MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Only a late-summer wave of thunderstorms was able to stop Penn State Saturday at Mountaineer Field.
Drew Allar passed for three touchdowns, Harrison Wallace III caught two scoring throws and Nick Singleton scored on a long run as the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions beat West Virginia 34-12 in a season opener.
With new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki calling creative plays, Allar looked confident and completed 11 of 16 passes for 216 yards and rushed six times for 44 yards in Penn State’s first game at West Virginia since 1992.
Penn State scored on its first series in the third quarter after a 139-minute weather delay at halftime.
Singleton, looking like he did as a freshman two years ago, burst through the middle for a 40-yard touchdown. He wound up carrying 13 times for 114 yards, including another 40-yard run in the fourth quarter.
That set up backup quarterback Beau Pribula’s 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Warren that made it 34-12.
Kaytron Allen, Singleton’s backfield mate, caught a 20-yard TD pass from Allar in the second quarter. Wallace finished with five receptions for a career-high 117 yards, all in the first half.
Penn State safeties KJ Winston, who had 12 tackles, and Jaylen Reed, who had nine, were outstanding on defense.
Allar and Wallace dominated the first half, Allar was 8-for-13 for 199 yards and three scores, including a 20-yarder to running back Kaytron Allen.
Penn State’s season began in a shaky manner when Allar couldn’t corral Nick Dawkins’ snap and West Virginia recovered. Allar quickly complained to the officials that the Mountaineers were simulating the snap count, but the play stood.
Later in the first quarter, Penn State’s Kobe King, Dominic DeLuca and KJ Winston stopped Garrett Greene for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the Lions’ 16.
On the next series, Allar connected with Wallace for gains of 18, 14 and 50 yards, on a crossing pattern, to put the Lions up 6-0.
In the second quarter, Penn State drove 71 yards for another touchdown. Allar scrambled for 15 yards, found Wallace for 17 yards on third-and-15, Warren for 7 yards on fourth-and-4 and then Allen for a 20-yard score and a 13-0 lead.
West Virginia scored its first points after Greene found Preston Fox for 16 yards and then Derek Berlitz for 25 yards to set up Michael Hayes’ 38-yard field goal.
The Mountaineers forced a punt and then drove to the Penn State 30. The Lions appeared to stop CJ Donaldson short of the first down, but the officials spotted the ball past the first down. Four plays later, Hayes drilled a 39-yard field goal.
Penn State took over at its 27 and wasn’t content to take a knee. Allar launched a bomb to Omari Evans, who hauled it in at the West Virginia 18 for a 55-yard gain. On the next snap, Allar threw a back-shoulder pass to Wallace for an 18-yard TD with six seconds left in the half and a 20-6 lead.
Then the stadium was evacuated because of lightning in the area. The weather only delayed Penn State’s convincing victory.
