Penn State Opponent Preview: West Virginia

The countdown to the beginning of Penn State's 2024 season is down to just 31 days, meaning it's time to get into looking closer to the upcoming season for the Nittany Lions including their 12 regular season opponents. Penn State opened as a -9.5 point favorite for the season opening matchup with the over/under opening at 49.5 points.

Starting us off today are the Big 12's West Virginia Mountaineers. Penn State will face West Virginia on August 31 in Morgantown. It will be the Nittany Lions' first trip to Morgantown since the 1992 season, a 40-26 win for Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions over West Virginia head coach Don Nehlen's Mountaineers.

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The Mountaineers started last season with a 38-15 loss to Penn State at Beaver Stadium but it did not discourage Neal Brown's program, which was vitally important for Brown who entered the 2023 season on the hot seat.

West Virginia would go onto win their next four games after the season opening loss including three Power Five wins before dropping back-to-back contests to Houston and Oklahoma State. After the back-to-back losses, West Virginia recovered to win four of their last five regular season contests before defeating North Carolina in the Duke's Mayo Bowl 30-10.

Salary: $4.4 million
Overall Record: 66-45 (5-1 bowl)
Record at West Virginia: 31-29
Record against Penn State: 0-1
Accomplishments: Sun Belt Championship (2017), Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2017)

Brown is entering year six at West Virginia but is coming off his best season yet in Morgantown with a 9-4 record and appearing in the top-25. The Louisville, Kentucky native also was the head coach at Troy from 2015 through 2018, leading the Trojans to a 35-16 record including 23-9 in Sun Belt play. He also spent time in his career at UMass (his alma mater), Sacred Heart, Delaware, Troy, Texas Tech, and Kentucky as an assistant coach including as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at each of his last three destinations prior to receiving his first head coaching job in 2015 at Troy.

Offensive Coordinator: Chad Scott

- Points Per Game: 31.5
- Yards Per Game: 434.6
- Passing Yards Per Game: 205.7
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 228.9

Defensive Coordinator: Jordan Lesley / ShaDon Brown

- Points Allowed Per Game: 26.2
- Yards Per Game: 380.8
- Passing Yards Per Game: 237.4
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 143.4

Last season, the Nittany Lions and Mountaineers kicked off their 2023 season at Beaver Stadium. It was a tight contest heading into the second half with Penn State up 14-7. In the second half, however, the Nittany Lions outscored West Virginia 24-8 to win the game 38-15. Drew Allar threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns while the Nittany Lions rushed for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Penn State has dominated the series between the schools historically winning 49 of 60 matchups, posting a 49-2-9 record. West Virginia's last win over the Nittany Lions came in 1988, a 51-30 game in Morgantown.

The Mountaineers are returning plenty of production on offense from last season across the board including 15 of their top 20 when looking at snap count according to Pro Football Focus.

West Virginia did say goodbye in the trenches to two key linemen in Zach Frazier and Doug Nester but did return the likes of Brandon Yates, Wyatt Milum, Tomas Rimac, and Ja'Quay Hubbard. This was one of the top offensive lines in the Big 12 in 2023 and should once again be among the best in 2024.

At the skill positions, QB Garrett Greene returns as well as star running back Jahiem White, a York (PA) native. Bruiser running back CJ Donaldson who rushed for nearly 800 yards and 11 touchdowns a season ago also is set to return. Tight end Kole Taylor is back for another season as are wide receivers Preston Fox, Hudson Clement, and Traylon Ray.

The most notable skill position player lost for the Mountaineers was WR Devin Carter, who is now in the NFL. Carter recorded 27 receptions for 501 yards and two touchdowns in his lone season with the program.

According to WVSports.com, 1,243 of 1,981 recorded receiving yards by West Virginia wideouts in 2023 return this fall as well as nine of 12 receiving touchdowns.

It's a much different story for West Virginia's defense, losing 15 of its top 20 players by snap count from a year ago. Notable losses include CB Beanie Bishop, LB Lee Kpogba, CB Malachi Ruffin, LB Jared Barlet, S Marci Flloyd, DL Mike Lockhart, and S Hershey McLaurin.

To no surprise, with four of their top secondary members from a season ago gone, the Mountaineers were active in the transfer portal this offseason, especially when it came to targeting replacements for their secondary (more below). It's expected to be mostly an open competition at cornerback for West Virginia this fall with nearly 90% of their snaps played from a year ago now gone.

Defensive lineman Miles Lockhart was productive for the Mountaineers a year ago with nine tackles for loss, he'll be a tough loss for the West Virginia defense. Perhaps, the biggest loss will be linebacker Lee Kpogba who led the program with 97 tackles last season including 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. That being said, West Virginia looks well equipped to be able to navigate both losses this fall.

Of the incoming transfers, wide receiver Jaden Bray and cornerbacks Kekoura Tarnue, and Ayden Garnes are both expected to be among the top impact transfers for the Mountaineers this upcoming fall. That being said, it is expected that numerous members of the transfer class, especially on the defensive side of the ball will see consistent playing time in 2024.

West Virginia saw a mass exit of players this offseason in the transfer portal with a combined 313 games of experience heading elsewhere. The notable losses here include LB Jared Bartlett (50 games, 134 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 14 sacks), MIke Lockhart (24 games, 34 tackles, 10 tackles for loss), DB Hershey McLaurin (23 games, 89 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks), and LB Lance Dixon (25 games, 72 tackles, 2.5 tackle for loss).

West Virginia signed 23 prospects in the 2024 recruiting cycle including one four-star prospect in WR Ric'Darious Farmer. The Mountaineers class was ranked 42 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings and was tied for sixth in the Big 12.

Happy Valley Insider recently caught up with our good friend Keenan Cummings of WVSports to discuss the Mountaineers heading into this fall.

1) How is Neal Brown's job security heading into this season after a strong 2023 campaign that saw the Mountaineers go 9-4?

Anytime you win nine games it’s going to make the seat a little less hot. It has taken some time but West Virginia seems to be in position to take some leaps forward as the program has established an identity and blueprint on how this staff will have success. Now, the thing about winning is that fans will expect more of it but as long as the Mountaineers can have success yet again those talks should be in the rear view.

2. This was a strong WVU team last season despite a poor result against Penn State last year. Do you think this WVU team is in a better spot to challenge the NIttany Lions on August 31?

West Virginia was in the game against Penn State at halftime but things got away from them in the second half. This season the offense will return a lot of experience and the defense was able to fill holes through the transfer portal. This team should have a chance to really compete in the Big 12 this year if everything falls into place and as long as quarterback Garrett Greene takes the leap the Mountaineers should be plenty competitive especially at home.

3.What are going to be some key areas that the Mountaineers are going to have to improve on in fall camp if they're going to compete for a Big 12 title?

On offense this was the top ranked power four rushing team in the country and returns most of what put them there a season ago. But where the offense will need to improve is efficiency in the passing game. Greene only completed around 53-percent of his passes and if he is improved in the intermediate level this offense could be significantly better. On the defensive side it starts and ends with the play of the secondary but that is an area the program addressed heavily in the portal.

4.What are the expectations for the Mountaineers this season from a media standpoint?

West Virginia was picked seventh in the Big 12 but coming off a season where they finished 9-4 and ranked in the top 25 there is a feeling of disrespect within the program. That same feeling helped propel the Mountaineers to a strong finish last year despite being picked dead last in the Big 12. However, this will be a challenging schedule and despite perhaps being an even better football team it might not show in the win and loss record.

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