22 Random Thoughts On Penn State’s 63-7 Victory Over Delaware

I am a man of the people. Always have been. Always will be. Last week, the people rightly pointed out that my “thoughts” weren’t that random. I basically gave my stream of consciousness as the game went along, which is hardly random. So I come to you today not with perfection, but hopefully a better heaping of the “random” part.

1. As I talked about last week, I enjoy having these stress-free out-of-conference matchups that are essentially glorified scrimmages. As the NFL showed this past Sunday, it can take some time for teams — especially offenses — to gel and get into the groove of things now that starters don’t play nearly as much in the preseason. With colleges having *no* preseason games at all, the Blue Hens basically provided that for the Nittany Lions.
2. Plus, it is fun watching Penn State score 63 points. I don’t care who the opponent it, it is cool to see the Nittany Lions drop nine touchdowns on the other team.
3. I’m going to go with “Who cares?” because the offense was supremely efficient on the day, but I’d be remiss to not mention that Penn State’s longest passing play went for 26 yards while its longest rushing play went for 20 yards. Against the likes of Delaware, you’d like to see at least a play or two over 30 yards.
4. I know the premise here is “random” thoughts, but staying on track for a second: who had Nick Singleton’s longest run through two games being for 14 yards? Wouldn’t have gotten pretty tasty odds on that one.
5. Much better game for Abdul Carter, albeit he was sackless and TFL-less. I thought he played much more under control, which as Manny Diaz pointed out during his preseason press conference, will be key for Carter to take that next step as a linebacker. Not every snap needs a superhero-type play.
6. Two catches for 14 yards for Theo Johnson. I’m trying to remain patient, but are we seriously going to do this thing?
7. Big blowout meant lot of Beau Pribula in the second half, who was basically as advertised. He’s still rather rudimentary as a passer, but given all his tools, he’s probably going to be the best running quarterback at Penn State since Michael Robinson.
8. True freshman defensive end Jameial Lyons is one to be excited about. He’s all of 6-foot-5, 246 pounds, and as he displayed on his thunderous sack during the third quarter, he moves differently than most defensive ends. Whether that redshirt gets burned might depend upon Amin Vanover’s availability the rest of the year, but if not, Lyons is someone who could push for more and more time as the year goes on.
9. Penn State got Drew Allar a rushing touchdown which I guess counts for something, but only managing to get him *one* passing touchdown against an FCS opponent is not how we win him the Heisman. PAD HIS STATS, YURCICH!
10. Not that I thought Dom DeLuca was a bad athlete by any stretch, but man did he look comfortable running with the ball on his pick six. Sometimes you forgot that the defensive guys — especially linebackers — were really good running backs and/or quarterbacks in high school.
11. I’m just imaging another a world where DeLuca goes to a PSAC school and is an all-conference running back.
12. Ohio State only scored 35 points against Youngstown State. I’m just saying, but that wouldn’t have happened under Urban Meyer. That matchup with Notre Dame in two weeks looking more and more interesting, folks.
13. As a fellow Irishman, I can appreciate the fact that it looked like Drew Allar got sunburnt on his arms during the first half. We are built different.
14. You know Kalen King is stupidly elite because I can barely recall quarterbacks even throwing near him through the first two games.
15. Perhaps Delaware’s Marcus Yarns is just very fast, but Cam Miller felt a little stuck in the mud there while chasing him, no?
16. I won’t pile on the kid because Penn State Twitter went in so I’ll say this: going to have to see more of Kobe King at the Mike. Perhaps even get some run with Abdul in the middle? The latter might be easier said than done.
17. I love Michael Robinson and think he does a great job with his normal studio analyst work. That being said, it was a rough afternoon for him as a commentator. He needs some work..
18. I don’t actually have proof that Allar is Irish. But his middle name is Patrick, and given the whole red skin thing, I am claiming him as one of us.
19. Olu Fashanu got called for holding, which has to be his first holding penalty ever, right? I just assumed he was infallible.
20. Better day for Riley Thompson. I still think he’s *maybe* an average punter at best, but it seems like he’ll be competent enough to be able to pin other teams deep provided he doesn’t need to bomb one away.
21. Granted it was on the road, but Illinois trailing Kansas 31-7 at one point on Friday night has to make Penn State (and its fans) a little bit better about that game this Saturday. Doesn’t mean it still can’t be a weird one, but the Illini don’t look like the eight-win team they were last season — especially defensively.
22. Really, we should just call him Patrick Allar. Sounds better anyway.