[autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] put on a show in the opening game of the season against West Virginia. The former five-star recruit was everything he was billed to be and more, showing off his strong arm and accuracy throughout the game.
The matchup against Delaware will not pose the same challenge that they faced against their Big 12 opponent in Week 1. The FCS level of talent on the Blue Hens’ roster won’t challenge Penn State.
However, there are still keys to victory for the Nittany Lions in this game and for them to develop habits going forward the rest of the season.
So, what are those keys?
The first one is to establish dominance on the ground.
They finished last week with 146 rushing yards and 4.2 yards per carry, but there weren’t a lot of big plays by the Penn State running backs. [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] finished with 70 yards and a touchdown, while his backfield mate [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] had 51 yards. Explosive plays on the ground should come this week, which will help the Nittany Lions win this game and others in the future.
The second key is to run the offensive scheme.
Sticking within the designed offense will be good enough for Penn State to get past Delaware on Saturday. Going forward, it’s important for Allar to get as many live reps in a game setting as possible within the offensive scheme. Developing chemistry with the wide receivers will be massively important moving forward.
The third key to victory is dominating the line of scrimmage.
Overall, the offensive line performed pretty well against West Virginia, but there were still some moments that were leaky in pass protection. This game won’t pose the same overall challenges, so it’s a game that has to be dominated by this offensive line unit. They need to leave no doubt and bludgeon running holes and give the quarterbacks time to throw the entire game.
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