No. 8-ranked Penn State showcased a dominant performance, scoring 27 points in the second and third quarters to secure a 34-12 victory over West Virginia in front of a sellout crowd of 62,084 at Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday afternoon. This marked the Nittany Lions’ first visit to Morgantown since 1992, reminiscent of past Penn State teams that regularly defeated the Mountaineers. West Virginia’s head coach acknowledged the team’s poor performance, saying, “Bottom line is we played poorly, but credit Penn State. Today was just not good enough to beat a team like Penn State.”
Quarterback Drew Allar was instrumental for Penn State, completing 11 of 17 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 44 yards on six attempts. Allar exploited West Virginia’s secondary, throwing three touchdown passes in the first half, two of which went to Harrison Wallace III. The scoring opened with a 50-yard touchdown catch by Wallace just seven seconds into the second quarter. Although backup quarterback Beau Pribula’s two-point conversion pass failed, the Lions quickly followed up with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Allar to running back Kaytron Allen, giving Penn State a 13-0 lead.
West Virginia managed to get on the board with a 38-yard field goal after a 10-play, 55-yard drive, temporarily closing the gap to 13-3. The Mountaineers threatened again before halftime, scoring a 39-yard field goal to narrow the score to 13-6, but Penn State responded quickly. With just seconds left in the half, Allar connected with Wallace for an 18-yard touchdown, extending Penn State’s lead to 20-6 at halftime.
Heavy thunderstorms interrupted play for over two hours, but once the game resumed, Penn State did not lose momentum. Allar led the offense with impressive runs, and Singleton scored a 40-yard touchdown, increasing the advantage to 27-6. West Virginia finally found the end zone in the fourth quarter, with Donaldson scoring a touchdown after a successful drive led by quarterback Greene, who later struggled on a two-point conversion attempt, leaving the score at 27-12.
However, Penn State answered back with a 76-yard scoring drive culminating in a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Warren. Overall, Penn State amassed 457 yards of offense, with 222 of those yards coming on the ground. West Virginia managed 246 total yards, hindered by poor snaps which negatively impacted their rushing game.
Greene finished the game completing 15 of 28 passes for 161 yards before being replaced in the fourth quarter. Donaldson led West Virginia with 42 rushing yards on 12 carries. The Mountaineers’ defense saw freshman linebacker shine with 10 tackles in his debut. The outcome of this game concluded a two-game series with Penn State, which has now won 50 of the 61 encounters against West Virginia. Next week, West Virginia will host Albany, while Penn State will open its season at home against Bowling Green.