Drew Allar threw for a career-best 325 yards and three touchdowns as No. 7 Penn State captured a 38-15 victory over West Virginia in State College, Pa., on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.
In his first collegiate start, Allar completed 21 of 29 passes and didn’t turn the ball over. His favorite target was Harrison Wallace Jr., who caught seven passes for 72 yards.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith provided big-time playmaking for the Nittany Lions, hauling in four catches for 123 yards and two scores. Nicholas Singleton paced the Penn State rushing attack with 70 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
Garrett Greene completed 16 of 27 passes for 162 yards for the Mountaineers. CJ Donaldson Jr. powered West Virginia’s running game with 81 yards and a score on 18 carries.
After WVU’s opening series ended in a punt, Penn State got on the board quickly as Allar found Lambert-Smith, and the wideout scampered 72 yards for a touchdown. The Mountaineers responded after an exchange of possessions with a nine-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a goal-line dive from Donaldson for a touchdown.
But then Penn State scored 24 straight points, taking a commanding lead midway through the fourth quarter after Allar found Malik McClain for a 25-yard touchdown.
West Virginia finally responded after that score, with Greene finding the end zone on a 1-yard keeper. However, with just 3:34 left to play, there wasn’t enough time left for the Mountaineers to erase what was then a 16-point deficit. With backups in for the final series, Penn State scored once more, as Beau Pribula rushed for his first career touchdown.
It was the first meeting between Penn State and West Virginia since 1992. The two sides played each other in almost every year between 1940 and 1992, but the series stopped when Penn State joined the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions will visit the Mountaineers in a return game next season on Aug. 31 in Morgantown, W.Va.
–Field Level Media