The West Virginia Mountaineers lost to the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions, 34-12, on Saturday at Milam Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, WV, on Saturday.
It was a deflating opener for the Mountaineers (0-1), who at times were sloppy and never led. The Nittany Lions (1-0) had some sloppiness of their own but shed that by the second quarterback and unveiled a new big-play element to their offense that frustrated the Mountaineers.
WVU quarterback Garrett Greene avoided interceptions but only threw for 161 yards and no touchdowns. The Mountaineers got their only touchdown out of running back C.J. Donaldson, who also led WVU with 42 rushing yards.
Also hurting WVU were three turnovers, two additional fumbles and a terrible third-down conversion rate.
It was not the opener the Mountaineers were hoping for.
Here are three thoughts on the game.
An Opportunity Lost
It’s not often any team gets a Top 10 team at home. The game was a chance for West Virginia to burnish some national credentials with a showcase game on Fox.
The game was significant in the context of this series. Penn State had a massive lead in the series, 49-9-2. The Nittany Lions owned a 17-6-1 edge in Morgantown. At No. 8 in the nation, Penn State represented the highest-ranked opponent the Mountaineers had faced in a home season opener since No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 5, 1998.
Plus, there were the echoes of the past. The last time the Mountaineers beat the Nittany Lions was in Morgantown back in 1988, a 51-30 victory. Long-time WVU fans know that season like the back of their collective hand. The Mountaineers were still an independent in football in those days, but they went undefeated, reached No. 3 in the country and earned a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 1 Notre Dame.
WVU could have won a national championship that day, but lost, 34-21.
The Mountaineers needed this game. Not only is WVU one of the few Big 12 schools facing two power conference teams in non-conference, it might have the toughest Big 12 slate to start.
Between Kansas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas State and Arizona the Mountaineers face five conference contenders and three ranked teams in succession. If WVU fancies itself a Big 12 title contender, it will have to win most of those games.
Saturday was a chance for the Mountaineers to show they had the chops to do it. They fell well short. No, the long weather delay at halftime didn’t help. But WVU was already down 20-6 at the break and never bounced back.
It truly was a missed opportunity for WVU.
WVU Gets Outrun
The matchup going into this game was clear — West Virginia was the No. 1 rushing offense in college football a year ago and returned most of the backs that made that happen. Penn State was the No. 1 rushing defense in college football a year ago and returned much of that talent, too.
So, the team that won this matchup probably won the game. Did anyone expect Penn State to win that matchup?
WVU lost running back Jahiem White in the first half and he didn’t return. But the Mountaineers returned nearly all of its rushing output from a season ago. There was enough consistency up front to set the tone with the run game.
Instead, it was Penn State that did the job, as the Nittany Lions outrushed the Mountaineers, 222-85. Sure, the attention will be on the big plays the Nittany Lions drew up in the pass game (we’ll get to that). And that surely helped their run game in spots.
But WVU is going to spend the week stressing about White and stressing that it has to run the ball effectively no matter who is in the backfield.
The Shaky Secondary
WVU’s defense was No. 85 in passing yards allowed last year. The safeties returned — Aubrey Burks and Anthony Wilson. But the Mountaineers had to turn over their corners and used transfer portal talent to do it. Add to that a Penn State offensive coordinator with experience against WVU — former Kansas OC Andy Kotelnicki — and it became a recipe for trouble.
Harrison Wallace III did the most damage for Penn State, as he finished with five catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns. PSU coach Tony Franklin wanted to add a big-play element to the offense in the hopes of beating the Big Ten’s top teams (Michigan and Ohio State). The Nittany Lions are already adapting.
The long pass play to end the first half was a back-breaker. That led to Wallace’s second touchdown catch and turned what should have been a one-score game into a two-score game. The heartbreaking part for WVU is that the play was kind of broken and the receiver came open at the last second after the defender lost contact with him.
Th Mountaineers will have to get better in that department in the next couple of weeks as Big 12 play approaches. Sure, teams run the ball more these days. But all five of those aforementioned teams have experienced quarterbacks that can hurt WVU.
