Game Preview: West Virginia football at Penn State
West Virginia will open the 2023 season on the road against a longtime regional rival in No. 7 Penn State in primetime. WVSports.com offers a look at some key elements of the match up to get you ready for kick off.
In this game preview, we dive into numbers and notes, a depth chart, our video preview of the game as well as where to can watch the contest.
Series: Penn State 48-9-2
Last meeting: 1992 WVU 26 PSU 40
Television: 7:30 p.m. NBC, Noah Eagle (PBP), Todd Blackledge (analyst), Kathryn Tappen (sideline)
COACHES:
James Franklin:
PENN STATE RECORD: 78-36, 10th Year
OVERALL RECORD: 102-51, 13th Year
VS. WEST VIRGINIA: 0-0
Neal Brown:
WEST VIRGINIA RECORD: 22-25, 5th Year
OVERALL RECORD: 57-41, 9th Year
VS. PENN STATE: 0-0
NOTES:
--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is in his fifth season atop the Mountaineers football program and has gone 22-25 in Morgantown during that time. Overall, Brown is 57-41 as a head coach in his ninth season in that role.
--The Mountaineers are 3-1 all-time in games played on Sept. 2.
--The Penn State series is West Virginia’s third longest rivalry, with the 2023 game being the 60th meeting between the two schools. WVU’s longest series are against Pitt (105), Syracuse (60), Penn State (59), Virginia Tech (54) and Maryland (53).
--West Virginia is the only power five program to open on the road against another power five opponent over the last three seasons. The previous two were Maryland in 2021 and Pittsburgh in 2022.
--West Virginia is 64-60-2 in road openers, including 19-17-1 when WVU opening its season on the road. West Virginia is 91-35-4 all-time in season openers (17-6 since 2000/31-11-1 since 1980)
--West Virginia is 34-14 in nonconference games since 2010, including 9-12 on the road. The Mountaineers are 72-30 since 2000, including 24-23 away from home.
--Since 1980, West Virginia is 208-27-1 when scoring 30 or more points in a game. Since 2000, the Mountaineers are 67-7 when hitting the 40-point plateau. WVU is 197-7 all-time when scoring 40 or more points in a game.
--The Mountaineers are 96-15 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.
--Over the last eight years, West Virginia has produced 149 takeaways, tied for No. 26 among Power 5 schools.
--Coaching assignments: AHC-OL Matt Moore (Field), OC-RB Chad Scott (Field), DC-OLB Jordan Lesley (Field), Co-DC-DBs ShaDon Brown (Press Box), ST Coordinator-ILB Jeff Koonz (Press Box), PGC-QB Sean Reagan (Press Box), DL Andrew Jackson (Field), WR Bilal Marshall (Field), TE Blaine Stewart (Field) and S Dontae Wright (Field).
--The 2023 roster currently consists of 117 players from 25 different states and four foreign countries: Australia (1), Finland (1), Sweden (1) and The Netherlands (1). Leading the way is West Virginia (20), Florida (13), Pennsylvania (13), Ohio (12), Georgia (8), Kentucky (6), Maryland (6), North Carolina (5), South Carolina (4), New Jersey (3), New York (3), Virginia (3), Alabama (2), Delaware (2), Michigan (2), Texas (2), Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri and Washington.
--This is the 312th network television game for West Virginia and overall the Mountaineers are 161-149-1 in such contests.
--West Virginia is 78-70-3 all-time in games played after 5 p.m., 30-16-2 at home, 42-43-1 on the road and 6-10 at a neutral site.
--West Virginia has gone to a bowl game in 18 of the last 21 years.
DEPTH CHART:
No depth chart has been released for this contest.
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