The Penn State Nittany Lions embark on the 2024 season next weekend with a trip to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers and kickoff their season. This is the fourth time in the last five years that Penn State will start its season on the road, winning the last two against Wisconsin (2021) and Purdue (2022).
Happy Valley Insider takes a first look at West Virginia heading into Saturday's matchup.
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Game/broadcast details:
Where: Morgantown, West Virginia
Stadium: Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Official capacity of 60,000)
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Television: FOX - Gus Johnson (PxP), Joel Klatt (Analyst) Jenny Taft (Sidelines)
Odds via Yahoo Sportsbook: Penn State -300 favorite (-8.5 point spread), over/under is 51.5
A turnaround in Morgantown?
Coming into last season, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown was hard pressed to find many supporters after a rocky start to hit tenure in Morgantown. After going just 22-25 across his first four years with the Mountaineers, Brown needed a turnaround to likely save his job.
That is exactly what transpired for West Virginia in 2023, reaching nine wins including a Duke's Mayo Bowl victory over North Carolina, to reach its highest win total since 2016.
West Virginia now aims to continue that success from last season into 2024, where a potential upset of the No. 8 team in the country would go a long way in the bid for the Mountaineers to replicate or surpass the success from a year ago. James Franklin and company will have something to say about that, however.
Get ready for the run...
Much of West Virginia's success on offense a year ago came via the ground game, with quarterback Garrett Greene leading the charge as the full-time starter for Neal Brown. Greene joined forces with running backs CJ Donaldson and Jaheim White to help the Mountaineers rush for 228.9 yards per game, which was good for fourth in college football and best among Power 5 programs.
All three players are back for another round with the Mountaineers, bringing 2,412 yards and 30 touchdowns with them from last season. That rushing attack proved to be successful against Penn State this time last year, as West Virginia ran for 146 yards and two scores against the third ranked run defense in the country, tied with Ole Miss for the second-most the Nittany Lions allowed in 2023. (Michigan topped that list with 227 yards).
Under former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, Penn State was top 15 in run defense the last two seasons, but with Diaz now the head coach at Duke, Tom Allen will be asked to continue that trend in Happy Valley.
If Penn State can stifle a potent rushing attack from Greene, Donaldson and White, it could make for a long night for the Mountaineers.
Nittany Lions aim to continue dominance over Mountaineers...
What was once an annual meeting and a great college football rivalry game was put on the back burner for two decades after Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993. The rivalry was renewed last season, which was the first of two meetings between the programs that wraps up this weekend in Morgantown.
Penn State has dominated the all-time series, holding a 49-9-2 record in 60 battles prior to Saturday. The Nittany Lions extended their winning streak to five straight over the Mountaineers last season, winning 38-15 in Happy Valley to kickoff the 2023 campaign. West Virginia has gone 36 years without a win over the Nittany Lions, with the last such outcome being a 51-30 triumph in 1988.
The Nittany Lions will look to continue its dominance over the Big 12 squad on Saturday afternoon.
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