchdown response on a 47-yard pass to Mike Carrigan, but Penn State's defense largely shut down the Golden Flashes after that opening drive, forcing them into a sluggish offensive performance throughout. The Nittany Lions added five more touchdowns in the second half, including a 95-yard bomb from Sean Clifford to Daniel George in the fourth quarter, to cruise to a dominant 63-10 victory and retain the belt. Despite winning the time of possession battle, Kent State's offense could only muster 221 total yards and never seriously threatened Penn State's defense after the first quarter.

McSorley's three first-quarter touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) established Penn State's dominance early
Kent State's opening touchdown drive to Mike Carrigan showed brief competitiveness before Penn State's defense tightened
McSorley's interception to Elvis Hines in the second quarter, though not resulting in a Kent State score, showed minor Penn State vulnerability
Sean Clifford's 95-yard touchdown pass to Daniel George in the fourth quarter exemplified Penn State's offensive explosion and sealed the dominant victory

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Penn StateKent State

Total yards667221

Rushing yards29741

Passing yards370180

First downs2618

3rd down conv.5/127/20

Turnovers10

Penalties–yards9–10910–83

Time of possession28:2231:38

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:51	Penn State	+40 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to DeAndre Thompkins for 40 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q1 9:43	Kent State	+47 yd	Woody Barrett pass complete to Mike Carrigan for 47 yds for a TD PENN ST Penalty, offside defense ( Yards) declined, (Matthew Trickett KICK)
Q1 5:07	Penn State	+1 yd	Trace McSorley run for 1 yd for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q1 8:09	Penn State	+31 yd	Trace McSorley run for 18 yds to the KntSt 26 for a 1ST down KENT ST Penalty, personal foul (Matt Bahr) to the KntSt 13 for a 1ST down
Q1 1:09	Penn State	+2 yd	Trace McSorley run for 2 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q2 15:00	Kent State	+32 yd	Matthew Trickett punt for 40 yds, punt out-of-bounds at the KntSt 49 , DeAndre Thompkins returns for 32 yds to the KntSt 49
Q2 3:48	Penn State	-6 yd	Trace McSorley sacked by Kj Sherald for a loss of 6 yards to the PnSt 21 Trace McSorley fumbled, , return for 0 yards
Q2 3:48	Penn State	-26 yd	Trace McSorley pass intercepted Elvis Hines return for 26 yds to the PnSt 7
Q2 1:23	Kent State	+0 yd	Jo-El Shaw run for a loss of 8 yards to the PnSt 15 Jo-El Shaw fumbled, recovered by KntSt Jo-El Shaw , return for no gain to the PnSt 15
Q2 0:35	Kent State	+24 yd	Matthew Trickett 24 yd FG GOOD
Q2 0:04	Penn State	+13 yd	Trace McSorley run for 13 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q2 0:35	Kent State	+52 yd	Colten McFadden kickoff for 65 yds , KJ Hamler return for 52 yds to the KntSt 43
Q2 0:25	Penn State	+22 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to KJ Hamler for 22 yds to the KntSt 13 for a 1ST down
Q3 13:08	Penn State	+23 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Pat Freiermuth for 23 yds to the KntSt 11 for a 1ST down
Q3 10:05	Penn State	+7 yd	Mark Allen run for 7 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q3 7:42	Penn State	+2 yd	Ricky Slade run for 2 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q3 8:17	Penn State	+39 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to DeAndre Thompkins for 39 yds to the KntSt 2 for a 1ST down
Q3 2:37	Penn State	+41 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Brandon Polk for 41 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q3 5:45	Penn State	+3 yd	Miles Sanders run for 3 yds to the KntSt 41 Miles Sanders fumbled, forced by Jordan Silva, recovered by PnSt Trace McSorley
Q3 2:37	Kent State	+27 yd	Woody Barrett pass complete to Antwan Dixon for 12 yds to the PnSt 37 for a 1ST down PENN ST Penalty, roughing passer (Antonio Shelton) to the PnSt 48 for a 1ST down
Q3 2:37	Kent State	+33 yd	Matthew Trickett punt for 47 yds , KJ Hamler returns for 33 yds to the 50 yard line
Q4 6:55	Penn State	+95 yd	Sean Clifford pass complete to Daniel George for 95 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 1:09	Penn State	+15 yd	Johnathan Thomas run for 15 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 2:20	Penn State	+75 yd	Johnathan Thomas run for 69 yds to the PENNST 11 for a 1ST down KENT ST Penalty, personal foul (6 Yards) to the KntSt 5 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Trace McSorleyPenn State	11/22	229	10.4	2	1
Sean CliffordPenn State	3/3	141	47.0	1	0
Woody BarrettKent State	20/38	176	4.6	1	0
Dustin CrumKent State	1/2	4	2.0	0	0

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Miles SandersPenn State	14	86	6.1	0	13
Johnathan ThomasPenn State	3	84	28.0	1	69
Mark AllenPenn State	11	62	5.6	1	19
Trace McSorleyPenn State	9	54	6.0	3	18
Sean CliffordPenn State	2	10	5.0	0	6
Ricky SladePenn State	5	1	0.2	1	2
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	0	0.0	0	0
Dustin CrumKent State	3	23	7.7	0	10
Jo-el ShawKent State	10	22	2.2	0	10
Will MatthewsKent State	4	16	4.0	0	5
Justin RankinKent State	3	0	-5.0	0	2
TeamKent State	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Woody BarrettKent State	16	-18	-1.1	0	11

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
DeAndre ThompkinsPenn State	4	101	25.3	1	40
Daniel GeorgePenn State	1	95	95.0	1	95
Brandon PolkPenn State	2	55	27.5	1	41
Pat FreiermuthPenn State	2	35	17.5	0	23
Tyler ShoopPenn State	1	32	32.0	0	32
Zack KuntzPenn State	1	32	32.0	0	32
Miles SandersPenn State	3	30	10.0	0	19
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	22	22.0	0	22
Antwan DixonKent State	5	59	11.8	0	18
Mike CarriganKent State	3	58	19.3	1	47
Isaiah McKoyKent State	3	21	7.0	0	19
Justin RankinKent State	2	18	9.0	0	12
Jo-el ShawKent State	3	14	4.7	0	15
Manny Lawrence-BurkeKent State	1	4	4.0	0	4
Kavious PriceKent State	1	4	4.0	0	4
Trey HarrellKent State	3	2	0.7	0	5

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Cam BrownPenn State	7	3	0	2	0	0
Jonathan SutherlandPenn State	5	4	0	1	0	0
Micah ParsonsPenn State	5	2	0	0.5	0	1
Nick ScottPenn State	4	1	0	0	0	0
Shareef MillerPenn State	3	3	2	3	0	0
Jayson OwehPenn State	3	3	2	2	0	1
Lamont WadePenn State	3	3	1	2	0	0
Tariq Castro-FieldsPenn State	3	3	0	1	1	0
Jesse LuketaPenn State	3	3	0	0	0	0
Ayron MonroePenn State	3	2	0	0	0	0
Garrett TaylorPenn State	3	2	0	0	1	0
Shaka ToneyPenn State	3	1	0	0.5	0	0
Yetur Gross-MatosPenn State	2	2	1	2	0	1
Jan JohnsonPenn State	2	2	0	0	0	0
Ellison JordanPenn State	2	1	1	1	0	0
Amani OruwariyePenn State	2	1	0	0	2	0
Ellis BrooksPenn State	2	1	0	0	0	0
Isaac LutzPenn State	2	0	0	0	0	0
Trace McSorleyPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jabari ButlerPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jake CooperPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Kevin GivensPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Zech McPhearsonPenn State	1	1	0	0	1	0
Dae'Lun DarienPenn State	1	1	0	0	1	0
Donovan JohnsonPenn State	1	1	0	0	1	0
PJ MustipherPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jarvis MillerPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jason VranicPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Daniel JosephPenn State	1	0	0	0	1	0
Antonio SheltonPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Max ChizmarPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Trent GordonPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dalton HicksKent State	12	4	0	0.5	0	0
Matt BahrKent State	9	3	0	0.5	0	1
Jamal ParkerKent State	5	4	0	0	0	0
Cepeda PhillipsKent State	5	3	0	0	0	0
Jordan SilvaKent State	5	2	0	1	0	0
Juantez McRaeKent State	4	2	0	0	0	0
Elvis HinesKent State	4	2	0	0	1	0
Nick FaulknerKent State	3	3	0	1	0	0
Dominic HillKent State	3	3	0	0	0	0
KJ SheraldKent State	3	2	1	1	0	0
Matthew TrickettKent State	2	2	0	0	0	0
Darryl MarshallKent State	2	1	0	0	1	0
Theo MajetteKent State	2	1	0	0	0	1
Miles DanielKent State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Colten McFaddenKent State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Dennis WaribokoKent State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Isaiah McKoyKent State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Theo EboigbeKent State	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Trace McSorleyPenn State	1	0	0
Miles SandersPenn State	1	0	0
Jo-el ShawKent State	1	0	0

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Elvis HinesKent State	1	26	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	52	52.0	52	0
Justin RankinKent State	3	46	15.3	19	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake PinegarPenn State	0/0	0.0	0	9/9	9
Matthew TrickettKent State	1/1	100.0	24	1/1	4

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
DeAndre ThompkinsPenn State	3	62	20.7	32
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	33	33.0	33
Tariq Castro-FieldsPenn State	1	-2	-2.0	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Blake GillikinPenn State	2	97	48.5	2	0	58
Matthew TrickettKent State	11	405	36.8	1	2	50

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

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