Gameday Observations: West Virginia
Penn State football traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia, on Saturday and opened its season with a 34-12 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers.
The Nittany Lion offense looked new and exciting under first-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, and the defense continued its dominant play from last year, giving up just one touchdown on the day. Despite a noon kickoff, the game didn’t end until well after 5 p.m. due to a two-hour and 19-minute weather delay during halftime.
Our writers and photographers made the three-hour trip from State College to Morgantown and found some noteworthy things at Milan Puskar Stadium and the surrounding Morgantown.
Stripe Outs Are Awesome, No Matter The Colors
Nothing says college football like coordinating outfits with 60,000 of your best friends. While Milan Puskar Stadium was about 40,000 fans shy of an average game at Beaver Stadium, the blue and yellow stripe out still created a pretty cool visual.
The majority of student seating was on the upper deck of the away sideline, and with the student section in all yellow, it really messed up the aesthetic. However, there were plenty of white shirts in the stands to spoil the fun, too.
If You Thought Pennsylvania Weather Was Unpredictable…
While the sun was shining bright in the sky in the waning minutes of the first half, a message on the jumbotron said that the National Weather Service was warning of severe weather moving into the area that could affect the game. Far off the northeast side of the stadium, pitch-black skies corroborated the report.
When the teams headed to the locker room, it was still a calm afternoon. Less than ten minutes later, the game was suspended due to lightning in the area.
Uh oh.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) August 31, 2024pic.twitter.com/wo4NQ0F3L6
What followed was a pretty intense storm.
— Onward State (@OnwardState) August 31, 2024
Views from Morgantown
— Onward State (@OnwardState) August 31, 2024pic.twitter.com/O9QMmc8lTl
However, when the game finally resumed at 4:23 p.m., it was sunny and hot in Morgantown once again.
West Virginia Fans Bailed During Delay
While some fans huddled in the concourse during the delay, others decided to call it a day. At the break, the Nittany Lions were only up 20-6, but a fair amount of fans had already seen enough.
A few minutes after the delay was announced, the roads near the stadium were swamped with traffic. To be fair, at no point did the radar indicate it was going to be a short delay. When the game finally got restarted, the stripe out was pretty much gone.
While there were significantly fewer West Virginia fans in the stadium after the break, there were still a large amount of Nittany Lion fans left.
Goodbye CATA Bus, Hello Personal Rapid Transit
While there wasn’t much to note from West Virginia’s campus, one thing stuck out, the Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system.
The PRT is a fully autonomous transit system that connects both ends of West Virginia’s campus with the downtown area and business district. Currently operating 69 cars that can hold up to eight people, folks enter the car and choose to stop at one of five stations throughout the 8.7-mile circuit. The electric-powered cars have been in service since 1975, according to the PRT website.
There are probably downsides, but taking one of these bad boys to class seems like it would top the Blue Loop any day.
Drew Allar’s Year-Two Debut
Entering his second season as a starter, quarterback Drew Allar is expected to make a significant jump in ability this year. In the first game of the new year, Allar completed 11 of his 17 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns. The quarterback also added 44 yards rushing on six carries.
Allar, however, looked different. On Penn State’s first drive of the game, a West Virginia player clapped the cadence, causing center Nick Dawkins to snap the ball before Allar was ready, leading to a fumble. Allar was irate and expressed his displeasure, something he didn’t do much last year.
After beginning to utilize his legs more at the end of last season, Allar continued to flash mobility on Saturday and even stiff-armed West Virginia defender Josiah Trotter on the way to a first down.
Drew Allar stiff arm
— Onward State (@OnwardState) August 31, 2024
pic.twitter.com/AZ5HEcnPdR
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