The Day After: West Virginia football at Penn State
The West Virginia football team fell on the road at No. 7 Penn State to the tune of 38-15.
The Mountaineers fell to 0-1 on the season and and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
Lee Kpogba. The senior linebacker was named the leader of the defense heading into the season and he backed up that with 13 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and constantly being around the football. Kpogba was highly active in the tackle department during the game but displayed the ability to get off blocks and make plays against a talented Penn State offense. West Virginia needed their linebackers to be better this year and this was a very solid start for Kpogba who filled the WILL position.
Didn't beat themselves. Some of the biggest issues for West Virginia since head coach Neal Brown took over the program has come in the department of turnovers and penalties, especially those avoidable ones like procedure miscues. This game saw the Mountaineers not turn the ball over at all and record only one procedure penalty, albeit a costly one that erased a nice 15-plus yard play. The offense also seemed to handle the adversity of playing in a tough environment without any major hiccups.
Special teams: West Virginia was solid all around in this department from punting, to kickoff coverage to punt coverage. The Mountaineers sophomore punter Oliver Straw misfired on one attempt but outside that was able to pin the ball deep. The punt return team also held Penn State to just -2 yards in that department and gave up only a 19-yard kick return. The Nittany Lions also missed a pair of field goals.
NOT:
Explosive plays. West Virginia yet again struggled to generate explosive plays, especially in the passing game. The Mountaineers had a 37-yard deep ball to Devin Carter but didn't complete a pass over 15-yards for the rest of the game until deep in the fourth quarter with the game already essentially decided on the scoreboard. The Mountaineers are going to need more production in that area of the game and Brown admitted as much in his post game that it has to get better.
The secondary. West Virginia only allowed four runs over 10-yards to Penn State in this game and that's not something I would have guessed heading into this game with a first-time starter at quarterback and two high-level running backs. But it was the air-game that hurt the Mountaineers as Allar was able to find open wide receivers on a series of rub routes and crossing patterns that led to chunks of yardage. There is no question that this area must improve moving forward.
Trick plays. West Virginia had two outside the point conversion with both basically resulting in sacks that either directly ended or led to the end of drives. The Mountaineers get credit for trying to get creative, but both of these were ill-timed and hurt an offense that was struggling to get things going.
DEFINING MOMENTS:
1st and 10 on the PSU 48. Trailing 7-0 already, the Mountaineers were marching when Garrett Greene floated a ball down the right sideline into the waiting arms of Devin Carter. It was the first shot that the program took in the game and it resulted in a 37-yard grab that set up the first touchdown for West Virginia.
3rd and 6 on the WVU 46. The Mountaineers were able to get Penn State in an unfavorable spot and a chance to get off the field but it resulted in a 30-yard catch and run and the Nittany Lions would move back ahead 14-7.
4th and 5 on the PSU 43. After one of those trick plays set West Virginia behind the sticks, the Mountaineers had a chance to extend the drive facing a fourth and manageable after a Garrett Greene scramble. The play was there on a slant to freshman Traylon Ray but he simply misfired and it led to a turnover on downs.
4th and 8 on the WVU 21 and 4th and 10 on the WVU 17. On back-to-back possessions to close the half, Penn State drove the football deep into West Virginia territory with a chance to tack on a field goal and both attempts misfired to keep the score at 14-7.
2nd and 7 on the WVU 29. After a three and out on defense to open the third quarter, West Virginia was on the move with a 15-yard run but it would be called back on an illegal motion penalty and the Mountaineers drive would not recover.
4th and 2 on the PSU 47. Trailing 24-7 West Virginia put together one of their better drives of the second half but it ended with a trick play that blew up when Nicco Marchiol was sacked and essentially closed the book on any type of comeback.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
-2. Punt return yardage allowed. West Virginia allowed just 19 yards last season.
0 - Turnovers. West Virginia had only two games all of last season with 0 turnovers and one of those was against FCS opponent Towson.
2 - Field goals missed by Penn State.
3 - Consecutive seasons that West Virginia has started 0-1.
3-13 - Neal Brown's record against ranked teams since arriving at West Virginia. He has lost five of his last six.
4-14 - West Virginia's third down conversions despite the fact the offense averaged over six yards per play on first down.
14 - Longest run allowed by West Virginia and that occurred in the third quarter.
73 - Completion percentage for Penn State.
148 - Rushing yards by West Virginia.
1954 - The year West Virginia last won in Happy Valley.
12,728 - Days since West Virginia last beat Penn State in 1988.
GAME BALL:
Lee Kpogba. I've already discussed this in the opening but he was the best player on the field for West Virginia in this one leading the team in tackles and being active.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
Can there be improvement? For the second, or perhaps third, year in a row Neal Brown stood in front of reporters and said while he was disappointed in the results of a game he wasn't discouraged about the trajectory of his football team. West Virginia has started each of the past three seasons with a loss and those years ended 6-7 and 5-7.
Now, this is much tougher game than either of those two previous contest and West Virginia did fight and didn't close the caskets on themselves. But the question remains, can this be the start of a change for the football program this season or will it be much of the same? West Virginia is going to have some massive opportunities upcoming in the month of September with none as important as the Backyard Brawl.
But the Big 12 as a whole struggled this past weekend either outright losing or performing poorly in games they were favored to win. Can this be the year that the talk is backed up by what unfolds on the field? That is the biggest question.
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