Penn State opened its 2023 season on Saturday night with a 38-15 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. It wasn't a perfect first game for the Nittany Lions, but it was a rather dominant effort overall. Happy Valley Insider offers a trio of standout stars from the game below.
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1. QB Drew Allar
The wait for Drew Allar to make his first career start was undoubtedly worth it.
The sophomore signal caller was impressive under the lights of Beaver Stadium, completing 21-of -29 passing attempts for 325 yards and three touchdowns.
In the first half, Allar completed nine of his first ten passes before finishing the half 13-for-18 for 214 yards and one touchdown. He would go 8-for-11 in the second half for an additional 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Throughout the evening, he was "extremely poised," as James Frankin put it, and showed terrific pocket presence, climbing the pocket, avoiding pressure, and keeping his eyes downfield. He also consistently threw strikes to his wide receivers throughout the night, rarely making a bad pass or poor decisions. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty close.
2. LB Curtis Jacobs
The linebacker, who built up quite a bit of hype this offseason from NFL circles, had a big start to the season, totaling ten tackles, including seven tackles and one sack. He also had one additional quarterback hurry. Make no doubt about it: Jacobs is the leader of this Nittany Lions' defense on the field, and he played a tremendous game on Saturday night.
The ten tackles marked the third time in his career that Jacobs has recorded ten or more tackles. He also recorded 14 tackles against Minnesota in last year's White Out and 10 tackles against Arkansas in the 2022 Outback Bowl.
3. WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith
Coming into Saturday night, KeAndre Lambert-Smith was the project No.1 wide receiver, and it didn't take long for the Virginia native to show that he was, in fact, WR No.1. Four plays into the Nittany Lions' first possession of the game, Lambert-Smith caught a perfectly placed pass from Drew Allar while beating one Mountaineer defender to open up the scoring with a 72-yard touchdown.
Later in the game, he added a second touchdown on a perfectly ran crossing route before Allar found him in the back of the endzone to extend Penn State's lead in the third quarter. Lambert-Smith recorded four receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns for the evening.
It is the second 100+ yard receiving night for Lambert-Smith in his career. His last one came in last year's Rose Bowl against Utah, as he put up three receptions for 124 yards against the Utes in the Nittany Lions' 35-21 victory last January. Over his last three games dating back to last year's regular-season finale against Michigan State, Lambert-Smith now has 12 receptions for 330 yards and four touchdowns.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- WR Harrison Wallace III: Wallace III had himself a really strong night with seven receptions for 72 yards.
- WR Malik McClain: McClain had four receptions for 58 yards and one touchdown in his Penn State debut.
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