West Virginia will open the regular season on the road at Penn State and WVSports.com takes a look at five players to watch leading into that contest.

Junior safety Aubrey Burks

2022 statistics: 66 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble

Reason: Burks was the second leading tackler for West Virginia last season and took a significant step forward in the process starting 11 games and serving as a leader in the backend. That has only continued to develop this fall as Burks has become one of the true leaders on the defense and is ahead on the mental side of things. This fall camp, Burks has been incredibly active in fall camp with eight interceptions and a number of pass breakups. He has embraced everything being asked of him and the sky's the limit on what he could become not only this year but the future.

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