The last time Penn State was in Beaver Stadium two weeks ago, the top-10 Nittany Lions struggled to dispatch a plucky, veteran Bowling Green team. And after an interception and a punt sandwiched in between a touchdown, it looked like Kent State might be another underdog MAC team to give Penn State some trouble.
Any concern of that was swiftly erased by halftime. The No. 10 Nittany Lions led by four touchdowns, and they never looked back in defeating the Golden Flashes, 56-0, before an announced crowd of 109,526. They entered the afternoon as seven-touchdown favorites.
Along the way, Penn State turned in one of the most prolific offensive performances of the James Franklin era. The 718 yards of total offense gained by Penn State ranks first in program history, breaking the previous record of 711 yards against Susquehanna in 1926. The 56-point margin of victory is the tied for the fifth-largest since Franklin took over the program in 2014. Penn State also set a single-game record with 40 first downs…