The keys to Penn State leaving West Virginia with a Week 1 win

The Penn State Nittany Lions are traveling to Morgantown in Week 1 to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. It’s one of the biggest matchups of Week 1 of the college football season and could set the tone for the season to come for both teams.

Sean Fitz from Blue White Illustrated appeared on the On3 Roundtable. There, he broke down the keys for Penn State to leave Morgantown with a win in Week 1.

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“Obviously a dangerous place to play in Morgantown, West Virginia,” Sean Fitz said. “Not far away. Penn State hasn’t played there very often in the last couple of decades, but anytime you go into that town you’re gonna be primed for a fight, whether you’re a fan, whether you’re a player, whatever.”

Ultimately, as Fitz explained, he thinks this game is going to come down to a few intriguing matchups. It’s in those places, particularly thanks to the Penn State defense, that he thinks the Nittany Lions look like the stronger team.

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“I think Penn State, on paper, looks pretty good in terms of the matchups that West Virginia presents. You look at wideout and corner, and this is an interesting matchup because neither of those positions are a strength of West Virginia. Corner seems to be a strength for Penn State. They’re, of course, replacing three guys that were starters last year, All-Big Ten guys last year but seems to be another good group there,” Fitz said.

“It’s gonna start and end and finish up front. Penn State’s defensive line, I think, has the ability to take over many games, and I think this is one when you’re looking at West Virginia’s offensive line, which lost a couple of awesome players…that defensive line has an ability to overwhelm them and that’s going to make things tough for Garrett Greene. Now, Garrett Greene’s very good at improvising, moving around, and making plays but I think he’s gonna take some shots. That’ll be interesting to see how that works.”

In 2023, West Virginia went to Happy Valley where Penn State won 38-15. In that game, both teams ran for exactly 146 yards on the ground. However, it was through the air where the Mountaineers struggled to move the ball.

“West Virginia is gonna try to run the football. Jahiem White, a Pennsylvania kid, who was really productive as a true freshman and they’ve got some really good backs but I think that front seven from Penn State has the ability to change that game.”

Ultimately, even with Tom Allen taking over for Manny Diaz as defensive coordinator, the defense is still expected to be Penn State’s strength and Sean Fitz expects the Nittany Lions to lean on that in this game.

“So, it’s going to be the same type of Penn State team that we’ve seen before. Defense setting up everything else, getting them into position, getting them in field position, and just hopefully putting them in the right direction, putting them in the right spot for the offense to make plays. But I can see a game similar to last year, which is certainly close, certainly a loud atmosphere. It’ll be a noon kick but it’ll be a loud atmosphere in Morgantown,” Fitz said.

“So, Penn State’s got their work cut out for them. No doubt about it. I think on paper they’re better but you don’t play the games on paper. So, I’m excited to see…how that thing’s gonna turn out.”

Penn State and West Virginia will kickoff the season at noon on Saturday, August 31st.