Each week WVSports.com Managing Editor Keenan Cummings provides a look at some of the things that stood out to him during the course of the game and on the stat sheet.
These observations are a snap shot of what unfolded in the West Virginia 34-12 loss to No. 8 Penn State and what could happen next for the Mountaineers.
--Penn State played like a team that was ranked as the No. 8th in the country and West Virginia simply did not. The Nittany Lions already had the advantage in terms of personnel coming into this game but the Mountaineers basically did everything they could to make it harder on themselves. You can't win games against quality teams beating yourself. Before the starters left the game, West Virginia scored 12 points on 11 drives and were 4-14 on third downs while averaging 3.7 yards per play. Compare that to Penn State who was at 7.6 yards per play for the game and 5-11 on third down and rolling up 34 points and 457 yards and it's pretty easy to see how this one became so one-sided. This was a weird game with a 2 hour and 19 minute delay and a completely different atmosphere from one half to the next, but today wasn't good enough.
--West Virginia struggled to win up front on defense and that allowed for some big plays down the field in the passing game. I felt that West Virginia was able to make Drew Allar uncomfortable a couple times, but too far and few between. Where Allar was really killing the defense as well is with his legs. He made at least three third down runs for first downs. In the two games, Allar completed 32-45 passes for 541 yards and 6 touchdowns with no interceptions. The entire defense was very up and down today, with the second half really struggling. This group has to be better overall.
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