UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State defense pitched a shutout in the second half courtesy of two interceptions by Tony Rojas and Zakee Wheatley to help seal a 34-27 win over Bowling Green in front of 103,861 fans at Beaver Stadium Saturday afternoon.
It was a tale of two halves for the Nittany Lions defensively as Penn State could not stop the Falcons in the first half with Bowling Green scoring on four of their five first half drives, the lone stop coming on fourth down.
A 75-yard scoring drive got the Falcons on the board early when Bowling Green quarterback Connor Bazelak found tight end Harold Fennin, Jr. for a six-yard pitch and catch. It put the finishing touches on a drive that saw the Falcons gash the Penn State defense with plays of 30 and 29 yards en route to the end zone.
Quarterback Drew Allar and the offense would respond needing only six plays to march 75 yards down the field for a touchdown rush by Allar. The touchdown was set up by a steady dose of tight end Tyler Warren who had receptions of 12 and 15 yards on the drive as well as a 26-yard rush by running back Kaytron Allen.
Bazelak would move the Falcons down the field, but would have to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Jackson Kleather.
Penn State would go three-and-out before Bazelak once again led Bowling Green on a scoring crusade, this time a 15-yard pass to Malcolm Johnson, Jr. to put the Falcons ahead 17-7 early in the second quarter.
Allar would need only three plays and a minute of action to find the end zone as the Nittany Lions got a 22-yard reception from Warren, a 24-yard rush from Nicholas Singleton and a 29-yard touchdown reception from Omari Evans to climb to down three with the extra point.
Bowling Green turned the ball over on downs after Penn State showed their first signs of life defensively in the second quarter. The Nittany Lions would manage a 43-yard field goal from Sander Sahaydak on their next possession to tie it at 17.
The Falcons took a page out of Penn State’s book and charged to the end zone needing only three plays to do so. Running back Jaison Johnson rushed for 13 yards on the first play of the drive before an 18-yard reception by Fannin, Jr. helped set Johnson up for his biggest run of the day, a 41-yard scamper that saw him reach pay dirt and give Bowling Green a 24-17 advantage.
It would be another Sahaydak field goal, this time a 28-yard kick that would pull the Nittany Lions to a four-point deficit entering the half.
Penn State would go three-and-out on the first drive, but would force the first Bowling Green three-and-out of the game on the Falcons’ first possession of the second half.
Allar would turn that into points with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Singleton to take a 27-24 lead in the third quarter.
It wouldn’t be until the fourth quarter until the Nittany Lions would find the end zone again, this time a 41-yard touchdown run by Singleton set up by Wheatley’s interception.
The Nittany Lions would continue their dominant play on defense in the second half allowing only a late field 42-yard field goal by the Falcons to round out the scoring.
Penn State heads into the bye week at 2-0 with a lot of room for improvement in all facets.
