Penn State opened the 2023 season with a 38-15 victory over West Virginia. The Nittany Lions capped off Saturday’s triumph with some late window dressing in the closing seconds.
Rather than run out the clock, backup quarterback Beau Pribula scored on a draw with six seconds remaining. Penn State previously extended the drive on a fourth-down conversion.
After the game, Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown insisted he had no problem with those late decisions.
“Nah, who cares?” Brown said, per Chris Anderson of 247Sports. “I took timeouts.”
However, Brown suggested James Franklin’s team would eventually receive karmic justice for running up the score.
“I wouldn’t have done it, but it doesn’t bother me,” Brown added. “Stuff like that, what comes around goes around. At some point, it’ll come back around. I don’t know when. It doesn’t bother me. I’m not upset about it.”
#WVU HC Neal Brown asked about Penn State not only going for it on 4th down, but hurrying to score in the final seconds.
“I wouldn’t have done it, but it doesn’t bother me…. what comes around goes around. At some point, it’ll come back around.”
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— Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247) September 3, 2023
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Penn State comfortably pulled ahead behind a dominant season debut from Drew Allar, who went 21-of-29 with 325 yards and three touchdowns. Franklin kept his foot on the pedal when giving second-stringers reps down the stretch.
Brown also gave Penn State props after a “tough opener.”
“They’re really good. Very talented,” he said. “Defensively, they’re as good as we’ll see this year…..I think they deserve their seventh ranking in the country. I think they’ll continue to move up….. I’m not sure we’re going to play anybody as talented this year.”
The touchdown didn’t affect the game’s outcome, but it had massive gambling implications. Penn State covered the 21-point spread and cleared the game’s over-under line (48.5) with its closing exclamation mark.
West Virginia will look to rebound against Duquesne next Saturday while Penn State hosts Delaware.