West Virginia lost to Penn State in a disappointing effort Saturday, falling in a game that was delayed by lightning at halftime for 2+ hours.
In many ways, this game had all the cliche symptoms of a season-opener. There were bad snaps, fumbled balls, and several plays in which a player lined up in the neutral zone drawing a penalty. Neither team looked particularly sharp, especially in the early going. It was a scoreless first quarter for both teams before Penn State took a 20-6 lead into the 2+ hour halftime.
If you’re the Mountaineers, you can chalk this loss up to a plethora of different things. However, for the purpose of this article, we’ll tell you about 3 plays from the first half that West Virginia simply wasn’t able to recover from.
1. A Golden Opportunity Squandered in the 1st Quarter
After a WVU punt on the first drive of the game, it was Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions turn to have the football. West Virginia benefited from a Penn State fumble on the 4th play of the drive and took their offense back onto the field startingat the Penn State 28-yard line with 10:30 left to play in the opening quarter.
West Virginia sent a wide receiver in motion and a poorly timed snap led to a Penn State fumble recovery on the first play of the drive. WVU was gifted the ball deep in Penn State territory and immediately gave the ball right back. This was a devastating mistake early in the game and a deflating blow to the home crowd.
2. Turnover on Downs after a Promising Drive
On their 3rd drive of the game, Garrett Greene led a methodical drive for the Mountaineers after beginning on their own 20-yard line. The 13-play drive for the Mountaineers resulted in 0 points and included one successful 4th and 1 conversion out of two 4th and 1 attempts. The first one came on the Penn State 26-yard line where Garrett Greene bounced a run outside and got just enough to extend the drive. The second 4th and 1 was an unsuccessful Garrett Greene “tush push” QB sneak.
Penn State took over from their own 16-yard line and scored a touchdown on the 4th play of the drive, a 50-yard touchdown pass from Drew Allar to Harrison Wallace III.
With hindsight being what it is, a tush push of your 5’11, 200-pound quarterback is a questionable decision when you have 6’2”, 240-pound CJ Donaldson Jr. available.
3. An Inexcusable Mistake Allows Penn State to take a 14-point lead into halftime
After a 13-play Mountaineer drive led to West Virginia's second field goal of the half, the Penn State offense took the field with 32 seconds remaining and a 20-6 lead. The first play of the drive, a Nicholas Singleton rush for no gain clearly led the Mountaineer defense to relax. Thinking that Penn State was content to go into the half with a 13-6 lead, Drew Allar caught the defense by surprise and found a wide-open Omari Evans for a 55-yard gain all the way to the WVU 18-yard line with 10 seconds remaining. It was simply inexcusable coaching and inexcusable play that would allow Evans to get so open. The very next play Allar connected again with Harrison Wallace III for an 18-yard touchdown and just like that itwas 20-6 in favor of the Nittany Lions going into the break.
Garrett Greene and the WVU offense left the field with 32 seconds remaining in the first half trailing by just 7. They took the field (3 hours later) trailing by 21 after Penn State opened up the 3rd quarter with a 9-play touchdown drive. The biggest and most game-altering play was the inexcusable 55-yard connection between Allar and Evans at the end of the first half.
While West Virginia didn’t pull off the upset in the season opener, their sights are still set on competing for a Big 12 title. West Virginia will get a tune-up game against the Albany Great Danes next Saturday before heading to Pittsburgh for the Backyard Brawl.