MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia felt it could compete better with eighth-ranked Penn State than the Mountaineers did last season in State College.

Instead, there were several missed opportunities in the early stages, as well as the end of the first half and the start of the second half, after a 139-minute delay due to lightning, with the Nittany Lions claiming a 34-12 victory in a game they controlled for the final three quarters.

“To say I’m disappointed with how we played would be an understatement,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “We really played poorly on the big stage. It starts with me. I’m responsible for everything. Our coaching staff didn’t put our players in good positions at some key times, especially in the first half. Our best players didn’t play very well, other than Josiah Trotter, from watching the game and watching halftime. Anthony Wilson has gotten a lot better. After that, our players didn’t play at the level that they need to play to beat a team like that.”

The crowd of 62,084 cheered as the Mountaineers saw their first defensive play, when TJ Jackson recovered a fumble from PSU quarterback Drew Allar.

This allowed the Mountaineers to start their second series at the PSU 28, but a problem with the ball, which deflected off wideout Jaden Bray while he was in motion, allowed Jaylen Reed to grab the ball 3 yards behind midfield.

“We have an experienced group offensively. There shouldn’t have been this fear, this lack of execution, and there was,” Brown said.

Though the game remained tied in the first half, WVU squandered a second big scoring opportunity when quarterback Garrett Greene was narrowly missed on a fourth-and-1 sneak from PSU’s 16-yard line.

“You should be lower on a quarterback sneak. It was too high,” Brown said. “We didn’t have a good enough short yardage plan going in. We ended up getting everything but one, but they were ugly. We’ve got to get our pads down. It’s about playing with pad leverage and understanding situational football, and on a QB sneak you should be really low. You just get pushed into a hole. We’ve been extremely successful at that, but we got beat (in the 2023 regular-season finale) at Baylor and again today. That spot, flip a coin. I could make a very strong argument that it was a first down. They marked it short on the field and you’re never going to undo a quarterback sneak on replay.”

On the ensuing series, PSU struck first when Allar found an uncovered Harrison Wallace for a 50-yard touchdown to open the second period. No. 2 quarterback Beau Pribula threw an incomplete pass on a two-point attempt to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.

Allar felt comfortable for the rest of the game for the most part, and on the Nittany Lions’ next series, he completed a 7-yard pass to tight end Tyler Warren from the Mountaineers’ 27-yard line before connecting for a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Kaytron Allen on the next play.

Michael Hayes’ 38-yard field goal with 6:15 left gave WVU its first points to open a 10-point margin, and after a PSU three-and-out, Hayes added a second field goal of 39 yards with 37 seconds left. That, however, followed a sequence in which the Mountaineers failed to score on second-and-1 and then third-and-2.

With a one-possession lead and ready to receive to start the second half, Penn State appeared to be content with a seven-point lead at halftime when Nicholas Singleton was stopped for no gain on a run. The Nittany Lions came out aggressive, however, and it paid off on the next play, with Omari Evans hauling in a 55-yard pass from Allar as he worked against Aubrey Burks and used both hands to create separation.

“I thought it was offensive pass interference, and after I saw it on film, there was no doubt about it,” Brown said. “There was a two-hand extension and that’s the definition of offensive pass interference. But Aubrey didn’t play in his proper lane.”

Allar found Wallace for his second touchdown, this time from 18 yards out, on the next play. Scoring with 6 seconds to go, the Nittany Lions took a 20-6 lead into halftime.

Brown felt Wallace’s second touchdown joke deserved a second look.

“The touchdown at the end of the first half, the ball looked like it was moving and it was never going to play again,” Brown said. “Why did we have it?”

The break became a 2 hour and 19 minute pause in the action as fans were advised to take shelter and the stands were evacuated with lightning in the area. Heavy rain fell for about 15 minutes but lightning remained nearby and the game did not resume until 4:23 p.m.

“The delay is not ideal. You have to sit for a while and it’s almost like starting the game over again,” Greene said. “We didn’t perform well enough before or after the break.”

When that happened, Allar scored third-and-7 and third-and-8 on separate runs of 10 yards before Singleton broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown dash to make it 27-6 with 10:16 left in the third period, effectively ending any chance of a rally.

The teams traded punts twice the rest of the third before WVU managed its only touchdown drive. Greene’s 14-yard pass to Hudson Clement on fourth-and-10 from the PSU 15 made it happen, with C.J. Donaldson reaching the end zone from 1 yard out. Brown then elected to go for two, but the play had no chance, with Greene immediately applying pressure and sacking to leave the deficit at 27-12 with 12:49 remaining.

The momentum was short-lived, however, as Singleton made a 40-yard run on the first play of the ensuing series, which ended with Pribula finding an uncovered Warren for a 19-yard touchdown, sealing the game’s scoring.

PSU finished with a 457-246 lead in total yards and limited the Mountaineers to 4 of 14 third downs.

“It was a big game. Everyone was there. We didn’t perform,” Brown said. “We weren’t productive. Was it because it was a big game or was it a first game? I don’t know. If I had the answer, we wouldn’t be in this position. Penn State is really good and they have a chance to make the playoffs. We showed today that we’re not good enough.”

Allar was efficient, throwing three touchdowns without an interception for the second straight season against the Mountaineers, completing 11 of 17 passes for 216 yards this time.

Singleton rushed for 114 yards on 13 attempts and PSU finished with 222 rushing yards on 42 attempts.

Greene completed 15 of 28 passes for 161 yards and was limited to 5 rushing yards on 10 carries.

WVU’s 37 rushes yielded just 85 yards, while Donaldson led the team with 42 yards.

The Mountaineers played the entire second half without left tackle Wyatt Milum, the team’s lone selection to the preseason All-Big 12 Conference team. Johnny Williams filled in for Milum in his absence, which was the result of significant cramping.

“He shut down. We tried everything, but he couldn’t go,” said Brown, who noted that the team discovered he would be unavailable just before play resumed. “It’s disappointing because no one on our team is better prepared.”

The result marks the fourth straight season that West Virginia has opened with a loss to a regional rival.

“Losing always sucks. There’s no other way to say it,” Greene said. “Every loss sucks.”