Quarterback Drew Allar looked sharp in his first Penn State start as the No. 7 Nittany Lions pulled away for a 38-15 victory over West Virginia in the season opener on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.
Allar went 21-of-29 for 325 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while completing passes to eight receivers. Junior KeAndre Lambert-Smith led the group with 123 yards on four catches, including two scores.
The Nittany Lion defense struggled at times to contain the West Virginia run game, in particular QB Garrett Greene, but did enough to hold the Mountaineers to a pair of scores, one in the second quarter and one late in the game when Penn State had a mix of backups in.
HOW IT HAPPENED
West Virginia picked up a first down on its opening drive, but an Adisa Isaac tackle for loss shut down the Mountaineers. A punt pinned Penn State at its own 6 and the Nittany Lion offense got to work quickly.
A pair of Nicholas Singleton runs for 13 yards and a 9-yard pass from Drew Allar to KeAndre Lambert-Smith had Penn State on the move. Allar then stepped up through the pocket and connected with Lambert-Smith at the West Virginia 33. The junior wideout shook loose a defender and walked in for a 72-yard touchdown as the Nittany Lions took a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game.
After finding success running but no points on their first two drives, the Mountaineers put it together late in the first quarter. Quarterback Garrett Greene got West Virginia into Penn State territory on three keepers, then exploited busted coverage with a 37-yard pass to Devin Carter. Running back CJ Donaldson pounded it the rest of the way, opening the second quarter with a 1-yard run as the nine-play, 69-yard drive tied the game 7-7.
Allar and Penn State answered on their next drive. The freshman QB hit Kaytron Allen out of the backfield and the sophomore back broke tackles for a 15-yard gain. Allar then bounced back from his first sack with an 18-yard pass to an open Trey Wallace across the middle and found Lambert-Smith on the move for a 30-yard gain. A 9-yard pass to Florida State transfer Malik McClain and a 5-yard keeper had Penn State on the doorstep before Singleton punched it in for the score and a 14-7 lead with 9:10 remaining in the half.
From there, the Nittany Lion defense held West Virginia scoreless, forcing a turnover on downs at the Penn State 37 and a punt with under two minutes left in the second.
Penn State’s ensuing drives following both stops started with promise but stalled out in West Virginia territory. Sophomore kicker Sander Sahaydak missed field goal attempts of 38 and 34 yards as the Nittany Lions carried their 14-7 lead into halftime.
The Nittany Lions widened their lead on their second drive of the third quarter. After the Penn State defense forced a three and out, the offense went on a methodical, 56-yard drive that saw Singleton run for 19 yards and Allar throw for 37, including a 12-yard pass to Lambert-Smith for their second scoring hookup of the night and a 21-7 lead.
Greene gave Penn State fits on the Mountaineers’ next drive with short passes and keepers getting West Virginia down to the Nittany Lion 27. The Penn State defense stiffened, though, forcing an incompletion and a completion for no gain before Isaac and Abdul Carter pressured Greene into an incompletion on fourth down.
A pair of 22-yard passes by Allar to McClain and Kent State transfer Dante Cephas, along with 22 yards rushing by Allen got Penn State inside the West Virginia 10. But consecutive dropped passes by Cephas and Wallace and a run for a 1-yard loss kept the Nittany Lions out of the end zone. Columbia transfer Alex Felkins got the call for the field goal attempt this time, and his 25-yard attempt was good to extend the Penn State lead to 24-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.
West Virginia moved down to the Penn State 47 on its next drive, keyed again by runs from Greene and Donaldson. The Nittany Lion defense held strong once again, though, with Chop Robinson throwing Donaldson for a loss and Carter recording a sack on fourth down.
Penn State took over at the Mountaineer 42 and four consecutive Singleton runs set up a 25-yard catch-and-run score by McClain on a pass from Allar to widen the gap to 31-7.
West Virginia wasn’t finished. With the game mostly in hand, the Nittany Lions could rotate in some reserves on defense and the Mountaineers took advantage. Greene led a 75-yard drive capped by a a QB keeper from a yard out for a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion to narrow the deficit to 31-15.
Penn State recovered an on-side kick and, with Allar done for the night, Beau Pribula took over at quarterback. The redshirt freshman QB and Minnesota transfer running back Trey Potts led the way on a nine-play, 46-yard drive that included Pribula’s first college completion and first touchdown on a 5-yard run with six seconds left to close out the scoring at 38-15.
NOTES
- The announced attendance was 110,747, the fourth largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history.
- Penn State outgained West Virginia 478 to 310, but the Mountaineers had the rushing advantage at 148 to 146.
- The Nittany Lions had just one penalty for five yards.
- While Allar was the headliner, Penn State had a balanced rushing attack led by the sophomore duo of Singleton (70 yards) and Allen (51 yards).
- Linebacker Curtis Jacobs led the Nittany Lion defense with 10 tackles and a sack.
