Drew Allar threw for three second-quarter touchdowns and 216 yards Saturday as No. 8 Penn State opened its season with a 34-12 road drilling of West Virginia in Morgantown.
Allar was 11 of 17 for the Nittany Lions, who shrugged off a slow start to outgain the Mountaineers 457-246. Not even a storm delay of more than two hours, which resulted in some flooding at Mountaineer Field during an extended halftime, could help the home team.
Garrett Greene hit on 15 of 28 attempts for 161 yards for West Virginia, which struggled to run the ball and convert on third down. The Mountaineers gained only 85 yards on 37 rushes and made just 4 of 14 third downs.
After a scoreless first quarter that saw Penn State possess the ball for less than five minutes, Allar cranked up his arm. He hooked up with Harrison Wallace on passes of 18 and 14 yards before their 50-yard scoring connection on the first play of the second period.
Allar made it 13-0 just over five minutes later, completing a 71-yard drive with a short pass to Kaytron Allen that the running back turned into a 20-yard touchdown. West Virginia pulled within 13-6 on field goals of 38 and 39 yards by Michael Hayes.
However, the Mountaineers’ momentum was blunted when Allar followed a 55-yard strike to Omari Evans by hitting Wallace with an 18-yard score with six seconds remaining in the half for a two-touchdown advantage at the break.
The Nittany Lions made it 27-6 on the first drive of the second half as Nicholas Singleton broke a 40-yard run for six points, the highlight of his 114-yard game.
West Virginia got into the end zone with 12:49 left in the game on a 1-yard run by CJ Donaldson. But backup quarterback Beau Pribula capped the Penn State scoring with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Warren with nine minutes remaining.
Wallace collected 117 yards on five receptions.
–Field Level Media
