Weather be damned, last Saturday was a breath of fresh air for Penn State and its fans.
Weather forecast be damned, this Saturday will be a bigger breath of fresh air for Penn State and its fans.
As Penn State kicks off its home slate with a contest against Bowling Green, much of the excitement toward the week comes from the collective exhale Penn State fans were able to take last weekend – and the promise of the return to Happy Valley for a football game. (Even if that weather forecast is looking a little questionable right now.)
For as good as this Penn State team is on paper, there was still the potential that last Saturday’s 34-12 win over West Virginia wouldn’t end up that way. In a multitude of ways, everything that could have gone wrong didn’t go wrong.
The hyped crowd in Morgantown was quickly squashed by a sloppy first quarter featuring a turnover and a turnover on downs. The promise of Penn State’s defense being strong like last year – despite the fact there was one of three new coordinators in town – was kept.
Another one of those coordinators, Andy Kotelnicki, truly did give Penn State an explosive offense that had rhythm and reason throughout the afternoon – even if there were some interesting plays along the way. (Looking at you, Vega Ioane in presnap motion).
In addition to that effective offense, Kotelnicki unlocked Penn State’s quarterback Drew Allar maybe like we’ve never seen him before, giving him two first half passes of more than 50 yards – one of which going for a touchdown. And on the other end of each of those passes were different receivers, not just one. Plus, the offensive line gave the Nittany Lions a running game worthy of its two highly touted backs.
It was one game and game one but anyone watching that game next to, say, that Penn State-Ohio State game from last year would recognize an obvious difference in the energy and ability of Penn State’s 2024 offense. It was about as different as the weather at kickoff and halftime in Morgantown.
And yes, even a two-hour plus weather delay didn’t unleash the demons of Michigan State 2017.
Instead, and in spite of that torrential downpour in Morgantown, the Nittany Lions looked crisp, sharp and fun.
And that’s what Saturday’s opportunity against Bowling Green gives Penn State. Odds makers, number crunchers and people with better Excel skills than most all predict James Franklin’s squad to roll over the Falcons. In fact, that will probably be the case the next two times Penn State suits up for an afternoon at the corner of Curtin and Porter. Penn State should and, barring disaster, will take care of business against its upcoming MAC opponents. All time, it’s 30-3 against MAC schools and Penn State isn’t even playing the same sport the 1900 team that lost to Buffalo and is much better than the 2000 team that lost Toledo or the 2012 team that lost to Ohio.
If history is anything – and Penn State’s offense truly is as good as we saw on Saturday, the home team should roll mightily too.
Instead much of Saturday’s focus is on what happens before the game.
There are burgers to be grilled. There are beers to be guzzled. There are the people you’ve sat next to for the last eight years to catch up with – even if you don’t remember their names. (It starts with a “T” I think.)
All of that is what makes college football all the more fun, all the more refreshing and all the more worth the wait after what felt like a long offseason and a tense preamble to a not-so-tense week one game.
Off the field and around the concourse, there’s also new amenities and hopefully more gates to enter through at Beaver Stadium, too. Who knows? Maybe this WiFi upgrade will actually be an upgrade.
And even if the weather doesn’t look favorable or the WiFi doesn’t work, seeing Penn State and the people that make it Penn State will still be a blast of that fresh air.
Matchup
vs. 
Time: 12 p.m.
TV: BTN
Announcers: Chris Vosters, Matt Millen, Dannie Rodgers
Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Announcers: Steve Jones, Jack Ham, Brian Tripp
