GAME NOTES: No. 7 Penn State vs. West Virginia - Penn State Athletics (2024)

Adisa Isaac

Football 8/28/2023 6:47:00 PM

Nittany Lions open 2023 season against Mountaineers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 7 Penn State welcomes West Virginia to Beaver Stadium on Saturday night to begin the 2023 season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

NBC SATURDAY NIGHT: The Nittany Lions open NBC's 2023 Big Ten football coverage. Penn State is set to make its first appearance on NBC since Sept. 9, 2006 at Notre Dame. Penn State is 7-3 all-time in games broadcast on NBC with eight of the 10 appearances coming in bowl games. This will mark NBC's first-ever game in Beaver Stadium.

SERIES HISTORY: Penn State meets West Virginia for the 60th time in program history. The Nittany Lions own a 48-9-2 advantage in the series. Penn State is 31-3 in home games and has won 32 of the last 34 matchups. In the last contest, on Oct. 24, 1992, the Nittany Lions won 40-26 in Morgantown. Kerry Collins threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns, while Richie Anderson rushed for 133 yards and three scores.

STARTING OFF RIGHT: Penn State has won 18 of its last 21 season-opening contests and six of its last seven. The Nittany Lions are 112-22-2 all-time in season openers and 121-13-1 all-time in home openers.

OFFENSIVE WEAPONS: Following strong freshmen campaigns by Nicholas Singleton (1,061 rushing yards) and Kaytron Allen (867), along with the addition of Trey Potts (1,195 career yards), Penn State is one of 17 FBS teams, and the only Big Ten team, entering 2023 with three career 800-yard rushers on its team. With Dante Cephas (2,139 career receiving yards) and KeAndre-Lambert Smith (1,048), Penn State is one of 11 FBS teams, and the only Big Ten team, entering 2023 with two career 1,000-yard rushers and receivers on its roster.

BEHIND THE LINE: PSU limited nine opponents to less than 100 rushing yards during the 2022 season and 11 of its last 12 opponents below their season rushing average entering the game. PSU recorded at least seven tackles for loss in each of the last eight games of 2022.

• 137th: Penn State opens its 137th football season.
• 2019: Penn State will open the season against a non-conference opponent for the first time since 2019. The Nittany Lions also open the season at home for the first time since 2019.
• Top 15:Penn State has been ranked among the Top 15 in both the AP and Coaches Preseason Polls in five of the last seven seasons.
• 10th:This will mark the 10th season for head coach James Franklin at Penn State.

WEST VIRGINIA SCOUTING REPORT

• Neal Brown enters his fifth season as head coach at West Virginia. He holds a 22-25 record at West Virginia and a 57-41 career mark in his ninth year as a head coach.
• West Virginia went 5-7 in 2022, including a 3-6 mark in Big 12 action.
• The Mountaineers earned wins over Towson (65-7), Virginia Tech (33-10), No. 23 Baylor (43-40), Oklahoma (23-20) and Oklahoma State (24-19).
• In 2022, WVU's offense ranked 49th in the country in scoring (30.6 ppg), 56th in total offense (399.0 ypg), 51st in rushing offense (171.5) and 70th in passing offense (227.5). The Mountaineers finished 12th in red zone offense with a 91.3 conversion percentage.
• Garrett Greene is WVU's top returning passer after throwing for 493 yards and five touchdowns, while completing 55 percent of his passes in 2022.
• RB CJ Donaldson Jr. ran for 526 yards and eight scores in his freshman campaign.
• On defense, West Virginia ranked 115th in the nation in scoring (32.9 ppg), 97th in total defense (412.2 ypg), 66th in rushing defense (149.6) and 110th in passing defense (262.7).
• WVU scored three defensive touchdowns last season, good for 12th in the country.
• The Mountaineers return their top three tacklers from a year ago: LB Lee Kpogba (92 TT), S Aubrey Burks (66 TT) and S Marcis Floyd (64 TT).
• P Oliver Straw averaged 42.3 yards per punt last season, with a long of 63 yards, and placed 17 kicks inside the 20.

HOME OPENERS

• Penn State begins its 64th season in Beaver Stadium.
• The Nittany Lions are 121-13-1 all-time in home openers, including last year's 46-10 victory over Ohio.
• The Blue and White owns a 53-10 record in Beaver Stadium home openers.
• Penn State has won 19 of its last 21 home openers.

PENN STATE VS. BIG 12

• Penn State is 74-18-2 all-time against the current alignment of the Big-12, including 69-15-2 in regular season games.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA ACCOLADES

• Multiple Nittany Lions have earned preseason All-America honors.
• Junior OL Olumuyiwa Fashanu and junior CB Kalen King were named preseason Associated Press and Sporting News first-team All-Americans.
• Junior DE Chop Robinson and sophom*ore RB Nicholas Singleton each earned second-team preseason All-America honors from Sporting News.
• Fashanu and King were also tabbed preseason Pro Football Focus All-America first team, while Robinson earned second-team honors and Singleton and sophom*ore LB Abdul Carter garnered honorable mention laurels.

WATCH LISTS

• Penn State has 12 players represented on watch lists entering the 2023 season.
• The Nittany Lions placed three players on the Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch lists. Sophom*ore LB Abdul Carter, junior CB Kalen King and junior DE Chop Robinson were named to both watch lists.
• Carter, junior OL Olumuyiwa Fashanu and Robinson were all tabbed to the Lombardi Award watch list.
• Carter and junior LB Curtis Jacobs are on the Butkus Award watch list.
• Carter and King are members of the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list.
• Fashanu is also on the Outland Trophy watch list, while joining sophom*ore RB Nicholas Singleton on the Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list.
• King is on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list.
• Sophom*ore RB Kaytron Allen and Singleton were named to the Doak Walker Award watch list.
• Singleton is also on the Maxwell Award and Paul Hornung Award watch lists.
• Redshirt senior WR Dante Cephas is on the Biletnikoff Award watch list.
• Redshirt senior DT Dvon Ellies was recognized on the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and Wuerffel Trophy watch lists.
• Sophom*ore WR Omari Evans is on the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watch list.
• Junior TE Theo Johnson is a member of the Mackey Award watch list.
• Senior P Riley Thompson is on the Ray Guy Award watch list.
• In addition, 11 Nittany Lions are on the Reese's Senior Bowl watch list including DT Hakeem Beamon, Cephas, CB Johnny Dixon, S Keaton Ellis, LB Tyler Elsdon, Fashanu, DE Adisa Isaac, Jacobs, Johnson, WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith, OL Caedan Wallace, TE Tyler Warren and DT Jordan van den Berg.