Nicholas Singleton rushed for two touchdowns and Dani Dennis-Sutton was a terror on defense as No. 2 Penn State rolled to an easy 46-11 victory over Nevada on Saturday in the season opener for both teams at University Park, Pa.
Drew Allar completed 22 of 26 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown as the Nittany Lions controlled the contest. Sutton forced two fumbles and had 2.5 stops for losses, including one sack.
Kyron Hudson caught six passes for 89 yards and one touchdown for Penn State. Kaytron Allen added a rushing score, Trebor Pena caught seven passes for 74 yards, and Ryan Barker kicked four field goals.
Chubba Purdy was 7-of-15 passing for 97 yards, with one interception, for Nevada. The brother of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy accumulated a team-leading 55 yards on the ground.
Penn State outgained the Wolf Pack 438-203 and had a 25-13 edge in first downs.
Nevada was moving well on the game-opening drive before Dennis-Sutton forced Ky Woods to fumble and teammate A.J. Harris recovered at the Nittany Lions’ 31-yard line.
Penn State responded with a 13-play, 69-yard drive that took 6:41, with Singleton scoring from the 1 with 3:05 left in the first quarter.
Barker kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 10-0 with 1:41 remaining in the period. Allen scored on a 12-yard run to boost the lead to 17 with 10:02 left in the half.
The Wolf Pack got on the board nearly five minutes later when Joe McFadden kicked a 28-yard field goal.
Barker kicked a 28-yarder for Penn State to make it 20-3 with 2:22 left in the half. Allar capped the first-half dominance with a 31-yard scoring pass to Hudson with 23 seconds left.
Barker kicked a 32-yard field goal to make the score 30-3 with 9:23 left in the third quarter.
Dennis-Sutton then forced another fumble, and Zakee Wheatley recovered at the Nevada 16. Two plays later, Singleton scored from the 1 to make it a 33-point margin as a bad snap sabotaged the extra-point attempt.
Barker booted a 39-yard field goal to make the score 39-3 with 3:21 left in the third quarter. Penn State backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer scored on a 6-yard run with 7:37 left in the contest.
The Wolf Pack found the end zone with 25 seconds left when AJ Bianco tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Bellon. Bianco then threw a two-point conversion pass to Jeff Carpenter.
–Field Level Media
