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What to take from Penn State nonconference season | Villanova recap

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby: Thomas Frank Carr9 hours agoThomasFrankCarr
Drew Allar Penn State Football On3
Sep 13, 2025; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar (15) throws a pass during a warmup prior to the game against the Villanova Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The Penn State Nittany Lions football team is 3-0 and ranked second nationally heading into its first bye week of the 2025 season. Most indications are that this would be a good place to be. Yet why are there alarm bells ringing and fire alarms going off inside the Penn State fan base? Today on the BWI Live Show, we’ll discuss the 52-6 win over Villanova. Then, we will discuss how the team has played through the first three games of the season to try to understand why it feels like an uncomfortable and uneasy undefeated start.

As always, you can join the show live at 10 am on YouTube to be part of the conversation. We’ll take your comments and thoughts in the live chat to discuss the team’s play on Saturday, and your thoughts on the team’s overall play. If you can’t join us live, you can catch the show on replay on the channel embedded in this article or anywhere you get your podcasts.

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Penn State vs Villanova recap

Most of today’s show will be dedicated to recapping the game against Villanova and how the team played against the FCS in-state program. Why did the offense struggle to find its rhythm again? What were the challenges that ‘Nova presented to the offense? We’ll discuss our thoughts on the game, focusing on both the offense and defense.

Next, we’ll transition to the broader picture of the program’s operation in the first three weeks of this year. It’s fair to say that Penn State’s offensive stars, Drew Allar and Nick Singleton, have not been playing like stars. Is there a reason why? We’ll give our thoughts on what we’ve learned about the program and what Franklin has said this month that has informed our opinions. We’ll also look at the Penn State defense and what we’ve learned about that side’s progress through the first month of the calendar to assess if they’re ready to take on Oregon next weekend in the White Out Game.

Finally, we’ll preview open practice, which is tonight at 5 pm. What do we think we’ll see at practice? We’ll discuss the team’s plans for the next steps in recruiting and why the team is working today instead of on Wednesday.