STATE COLLEGE – Penn State coach James Franklin wanted to see his team commit fewer penalties, make better tackles and spread the football around to more players. Mission accomplished. Drew Allar completed 17-of-21 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns Saturday as the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions thumped lowly Kent State 56-0 before a crowd of 109,526 at Beaver Stadium. Penn State (3-0) completed its non-conference schedule and tuned up for a prime time Big Ten opener against fellow unbeaten Illinois next week at home. The Lions set a school record for total yards with 718, bettering the record of 711 set against Susquehanna in 1926. They also broke the mark for first downs with 40, smashing the record set in 1962 against West Virginia. Allar led the Lions to five consecutive touchdown drives before leaving the game after the first series of the third quarter with Penn State up 35-0. He fired TD passes to tight end Tyler Warren and wide receivers Liam Clifford and Omari Evans and also ran for a score. Warren lined up behind center, took a direct snap and threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to former Gov. Mifflin star Nick Singleton, who finished with 81 rushing yards on 11 carries. Backup quarterback Beau Pribula made up for his interception on Penn State’s first series of the afternoon by tossing a 13-yard TD pass to tight end Khalil Dinkins. Third-team running back Cam Wallace and Pribula scored on 1-yard runs in the fourth quarter. Kent State (0-4), a 49-point underdog, was paid $1.6 million to make the trip from Ohio and lost quarterbacks Devin Kargman and JD Sherrod to injuries before halftime. Not surprisingly, Penn State dominated the Golden Flashes, who began the afternoon ranked last in the country in total offense and total defense. It was Penn State’s first shutout since a 42-0 victory over Michigan State in the 2023 regular season finale. Clifford, the younger brother of former Lions quarterback Sean Clifford, and ex-Southern Columbia star Julian Fleming were more involved in the offense than they were in the first two games. Clifford caught three passes for 64 yards, and Fleming had two receptions for 60 yards. Penn State got off to a slow start largely because of poor field position and because of Pribula’s interception deep inside Kent State territory on the first series. The Lions scored on their second possession behind Warren, Singleton and Fleming. With Singleton and Kaytron Allen on the field, Warren ran a seam route and caught a 16-yard TD pass. Penn State started from its own 3 on the next possession and punted, but the Lions finished the half strongly with three touchdowns in the final six minutes. The left-handed Warren threw a 17-yard TD pass to Singleton; Allar found Clifford for a 14-yard score; and then finished the half with a 5-yard run for a 28-0 halftime lead. Penn State outgained Kent State 396-41, allowing the Lions to cruise in the second half.