Penn State football leads at the half 20 to6 against West Virginia in Morgantown this is a halftime update from locked on nitty lines I'm your host Zach Seiko and just a quick reaction here and there's a weather delay in Morgantown now but to get straight to the point about this Penn State team they're clearly better than West Virginia the offense just needed to find its Rhythm it it took some time but as you can see there is a clear gap between Penn State and West Virginia here Drew Allard is having himself a day with 199 yards and three touchdowns and that's in just the first half alone Trey Wallace is already over 100 yards and looks like a clearcut wide receiver clearcut number one wide receiver and for Penn State's offense that was very slow to get started right this is a brand new offense that this is a complicated offense it takes a while to get used to Andy cotal Nikki system and look how quickly Penn State just needed one quarter to get adjusted to feel comfortable with cotal Nikki calling the plays and it translated to derler throwing for nearly 200 yards and we've seen so many different Dynamic elements from Penn State whether it's Aller as that dual threat Runner Bo prula coming in in a two quarterback system the running backs being involved involved in the passing game KRON Allen has a receiving touchdown in today's game I'd like to see more out of the ground game but you want to know why that is Penn State because West West Virginia is daring Penn State to to throw the football West Virginia and Neil Brown their game plan was to say we don't think Drew Aller can beat us through the air even though he did that last season right in in a in a Penn State offense that struggled last season they didn't learn their lesson this season they're doing the same thing again they're selling out for the Run they're game planning for Nicholas Singleton and KRON Allen first and that's that's understandable Singleton and Allen are quite the dynamic duo in the back field but Drew Aller is making them pay he's carving up that defense left and right eight of 13 199 yards and three touchdown passes so West Virginia pick your poison sell out for the run if you want try to contain Singleton and Allen fine but you're going to pay for it on the back end with Drew Aller finding anybody that he wants to and it's been primarily it's been primarily Trey Wallace in this case who was establishing himself as the true number one and we talked about that we said that Wallace was going to be the number one wide receiver but it's he's good he is good now West Virginia's secondary isn't the best so we'll see with again comparable competition how Trey Wallace is able to handle that number one respon receiver responsibility with Omari Evans emerging Amari Evans is that big play this is how the offense was going to become explosive and you've already seen that Andy cotal Nikki has already established and Penn State's offense have already registered three plays of 20 plus yards that's three explosive plays in the first half and then you get Amari Evans on the reception for over 50 yards that is the key Amari Evans is the key to this offense going from good to Great to Elite because you need that home run threat wide receiver Trey Wallace is all around but I wouldn't call him that deep threat Julian Fleming security blanket kind of like Tyler Warren right both of those guys are reliable in short to medium distance but then there's Amari Evans who can take the top off a defense and you already saw that right there and he's winning winning the jump ball Joel clatt is saying that it it was a it was an offensive pass interference the West Virginia defensive back grabbed the jersey of Evans so I feel like that's a 5050 two players are fighting for the football and Evans wins okay that's clearly just as much defensive pass interference as it is an offensive pass iner interference to me that's two football players trying to go after the pig skin okay but besides the point now West Virginia's offense there it's been been quite a mistake filled game even though there hasn't been capitalization on those mistakes you can see that Penn State having to get a little adjusted there early on but they found the Rhythm West Virginia Zack Frasier at at center from a season ago who is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers was taken in the second round you can see how valuable he was to Garrick green and the West Virginia offense and how they were just able to motor along West Virginia being down by two touchdowns here is a big deal pen state gets the football to start the second half there's a weather delay so we'll see how much time if that you know kind of shifts a little momentum here and there but you have a two touchdown lead against a team that cannot play from behind West Virginia it that that is the Mountaineers cryptonight they are not going to be able to come back from a two touchdown deficit as long as Penn State continues to churn clock and they can and they will if West Virginia is going to sell out for the Run Drew Aller will just throw it over uh toss it wherever he wants to on the football field to move the football cotal Nikki said that I'll run the ball 60 times I'll throw it 60 times with the quarterbacks it doesn't matter it's about moving the football up and down the field they don't they're not boxed in but West Virginia needs to play ball control West Virginia needs to run the football and control the time of possession now that they're playing from a deficit and they don't have true Superstar wide receivers going up a a potential top 10 defense in Penn State they've held West Virginia to six points they have the looks of a top 10 defense but to say it's a long season right but they're going up against Elite caliber defense with tons of future NFL Talent it is not going to be easy to throw the football up and down the field to come back when you don't have those Superstar wide receivers when Garr green is a dual threat quarterback and not a Passer First he's a runner first he's not a Passer First all of that's going to combine together they lose the receiver running back I hope Jem White's okay I didn't want to see him go out of the game but that is beneficial for Penn State because he is that alternative receiving threat for West Virginia and he's he's either not going to be 100% or out of the game we'll see how Penn State adapts we'll see how West Virginia adapts but the cards the deck is stacked against the Mountaineers going into the second half and Penn State is going to key back to that 2017 Michigan State game where they had that long extended period of time where they had to go to the locker room there was the weather delay and Penn State ultimately ended up losing that game I think James Franklin's going to remember that and learn from that experience that they need to find a way to stay sharp so that they don't come out flat into the second half and end up giving up a lead but that was a different Michigan State team and this is a West Virginia team that is not poised to do something like that they just don't have the system to do it Penn State looking great firing on all cylinders now that they're in a rhythm the question marks were never around the defense the defense was always going to do its job Penn State's offense was the question mark they're the key to this team being a true college football playoff Contender and it's on display today against West Virginia final note that I'll make offensive line I'm very impressed with for Penn State they have not allowed a sack by uh by West Virginia's defense and I was told that West Virginia's defensive line is you know they're not necessarily Elite but they're above average this is is a good solid group they led the Big 12 in in in total sacks I tried to say it West Virginia's front seven is not great they are not good they are below average and for the defensive line according to the analytics they were one of the 20 worst groups a season ago they did not make enough changes to make this group have an impact against select opponents they will but the likes of Penn State and probably the upper echelon of the Big 12 not going to be the case I'm impressed with Penn State's offensive line though because they received a lot of criticism they were one of my biggest concerns going into the season the matchup is favoring them right now so again long season but I like what I've seen Drew Aller has been protected he's been upright and he looks confident and it shows nearly 200 yards three passing touchdowns and Penn State with a 20 to six lead my name is Zach Seiko I'm the host of locked on nitty Lions thank you for checking out my halftime update here and we'll see with the weather delay when Penn State versus West Virginia returns what's going to happen here but it should be a good second half for Penn State with now now can go into cruise control to take care of this game out in Morgantown