Transfer wide receivers? Penn State didn’t need them because homegrown Harrison Wallace put up a great performance against West Virginia

It appears No. 8 Penn State needed to look inward to improve its much-maligned downfield passing game.

The Keystone State’s offseason concerns about how Penn State could actually compete in the College Football Playoff — and not just qualify for it — after adding only one semi-productive receiver in the transfer portal were quickly put to rest with a breakout first half by redshirt junior Harrison Wallace.

Wallace finished with five catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns, all of them in the first half that followed a more than two-hour weather delay that led the Nittany Lions to open the season with a 34-12 win at West Virginia on Saturday in the debut of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

How essential — and unexpected — was the output of the passing game, particularly Wallace’s?

The 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound redshirt junior is the first Penn State receiver since 2021 with five receptions for at least 100 yards and two touchdowns in a game.

This breakout game shouldn’t surprise Penn State coach James Franklin.

“He’s in a really good position,” Franklin told 247Sports in early August. “We expect him to have a big year for us. We need him to have a big year for us. He’s very athletic; he’s probably one of the most explosive players in our program.”

Wallace, a former four-star player who coached at Pike Road (Alabama) High School, reached those figures in the first half when he had five receptions for 117 yards and two scores.

When Jahan Dotson did it in 2021, he had 11 catches for 242 yards and three touchdowns at Maryland.

The biggest changes to Penn State’s receiver room during the offseason were the addition of Julian Fleming from Ohio State and the departure of leading receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith to Auburn. Fleming didn’t catch a pass, and Penn State’s homegrown talent played so well that he didn’t need to.

Not only did Wallace make a big catch early in the second quarter and run for a 50-yard touchdown, but Omari Evans had a 55-yard catch with 10 seconds remaining, setting up Wallace’s 18-yard touchdown on the next play, giving the Nittany Lions a 20–6 lead.

Wallace foreshadowed his big breakthrough early in training camp.

“I’m ready,” he said. “Based on the hard work I’ve put in, the things I’ve been through, it’s time.”

After the departure of Lambert-Smith, who had four catches for 123 yards and two scores against West Virginia last year, Penn State spent the spring and summer answering the question of where their receiver production would come from.

In fact, Wallace became the top returning pass catcher in the receiver room after Lambert-Smith and Dante Cephus (Kansas State) left. He had 19 catches for 228 yards while averaging 12 yards per catch. He averaged more than half of that yardage total in a game.

Oh, we forgot to mention: Penn State quarterback Drew Eller was told to get the ball down the field and he did just that, finding a one-on-one matchup when he did. He went 11-of-17 for 216 yards and three touchdowns.

In nine of Penn State’s 13 games last season, not one of Eller’s passes went over 40 yards.

The idea of ​​hiring Kotelnicki to run the offense came from Penn State coach James Franklin’s desire to be more versatile, take more risks on the field, and give receivers more opportunities to make plays.

Eller averaged 202.4 passing yards last season and failed to reach the 200-yard mark six times. In the first half against the Mountaineers, he completed 8 of 13 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns.

He averaged 19.6 yards per completion, which is more than any game in 2023, when he averaged 11.3 yards per completion.

After a weather delay, Penn State got its running game going and dominated the line of scrimmage.