Penn State Takes Down Villanova

Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Penn State, Pennsylvania Colleges

Mason Eddinger | September 13, 2025

Entering as a nearly 50-point favorite, Penn State was able to take down Villanova, but it wasn’t easy.

The addition of Jim Knowles has taken a previously good defense and turned it into a great defense. Despite losing multiple players to the NFL Draft, including #3 overall pick Abdul Carter, Penn State hasn’t missed a beat. I understand it’s just been against Nevada, FIU, and Villanova, but allowing just 17 points in three games is impressive against anyone. As far as the starting defense goes, the unit hasn’t allowed a touchdown all year. After the first half, the Penn State defense held Villanova to under 70 total yards. Penn State was able to secure its first turnover early in the 3rd-quarter as Elliot Washington II got his hands on a wayward pass from Villanova QB Pat McQuaide. After 59:56 of game time, Penn State was poised for a 2nd successive shutout. On the last play of the game, Villanova was able to find the endzone to ruin the shutout hopes, and allow Villanova to cover the spread. Speaking on the defense, Franklin said that he felt the defense “took another step”. Franklin also added that he felt the defense wasn’t playing as fast as they could’ve in the first two weeks.

After last week, Penn State QB Drew Allar described his performance as “just not good enough”. Allar was right. Against FIU, the Penn State QB looked out of sync, and the entire offense felt the ripple effect. This week, we saw more of the same. Head Coach James Franklin has been vocal about the lack of explosiveness from his offense. In the first half against Villanova, Penn State wasn’t as explosive as Franklin would have liked. Although they scored 20 points in 3o minutes, fans should expect more considering the opponent. Franklin said that Allar’s turnover “hurts”. We knew there would be growing pains given that the three starting receivers are all transfers, but there is cause for concern regarding Penn State’s slow starts. There have been times when the PSU receivers have gotten separation, but it’s been rare to see that separation turn into chunk plays. We will see if Allar and the receivers can enter their white-out matchup against Oregon on the same page. For someone who many consider to be the #1 QB prospect in the 2026 draft, Drew Allar hasn’t fit the bill of a first-round pick, let alone #1 overall.

This week did produce a positive, the running game. Penn State was able to find more success today than they did in the first pair of weeks. Penn State was able to surpass 200 yards as the game went on. Although it wasn’t perfect, the rushing attack continued to build on its improvement from the first few weeks. With Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton both as accomplished as any RB duo in the country, the early-season rushing woes are starting to fade as the unit continues to gain more steam. With a pair of rushing TDs, Nick Singleton moves into 3rd all-time in Penn State rushing TDs.

With the first three games down, this marks the beginning of Penn State’s Big Ten campaign. Their first test? Top 5-ranked Oregon. The Ducks and Dante Moore have looked as good as anyone in the country through the opening weeks. Penn State needs to be a more explosive team in a few weeks if it wants to take down Oregon.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews