STATE COLLEGE – Penn State coach James Franklin wanted to see his team be more efficient on offense and play better on defense Saturday. Mission accomplished. Drew Allar completed 17-of-21 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns 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. “We started a little bit slower than I would have liked,” Franklin said, “but overall I thought we took a really good step. I thought we did what we needed to do.” 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 of 38 set in 1962 against West Virginia. They also held the Golden Flashes (0-4) to 67 total yards, tied for the eighth-fewest by a Penn State opponent. The differential of 651 yards was the greatest by the Lions since 1947. “Whenever you’re able to say it’s a school record at a place like Penn State, it’s something to be proud of,” Franklin said. “It’s something to build on.” 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. In the second quarter, 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. Warren also rushed once for 16 yards and ended up with five receptions for 50 yards, including a spectacular one-handed grab near the sideline. “It was really fun to see him,” Allar said. “He’s a Swiss Army knife. You can put him in at quarterback and he can run for 10-plus yards. Or he’ll go out and throw a 20-yard touchdown. “He’s a very special tight end. We want him to be a big part of our game plan every week. It’s been paying off so far.” Backup quarterback Beau Pribula made up for his first-quarter interception by tossing a 13-yard TD pass to tight end Khalil Dinkins in the third quarter. 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 of this season and its fourth since the start of last season. “We try to get a shutout every week,” said defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, who had one of two sacks. “It was super important for our confidence to get that first shutout. Now we have to stay consistent.” 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. Ten different players had catches. “We were more efficient on offense (8-for-10 on third down),” Franklin said. “We were still explosive. We had much better balance on offense. We were able to distribute the ball to a ton of different players.” 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. They drove 75 yards in six plays and 44 seconds to score late in the second quarter on Allar’s 5-yard run. “I love how we managed the clock at the end of the first half,” Franklin said. Penn State begins Big Ten play next Saturday night against Illinois, which won in overtime Friday night at Nebraska. It’s the Illini’s first trip to Beaver Stadium since their nine-overtime win in 2021. “We have a really good opponent coming here,” Franklin said. “I have a ton of respect for them. It’s going to be a heck of a game.”