STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ Penn State's pair of Heisman Trophy hopefuls picked up where they left off last season, accounting for five of the Nittany Lions' offensive touchdowns Saturday in a season-opening 52-0 victory over Akron on a cool, dreary day at Beaver Stadium before a crowd of 101,684.
Junior Saquon Barkley rushed for 172 yards on 14 carries, scored on touchdown runs of 3 and 30 yards and set up the Lions' final touchdown on a 43-yard catch and run. Redshirt junior Trace McSorley completed 18 of 25 passes for 280 yards and a pair of touchdown throws to tight end Mike Gesicki, and rushed for a score.
Penn State (1-0) also scored its first touchdown on a punt return since 2008 when DeAndre Thompkins dashed 61 yards for the Lions' first touchdown of the game. Tyler Davis added a career-best 47-yard field goal. Backup quarterback Tommy Stevens ran five yards for a fourth-quarter TD.
On offense, the Lions picked up 577 yards _ 255 on the ground and 322 through the air.
Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions defense held Akron (0-1) to just 159 yards of total offense, including 73 on the ground in 34 attempts.
The game was played in damp and unseasonably cool conditions with temperatures in the low 50s and intermittent rain that fell in the first half.
Barkley, who gained 145 yards on the ground on just nine carries in the first half, totaled 246 all-purpose yards, In addition to his rushing total, he picked up 54 yards on three catches and returned a kickoff 20 yards.
The Zips crossed midfield only twice, but didn't get any closer to Penn State's goal line than the 44.
After McSorley threw an interception in the end zone to end Penn State's first possession of the game, Thompkins got his team on the board when he caught a punt at his own 39, followed a wall of blockers to the left and scored, the first time that the Lions had taken a punt to the house since Derrick Williams did it in 2008.
McSorley's first touchdown pass to Gesicki covered 13 yards in the opening quarter, ending a drive that was set up on an interception by cornerback Amani Oruwariye. His 4-yard run for Penn State's next score came two plays after an 80-yard run by Barkley, who appeared to have scored but was ruled to have stepped out of bounds at the Akron 7.
Barkley scored the next two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the opening half. McSorley completions of 28 yards to Juwan Johnson and 35 yards to Gesicki put the Lions in position for Barkley's 3-yard run. Then, with no timeouts left, Penn State marched 55 yards and scored with 32 seconds left on Barkley's 30-yard scamper for a 35-0 halftime lead.
The Lions turned the ball over on downs on their first drive of the second half but they used a 33-yard McSorley-to-Johnson pass to set up Davis' 47-yard field goal. The starters wrapped up their day late in the third quarter when Barkley's reception of McSorley's pass for 43 yards led to a 2-yard flip from McSorley to Gesicki for a 45-0 lead.
