Penn State, West Virginia resume long-dormant rivalry

There’s a lot of shared history between Penn State and West Virginia, and James Franklin doesn’t care about any of it as he prepares to lead his Nittany Lions into an opening-day clash against their former Eastern independent rival.

Really, why should he? There isn’t a single player on either team who was alive when the Nittany Lions and Mountaineers last met in October 1992. Franklin was alive, and so was his West Virginia counterpart, Neal Brown, but both were a long way from the start of their coaching careers. The former was a sophomore quarterback at East Stroudsburg at the time, while the latter, at age 12, was still years away from the start of his career as an all-state wide receiver at Boyle County (Ky.) High.

Penn State holds an 48-9-2 edge in the all-time series, which dates back to 1904, but that isn’t going to make a bit of difference when the 2023 season kicks off on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium. Which is another reason why Franklin demurred when asked Tuesday to reflect on the relationship between these formerly annual rivals.

“It would be nice to take some time and talk about the history of college football and the history of this region and some of these games,” he said, “but there’s just not a whole lot of value in that in terms of getting our guys ready to play this game and be successful. There aren’t a whole lot of storylines that would make sense for them.

“There are a lot of guys on [West Virginia’s] team that [Penn State players] know through the recruiting process or from the region, guys who they played with in high school who went there.

“But, no, we don’t spend a whole lot of time on it, because I don’t think there’s a whole lot of relevant information that will impact winning.”

A not-so-fond farewell

The Big Ten-bound Nittany Lions were playing their final season as independents in 1992, and they outlasted the Mountaineers 40-26 in Morgantown. West Virginia was going through a rough patch under longtime coach Don Nehlen, following up a Fiesta Bowl appearance in 1988 by compiling a combined record of 18-15-1 in the three ensuing seasons. Things would get worse before they got better, as WVU scuffled to a 5-4-2 showing in ’92.

In that respect, this year’s matchup does bear some resemblance to its precursor. In their four seasons under Brown, the Mountaineers have struggled to produce the breakthrough they’ve been seeking. They’ve never won fewer than five games during that span, but they’ve never won more than six.

Looking to escape from that rut, West Virginia drew an awfully tough assignment with a prime time road opener against the No. 7 team in the country. The Mountaineers will be breaking in a new starting quarterback in front of 106,000 hostile fans, and while the choice is widely assumed to be junior Garrett Greene, a two-game starter last year, Brown didn’t tip his hand when he spoke to the media on Monday.

No matter who gets the nod at quarterback — redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol is the other contender — West Virginia knows it will be facing a formidable road block in its first trip to State College since the 1991 season.

A challenging opener

“I told our guys we don’t have the benefit of the doubt of making this big jump from Week 1 to Week 2,” Brown said. “We have to be ready to go, and that’s the way we’ve gone about our fall camp. We’ve pressed on the gas, tried to be super physical and in our last scrimmage, we tried to treat it just like a game from a physicality and number of plays perspective. We don’t have the benefit of the doubt. We’re not easing into this. We have to be ready to go from the first kick.”

The Mountaineers’ most recent visit to State College was hardly worth remembering. They lost that 1991 game 51-6, with Tony Sacca throwing for 3 touchdowns and the Penn State defense producing 6 sacks, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries.

Fortunately for WVU, none of its players do remember it. Greene wouldn’t be born for another seven years. As far as he and his teammates are concerned, the history of this rivalry starts on Saturday night.