Built Different: Penn State football called most impressive team in the Big Ten after Week 1

As the dust settles on Week 1, we’re starting to put Saturday night’s performance from Penn State football in the context of the greater national landscape. It may not have been entirely smooth sailing against West Virginia. Still, the Nittany Lions took care of business, and ultimately the game was never really out of hand. But to the national media, Penn State did more than enough to impress in primetime on Saturday. According to one analyst, the Nittany Lions were the most impressive team in the Big Ten after the conference slate was settled. 

Explosive plays lead the way for the Nittany Lions against West Virginia

While Penn State football held the advantage in most major statistical categories following Saturday night’s 38-15 win over West Virginia, the Nittany Lions made their mark in explosive plays.

In terms of “big plays,” defined as runs of over 10 and passes of over 15 yards, the Nittany Lions held a slight 13-10 advantage over the Mountaineers. However, the Penn State offense packed a punch when it broke free down the field. Penn State gashed West Virginia for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns on explosive plays, compared to 172 yards and no scores for the Mountaineers. The Nittany Lions were efficient as well, averaging 7.8 yards per play on first down.

Leading the way in this department for Penn State was quarterback Drew Allar. In a performance that is drawing comparisons to Nittany Lion legend Kerry Collins, Allar lit up the scoreboard for 325 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. In addition a pair of his scores, 239 of Allar’s yards came on passes of 15 yards or more.

On the defensive side, Penn State responded after a slow start to have a strong showing. After allowing 59 yards on the ground in the first quarter, the Nittany Lion defense only allowed 79 more rushing yards the rest of the game. Penn State finished the night with 6 tackles for loss, including 3 sacks.

Penn State called the most athletically impressive team in the Big Ten after Week 1

While there is plenty of room for growth after the first game of 2023, Penn State still did more than enough to impress onlookers from the national media. In fact, for J Leman of the Big Ten Network, the Nittany Lions separated themselves from the rest of the conference after Week 1.

“I looked at Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State — people sometimes call them the big three. The best athletes on the field today, at least from what I saw from today’s performances, goes to Penn State,” Leman said. “They look scary good in the secondary. We talked about Abdul Carter at linebacker. The guys at running back, Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton: built different. They’re just built different. The guys they have on the edge at receiver: built different.”

Leman finished by noting that Penn State may have just put the rest of the Big Ten on notice. “Watch out for the Nittany Lions,” he said. “I think they were the most impressive team, athletically, in the whole conference.”

"Watch out for the Nittany Lions. I think they were the most impressive team, athletically, in the whole conference."

🗣️ @JLeman47 on @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/wL0TngSuVy

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 3, 2023

Penn State football will look to follow up Saturday’s strong performance this upcoming weekend against Delaware.

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