Postgame Notes: No. 7 Penn State vs. West Virginia - Penn State Athletics (2024)

TEAM

• Penn State is now 49-9-2 all-time against West Virginia.
• The Nittany Lions have won five-straight matchups in the series and 33 of the last 35 contests.
• Penn State is now 122-13-1 all-time in home openers and 113-22-2 all-time in season openers.
• The Nittany Lions have won 20 of their last 22 home openers.
• Penn State is now 75-18-2 all-time against the current members of the Big 12, including a 70-15-2 mark in regular season contests.
• Penn State has won 16-consecutive games over non-conference opponents during the regular season.
• Penn State has won 22-straight non-conference home games.
• Penn State welcomed 110,747 fans to Beaver Stadium, marking the fourth-highest crowd in its history and the most since Sept. 29, 2018 against Ohio State (110,889).
• Seven Nittany Lions made their first career collegiate start: QB Drew Allar, DT Zane Durant, LB Kobe King, OL JB Nelson, S Jaylen Reed, WR Harrison Wallace III and S Kevin Winston Jr.
• DE Chop Robinson made his first career start at Penn State.
• Seven Nittany Lions made their collegiate debut: CB Kolin Dinkins, DE Jameial Lyons, QB Beau Pribula, LB Ta'Mere Robinson, LB Tony Rojas, CB Zion Tracy, CB Elliot Washington II.
• Thirteen Nittany Lions made their Penn State debut: WR Dante Cephas, CB Kolin Dinkins, K Alex Felkins, DE Jameial Lyons, S King Mack, WR Malik McClain, RB Trey Potts, QB Beau Pribula, LB Ta'Mere Robinson, LB Tony Rojas, P Riley Thompson, CB Zion Tracy, CB Elliot Washington II.
• Six Penn State true freshmen played: DE Jameial Lyons, S King Mack, LB Ta'Mere Robinson, LB Tony Rojas, CB Zion Tracy, CB Elliot Washington II.

OFFENSE

Team

• Penn State scored on its opening drive, a 72-yard touchdown pass by Drew Allar to KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
• The Nittany Lions scored on their opening drive of the season for the first time since 2020 at Indiana.
• Penn State had 478 yards of offense and extended its 400+ total yards streak to seven games.

Drew Allar

• QB Drew Allar became the first Penn State quarterback to throw for at least 300 yards in a season opener since Christian Hackenberg's 454 passing yards against UCF in 2014.
• Allar is the first Penn State quarterback to throw for at least 300 yards in his first career start since Michael Robinson threw for 379 yards vs. Wisconsin in 2003.
• Allar threw for a career-high 325 passing yards, besting his previous high of 88 yards against Ohio in 2022.
• He completed a career-high 21 passes, beating his previous mark of nine at Indiana in 2022.
• The sophom*ore attempted a career-best 29 passes, topping his previous best of 12 at Indiana in 2022.
• Allar threw for a career-high three touchdown passes. His previous best was two.
• He earned his first career 200-yard passing game and 300-yard passing game.
• The Medina, Ohio native recorded multiple touchdown passes in a game for the third time in his career.
• Allar tossed a 72-yard touchdown pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith on Penn State's opening drive.
• The sophom*ore connected with Lambert-Smith on a 12-yard reception in the third quarter.
• Allar found Malik McClain for a 25-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
• The 72-yard touchdown pass is Allar's longest career pass. His previous long was a 32-yard pass against Ohio in 2022.
• In the second quarter, Allar surpassed 500 career passing yards. He now has 669 for his career.

Nicholas Singleton

• RB Nicholas Singleton scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter. It was his 13th career rushing touchdown.
• Singleton's 70 rushing yards give him 1,131 career rushing yards.
• On a 10-yard run in the first quarter, Singleton surpassed 1,500 career all-purpose yards. His 90 all-purpose yards give him 1,585 all-purpose yards in his career.

Kaytron Allen

• RB Kaytron Allen had 51 yards rushing, giving him 918 for his career.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith

• WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith finished with four receptions for 123 yards and a career-high two touchdowns.
• Lambert-Smith earned his second career 100-yard receiving game. He finished the night with 123 yards. He had 124 yards against Utah in the 2023 Rose Bowl.
• He hauled in a 72-yard touchdown pass on Penn State's opening drive.
• The junior owns three career touchdown receptions of 70+ yards, joining his 83-yard touchdown against Villanova in 2021 and his 88-yard touchdown reception against Utah in the 2023 Rose Bowl.
• Lambert-Smith added a 30-yard reception in the second quarter.
• Including his two receptions or over 20 yards, Lambert-Smith has 17 career 20+ yard receptions.

Malik McClain

• WR Malik McClain hauled in a 25-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter for his sixth career touchdown catch.
• McClain had a career-best 58 receiving yards. His prior high was 51 yards while at Florida State against UMass in 2021.
• McClain tied a career high with four receptions. He had four for Florida State last season against Syracuse.

Dante Cephas

• WR Dante Cephas hauled in a 22-yard reception in the third quarter, giving him a reception in 28-straight games.

Harrison Wallace III

• WR Harrison Wallace III recorded a career-high seven receptions, besting his previous mark of four against Ohio in 2022.
• Wallace also had a career-high 72 receiving yards. His previous best was 57 yards at Michigan in 2022.
• He finished with seven catches for 72 yards and a long reception of 18 yards.

Beau Pribula

• QB Beau Pribula scored the first rushing touchdown of his career in his first action of his career on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter.
• Pribula completed a seven-yard pass in the fourth quarter for the first attempt and completion of his career.

DEFENSE

Team

• The Nittany Lions stopped West Virginia on three fourth-down conversion attempts.
• Penn State posted six tackles for loss and has recorded at least six tackles for loss in each of the last nine games.
• Penn State held West Virginia to 162 passing yards, the 65^th time that the Nittany Lions have held an opponent under 200 passing yards in a game since 2014.

Curtis Jacobs

• LB Curtis Jacobs finished the game with 10 tackles. He recorded double-digit tackles in a game for the third time in his career.
• The 10 tackles for Jacobs were his most in a game since recording a career-high 14 vs Minnesota in 2022.
• Jacobs notched a solo sack in the second quarter. It was the eighth sack of his career.

Dominic DeLuca

• LB Dominic DeLuca registered a solo sack in the second quarter. It was his second career sack. His first came at Rutgers in 2022.

Cam Miller

• CB Cam Miller had a career-high four tackles. His previous best was three against Ohio in 2022.
• In the second quarter, Miller recorded his first career tackle for loss.

Abdul Carter

• LB Abdul Carter recorded a solo sack, giving him 7.5 for his career.

Dvon Ellies

• DT Dvon Ellies secured four tackles, tying a career mark set at Michigan State in 2021.

Kevin Winston, Jr.

• S Kevin Winston, Jr. tied a career high with three tackles. He previously had three at Rutgers in 2022.

Zuriah Fisher

• DE Zuriah Fisher tied his career best with two tackles. He also had two against Arkansas in the 2022 Outback Bowl.

Zion Tracy

• CB Zion Tracy recorded two tackles in the first game of his career.

Tony Rojas

• LB Tony Rojas had two tackles in his first collegiate debut.

Elliot Washington II

• CB Elliot Washington II notched his first career tackle in his collegiate debut.

Kolin Dinkins

• CB Kolin Dinkins posted his first career tackle in his first career game played.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Team

• Penn State has not allowed a special teams touchdown in 49-straight games, since the start of the 2019 season.

Alex Felkins

• K Alex Felkins converted a 25-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and also hit two extra-points for his first points as a Nittany Lion.

Sander Sahaydak

• K Sander Sahaydak converted both of his extra-point attempts.