NCAAF No. 8 Penn State at West Virginia
It’s not a conference game, but the eighth-ranked (preseason) Penn St. Nittany Lions and West Virginia Mountaineers need no introduction in the 61st all-time meeting between the programs.
Kickoff at Morgantown is 12 PM (ET) Saturday afternoon, with the visitors an eight-point favorite (total at 51½), according to college football odds.
Coach James Franklin and the Lions are excited about the offense. Junior quarterback Drew Allar has elite backfield mates in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
Former Ohio St. wide receiver Julian Fleming has joined via transfer. Fleming was expected to be a top receiver in Columbus, but hasn’t as of now.
WVU didn’t make a lot of moves in the transfer portal, though coach Neal Brown and the Mountaineers did land ex-Oklahoma St. wideout Jaden Bray (30 catches in ‘23) . He will be one of the only new faces in an offense led by quarterback Garrett Greene and rusher Jaheim White (842 yards, 7.7 yards per carry).
PSU ended 2023 10-3, ranked No. 13 after a 38-25 Peach Bowl loss to the Ole Miss Rebels.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers were 9-4 in 2023, having finished with a 30-10 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Penn St. is leading the all-time series, 49-9-2, winning the last five (38-15 at home last season).
Allar’s Unfair Criticism
Quarterback Drew Allar was able to lead the Penn St. offense last season, though struggled as the season progressed.
Remember last season the Nittany Lions lost to Ohio St. and Michigan, despite holding both opponents to no more than 24 points. Many in the media blamed Allar (2,632 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, two interceptions) after Penn St., 7-2 in the Big Ten, was unable to beat the elites.
Allar isn’t terrific, though has license to improve this season. PSU had a chance to win every game last season, that’s because Allar did limited turnovers and managed the games very well.
Allar has a fan in WVU coach Neal Brown, who suggested Allar's criticism was unfair. Brown was all too familiar that Allar (325 passing yards, three touchdowns) was the difference in the Lions’ drilling of the Mountaineers to begin last season.
Allar limiting turnovers is the key to any success Penn St. has this season.
Mojo in Morgantown?
As was mentioned, the West Virginia Mountaineers ended last season at 9-4 (6-3 in Big 12) with a bowl win to boot. It was WVU’s best season since a 10-3 record in 2016, leading to much optimism around Morgantown ahead of 2024.
Quarterback Garrett Greene hit Traylon Ray with a 75-yard touchdown to begin that bowl-game win over North Carolina. We will probably see that connection more than once this season.
Greene (2,408 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, four interceptions) put together a solid season as a junior. He is taken to take that next step in 2024.
It wasn’t pretty on the other side of the ball with the Mountaineers last season. WVU surrendered 26.2 points per game, also allowing chunks of yardage (237.4 passing yards and 143.4 rushing yards per contest)
Take the Visitors
If you’re a fan/believer, Penn St. is 20-1 (+2000) to win the title, WVU at a robust 300-1 (+30000), as per college football championship odds.
When the opponent doesn’t come out of Columbus or Ann Arbor, the Happy Valley Nittany Lions are a different animal.
Games not against the two Big Ten bullies saw Penn St earn two-score wins every time (except the Peach Bowl). However, with so many opt-outs in that game, use an asterisk there.
The last regular season had Penn St. securing each of its 10 wins by nine or more points. Thus the eight-point number here is appealing.
All due to respect to WVU’s Greene and White (there’s a theme), they will encounter some obstacles in the Penn St. defense.
Though the schools are separated by just 180 miles, it’s been a one-sided affair. Go with the Nittany Lions -8 Saturday afternoon.
