Sometimes the college football gods are looking after you. Maybe Penn Stae didn’t need the assistance of a little divine intervention, but the Nittany Lions managed to create an opportunity to make up for a bad instant replay that went against them.
Late in the first half, West Virginia was rewarded with a first down on a 4th and 1. Instant replays appeared to show the defense actually stuffed West Virginia a yard shy of the first down markers, but the official ruling was the first down call on the field would stand. A few plays later, West Virginia kicked a field goal to cut Penn State’s lead to 13-6 with under a minute to play before halftime.
After initially looking like the Nittany Lions would simply run the clock with a handoff to [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] that went almost nowhere on the first play of the ensuing drive, Penn State hurried to the line and let [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] take a shot deep down the field. [autotag]Omari Evans[/autotag], with the benefit of the refs not flagging him for a push-off of the defender, got his hands on the ball and gave Penn State an opportunity for a score just before halftime.
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At worst, Penn State would be able to take a shot at a field goal just before halftime to get those three points back. But with 10 seconds remaining, enough time was available to take a shot to the end zone. And for the second time of the game, Allar connected with [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] for a touchdown. While Wallace’s first touchdown was highlighted by speed in the open field, his second touchdown was an impressive feat in the end zone.
https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1829938922320810182
So not only did Penn State erase the gift of three points for West Virginia moments earlier, but the Nittany Lions tacked on four additional points as a result. Give credit to offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for creating this opportunity and potentially catching West Virginia napping a bit toward the end of the half.
Penn State is set to get the football to start the second half of the game, but a weather delay put the resumption of the contest on hold for an undetermined amount of time.
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