The start of the [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] was a pretty good one. After being officially announced as the starting quarterback with about 25 minutes to go to kickoff, Allar passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns as No. 7 Penn State (1-0) topped West Virginia (0-1) on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium, 38-15.
Allar opened the game with a 72-yard touchdown pass to [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] on Penn State’s first offensive series of the season, but things slowed down for a bit after that for the Penn State offense. Penn State added a second touchdown in the first half with a rushing touchdown from [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag], last year’s Big Ten freshman of the year.
Allar and Lambert-Smith connected for a second time for a touchdown in the third quarter, extending Penn State’s lead on West Virginia to 21-7 at the time. Allar would add a third touchdown pass later in the game with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to transfer addition [autotag]Malik McClain[/autotag].
Lambert-Smith led all players with 123 receiving yards and two touchdowns. But the rest of the receiving unit had some good moments as well. [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] had seven receptions for 72 yards. McClain ended the night with 58 yards in his Penn State debut. [autotag]Dante Cephas[/autotag], another key transfer addition this past offseason, had one catch for 22 yards in his first game with the Nittany Lions.
Penn State’s dynamic running back combo of Singleton and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] had their moments, although neither eclipsed the century mark in the season opener. Singleton rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown and Allen added 51 yards on 10 carries. Both backs caught a pass as well, with Allen adding a 15-yard gain to his all-purpose yardage on the night.
Linebacker [autotag]Curtis Jacobs[/autotag] had a busy night with 10 total tackles, including seven solo tackles and a sack. Penn State had six tackles for a loss with three sacks.
West Virginia got a gritty effort from quarterback Garrett Greene. Greene passed for 162 yards and rushed for 61 yards with a touchdown on the ground. Running back CJ Donaldson Jr. led the Mountaineers with 81 yards and a late touchdown run. Transfer wide receiver addition Devin Carter, who at one point in the offseason was committed to Penn State out of the transfer portal from NC State, was West Virginia’s leading receiver with 90 yards on six catches.
The season-opening win had some positive energy to build on, and we can probably assume the offense is going to be in pretty good shape moving forward after watching things settle into place as the game went on. But head coach James Franklin will surely have some teaching moments to expand on with his players heading into Week 2.
Penn State will stay home next week for a matchup with the Delaware Blue Hens. It will be the first matchup with the FCS program in school history in football. Delaware won its season opener, 37-13, at Stony Brook in Week 1.
Penn State will visit West Virginia to open the 2024 season in the second half of this home-and-home scheduling agreement.
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