Starting the season with wins over Appalachian State and Pitt, Penn State had a home game with Kent State to finish its non-conference portion of the schedule undefeated. The Nittany Lions were big favorites heading into the matchup, and quarterback Trace McSorley quickly showed that he was primed for a big game. He helped lead the way to a big, 63-10 victory in front of a very happy home crowd.
McSorley connected on a 40-yard pass to wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins to get the scoring started less than three minutes into the game. The Golden Eagles connected on a scoring pass of their own on the next possession to tie the game, but that didn’t last long.