One of the most exciting matchups of Week 1 was expected to be the showdown in Morgantown between a No. 8-ranked Penn State and West Virginia. The Nittany Lions entered as the favorite. But there was underdog potential for the Mountaineers.
Head coach James Franklin liked what he saw from his team overall. But does want to see his team make some adjustments moving forward.
“Overall, I thought we did some really good things,” Penn State coach James Franklin told reporters after the victory. “We’re going to watch this tape. There’s going to be a ton of stuff that we didn’t like, and we need to get cleaned up, but we were able to come on the road in a very, very tough environment and get a win against a team that I think is really, under-ranked. I think that’s a good football team. They’re going to end up having a really good year, so we’re appreciative of coming out of here with a W.”
Here’s a look into four things to watch for that we took away after the Nittany Lions’ victory on both sides.
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1. Expect West Virginia QB Garrett Greene to get his feet back under him
Simply put, this just seemed to be an off day for the West Virginia quarterback who garnered preseason attention as a potential darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate. Greene didn’t do anything particularly poorly. But he did miss some opportunities and failed to help the offense find a true spark. It’s important to remember that this was only the first game of the season, though, and that this is his first full year as the true starter. With the dynamic skillset he brings to the table, expect Greene’s dual-threat abilities to shine through further down the schedule.
Greene finished out the game 15-of-28 passing for 161 yards. Usually a force with his mobility and improvising ability, Greene was not able to be effective on the ground. He carried the ball 10 times for five yards.
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2. Big delay proves no problem for Penn State
One of the most prominent aspects of the greatest teams in college football is their ability to bounce back from adversity. Penn State faced that right out of the gate when this contest went into a long weather delay due to lightning in the area, keeping both teams off of the field for hours.
That hardly made a difference, though, as Penn State hit the field with the same amount of momentum after the nearly 2.5-hour delay. They came out of the locker room for the second half with a bang, scoring two more touchdowns.
3. Penn State’s Drew Allar is undoubtedly one of the best quarterbacks in the nation
This was going to be one of the most intriguing quarterback matchups of the week because of the potential for both Greene and Allar to become one of the best quarterbacks in the nation after previously flying under the radar. Allar took full advantage of his opportunity, showcasing his ability both through the air and on the ground.
He finished the game completing 11-of-17 passes for 216 yards with three touchdowns on an interception-free outing. He also made it count on third down, with six carries for 44 yards for two first downs. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry.
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4. West Virginia struggles to win defensively
WVU had its struggles on offense. But nothing shone through more than the failure on the defensive side of the ball. The Mountaineers struggled up front, allowing Drew Allar to show just how good he could be on the deep ball and allowing the Penn State passing game to truly roll.
The West Virginia defense failed to come up with a sack all game and only recorded three tackles for loss. The Mountaineers will look to bring more pressure upon the quarterback in the coming games. If they can’t, things could quickly go awry.