Penn State entered the season as the eighth-ranked team in the country and looking to cement itself as a legitimate National Champion threat. The Nittany Lions started this journey in Morgantown against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Penn State opened up as 10-point favorites with the spread closing at -7.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook. West Virginia closed as +235 underdogs leading up to the game.
After a scoreless first quarter, Penn State broke things open scoring 13 unanswered points. West Virginia battled back by producing a pair of field goals before Penn State answered with a touchdown with just six seconds remaining in the first half.
The skies opened up which led to an extended halftime as the two teams were stuck in weather delay for 2 hours and 19 minutes.
The Nittany Lions picked up right where they left off, striking first with a 40-yard touchdown less than five minutes into the second half. Penn State ultimately cruised to a 34-12 victory in which they comfortably covered the 7.5-point spread.
While they will continue to work to improve off the Week 1 performance, this is about as great of a start as Penn State could hope for. The team finished with 457 yards of total offense while imposing themselves defensively. West Virginia was held to just 246 total yards of offense and did not score their first touchdown until the 4th quarter. Penn State also forced three turnovers and sacked WVU quarterback Garrett Greene twice.
On the offensive side of the ball, Drew Allar looked to take a notable step forward in his third season with the program. Allar completed 11 of his 17 pass attempts for 216 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 44 yards of rushing on six attempts, picking up a few key first downs with his legs. Running back Nicholas Singleton also added 114 yards and a touchdown on his 13 carries.
Penn State has far larger goals on the horizon, but this is the exact start they hope for on the season. The Nittany Lions never qualified for the four-team playoff format and are arguably the biggest beneficiaries of the expanded style.
Leading into the West Virginia game, Penn State held a season-long win total of 10.5 (+140) and had -140 odds to qualify for the 12-team playoff. They also held +2200 odds to win the National Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook. This is the type of commanding performance that will likely lead to some notable line movement when things settle.
With more notable matchups on the horizon, there is still plenty to prove. Head Coach James Franklin has an argument for having the most pressure on him of any coach in college football coming into the season. He will need to deliver on the bigger stage as the season continues if this is to change. Penn State will look to build off this momentum next week against Bowling Green.
West Virginia will look to brush off the loss against Penn State and rebound next week against Albany. They entered the matchup with -130 odds to win over 6.5 games this season on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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