The 2023 season is officially off and running for James Franklin and his Penn State Nittany Lions.
Drew Allar threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns, while KeAndre Lambert-Smith had four receptions for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Together, the quarterback-wide receiver duo shined in a 38-15 win for Penn State over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday night in front of the fourth-biggest crowd in Beaver Stadium history.
It didn't take long for Drew Allar to make his presence known in his first career start.
On just the fourth offensive play of the game for the Nittany Lions and just his second pass attempt of the game, the sophomore signal caller out of Medina, Ohio, avoided pressure, stepped up in the pocket, and threw a perfectly placed pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who would take the pass to the endzone for a 75-yard touchdown.
West Virginia would find success on their third drive of the game. After quarterback Garrett Greene kept a play alive, getting a first down near midfield on a solid individual effort. A few plays later, the Mountaineers would reach deep into the Nittany Lions end of the field on a 37-yard pass from Green to a wide-open Devin Carter, who got between safety Jayleen Reed and linebacker Dominic DeLuca. The 37-yard pass would take the Mountaineers to the Nittany Lions' 11-yard line. Not too long after, the Mountaineers would punch it in for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
Looking to regain momentum, the Nittany Lions offense would come out after the touchdown with a 10-play, 81-yard drive to retake the lead 14-7. The drive ended on a Nicholas Singleton touchdown run out of the T-Formation, but the highlight of the drive was once again No. 15. Allar, on a third-and-six, would once again climb the pocket, throwing a dart in the middle of the field to Lambert-Smith to put the Nittany Lions in West Virginia territory.
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The Nittany Lions would have an opportunity to add to their 14-7 lead before halftime following a failed fourth down conversion by West Virginia late in the second quarter. However, after driving into field goal range, the Nittany Lions offense would fizzle out, leaving it up to Sander Sahaydak to make it a two-score game. Sahaydak's first field goal opportunity of the season would be no good, missing it to the right.
The Nittany Lions' defense would come back out and force their first three-and-out of the evening, giving the offense just under two minutes to work with before halftime. Like their previous drive, the Penn State offense would work into plus territory before failing to punch it in in the red zone. Once again, like their last drive, Sander Sahaydak's field goal opportunity would be no-good. That would be the last that Sahaydak would see the field Saturday night.
The missed opportunities would continue early in the third quarter for Penn State.
On a third and three, Allar threw a low pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith going across the middle. The pass would bounce off Lambert-Smith's hands before falling to the ground. Had Lambert-Smith secured the catch, it likely would've resulted in another Nittany Lions touchdown.
Penn State would finally break through on the offensive side of the ball on their second drive of the third quarter, driving 56 yards across seven plays. The drive was capped off by Lambert-Smith's second touchdown reception of the game, running a perfect crossing route, leaving him wide open in the back of the endzone. One Allar lob pass later, and the Nittany Lions were up 21-7.
The Nittany Lions would look to add on at the end of the third quarter, but following two dropped passes from Dante Cephas and Harrison Wallace III, both of which likely would've resulted in touchdowns, the Nittany Lions would settle for a 25-yard chip-shot field goal from Columbia transfer, Alex Felkins. to extend their lead to 24-7. While the Nittany Lions did get points on the drive, missed opportunities remained one of the themes of the night for Penn State.
Following a failed fourth down attempt near midfield by West Virginia early in the fourth quarter, Penn State would extend their lead to 31-7 on a 25-yard Malik McClain touchdown reception. West Virginia would pick up a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and tacked on a two-point conversion to make it 31-15.
After a failed onside kick by West Virginia, Penn State would add on one final score in the game's final seconds on a short five-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Beau Pribula, giving the game its final score of 38-15.
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