Penn State started the 2023 season with a glimpse of things to come this season. It also showed a few areas that could be worrisome later this season.
But after celebrating a 38-15 victory over West Virginia in front of a packed Beaver Stadium, it will be all smiles for the Nittany Lions the rest of the weekend.
Drew Allar was officially named the team’s starting quarterback with a scoreboard announcement less than half an hour before kickoff, and he looked every bit the star in the making he was expected to be. The defense had some physical battles won and a few lost, and the special teams will have to work on a few things. But all things considered, Penn State had a solid debut to be happy with going into Week 2.
With the first game in the books, here is the first report card of the 2023 season for Penn State.
Quarterback
Grade: A-minus
Was it a perfect starting debut for sophomore [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag]? No, of course not. There were a few moments where things looked a little disorganized, but that is being a little bit nitpicky on a night when Allar passed for 325 yards (the most by a Big Ten quarterback in Week 1) and three touchdowns. Allar completed 21 of 29 pass attempts and seemed to connect well with KeAndre Lambert-Smith as his primary target. Allar took a couple of hits you would like to see him not take and NBC analyst Todd Blackledge pointed out at least one throw he felt Allar could have made better his intended target, but it was hard not to be impressed by his vision and patience throughout the game.
WELCOME TO THE DREW ALLAR ERA! #WeAre
đź“ş: NBC and @peacock pic.twitter.com/jk7KPY7bSq
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 2, 2023