Penn State Football Stays Sharp Despite Weather Delay Against West Virginia

With six seconds left in the first half of Penn State’s opening matchup against West Virginia, Drew Allar found Trey Wallace for an 18-yard score that gave the Nittany Lions a 20-6 lead. After the score, it was over two hours before the Penn State offense saw the field again.

As the players headed into the locker room at halftime, the video boards inside Milan Puskar Stadium announced that fans needed to seek shelter as the game had been suspended due to lightning in the area.

What followed for the Nittany Lions was a lot of waiting. While James Franklin had been in a similar situation against Michigan State in 2017, it was a new experience for many of the players.

“We knew this was a possibility,” Franklin said. “We created space in the tunnel, we had plenty of food, and because we knew this was a possibility, we were able to get ahead of it.”

Players spilled into the tunnel to use exercise bikes and spread out from the visiting locker room. Along with stretching out, the break was a chance for players to study film, too.

Offensive lineman Sal Wormley, however, said there’s more to focus on during the break than just tape.

“We had plenty of time. We always go in and watch the first half to see what corrections we can make,” Wormley said. “There’s only so much film to watch, so the rest is just hydration and making sure we’ve got something in our bellies.”

Running back Nick Singleton said he had never experienced a delay before in his playing career. Despite the inexperience, Singleton made a point to try and stay fresh for when the game finally resumed.

“At first, I was just relaxing,” Singleton said. “I started looking at more film, stretching more, and just trying to stay off my feet.”

Two hours and 19 minutes and multiple lightning strikes later, the game resumed. While keeping the momentum generated from a score before the delay would be nearly impossible, the Nittany Lions came out of the gates firing on all cylinders on the first drive of the second half.

Running back Kaytron Allen only managed three yards on the first two plays of the half, but Drew Allar kept the drive alive with a 10-yard rush to the Nittany Lion 35-yard line. The blue and white didn’t look back, and Singleton finished off the drive with a 40-yard touchdown run just six plays later.

“I thought the opening drive was huge,” Franklin said. “The score right before the half was really important, and then you come out and get the score to start the second half, that’s great.”

While Franklin was happy with the way his team played in the “middle eight” minutes of the game, the next two drives stalled before the offense got in rhythm again and scored in the fourth quarter, cementing the 34-12 victory .

“We stalled out the next two drives, and we’ve got to get that fixed,” Franklin said. “But I thought our guys handled the delay well and our staff handled it really well. That was reflected in coming out with a touchdown to start the second half.”