In an effort to bring you in-depth insight on the opposing teams that West Virginia plays, WVSports.com goes Behind Enemy Lines for an in-depth look at the season opening road contest against Penn State.
What can you expect from the Nittany Lions? Well we contacted an authority on the subject in HappyValleyInsider.com Publisher Richard Schnyderite.
1. What are the expectations for this Penn State team? What are the questions? Any major injuries?
Expectations are about as high as they’ve ever been under James Franklin at Penn State as this team expects to be a playoff team either this year or next.
It all comes down to if quarterback Drew Allar is the guy or not and can live up to his preseason / rankings hype. The team already boasts a great defense from top to bottom and they have one of the better running back duos in the country, so it’s all on Allar’s shoulders right now. Even if he’s average this team should hit the double digit win mark, but that’s not enough anymore as fans want to see Penn State get over that hump and into the playoffs.
No major injuries at this time, but they did lose DE Smith Vilbert and Old Dominion transfer DT Alonzo Ford for the season recently.
2. Tell me about the quarterback? What are his strengths and any concerns?
Drew Allar is one of the most physically gifted players I’ve ever seen at quarterback, coming in at a legit 6-foot-5, 230+ pounds, he boasts a cannon of an arm and the mechanics to go with it.
I’d say his main concern right now is his receivers getting open because there are a lot of unknowns with this new look wide receiver room who lost their top two guys this offseason to the NFL in Mitchell Tinsley and Parker Washington.
3. What type of offense does Penn State run and what does this team want to do when they have the football? Playmakers to watch?
I’d say it’s more of a multiple type of offense, lining up under center, in the shotgun or hell even in random formations like the Winged-T at times.
OC Mike Yurcich does a great job of being completely unpredictable as he full on stunned the ABC announcers at the Rose Bowl this past January running multiple sets in the Winged-T formation as they are one of the few programs that still believe in it. With Allar under center, I think you might see a lot more formations out of the shotgun / spread the ball out type of formations, but only time will tell as Yurcich can be unpredictable at times.
The obvious two would be running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, but I’d keep an eye out for KeAndre Lambert-Smith at wide receiver as he had a huge breakout game in the Rose Bowl in January, hauling in over 100+ yards on just three catches.
4. Same on the defensive side? Playmakers?
Penn State runs a 4-3 for the most part, but under Manny Diaz they tend to get very aggressive flooding the box with defenders and trust their defensive backs to go on an island against offensive players.
The top playmakers here would be edge rusher Chop Robinson, linebacker Abdul Carter and cornerback Kalen King. All three have earned some type of preseason All-American honors heading into this season.
Robinson was the nation’s No. 2 pass rusher according to PFF last year and is considered a top draft prospect for 2024. The same goes for King who will step up from CB2 to CB1 with Joey Porter Jr. getting drafted 32 overall last season, many expect King to go much higher than that. Then there’s Carter who came into his own halfway through his freshman year last season and is expected to be one of the conference’s best at LB this season.
5. How do Penn State fans think about the revival of this series? What do you expect the environment to be like in the night game kick?
It’s rather quiet from Penn State’s side of things, but fans are happy to get another power-five game on the OOC schedule. There has been some complaining by the fanbase in recent years about the program adding lower level schools to the OOC schedule, instead of power-five opponents. For example Ball State was recently added to the schedule and fans weren’t too happy.
6. How do you see this game playing out and what are the keys?
Penn State is going to want to prove that Drew Allar is the guy so I fully expect them to show off the new look offense and try to score as often as possible. Combine that with what is expected to be a pretty solid home crowd for a night game in Happy Valley and I think Penn State wins this one easily, 42-17.
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