Penn State vs West Virginia: Five things to watch with the Nittany Lions defense
Penn State takes on West Virginia tomorrow at Beaver Stadium for the 2023 season kickoff. Over the last two weeks, we’ve covered every facet of the matchup between the Nittany Lions and Mountaineers. Check out the matchup with the Penn State ground game, passing game, defensive run game, and coverage.
Today on the BWI Live Show, we’ll cover the five things to watch when the Penn State defense is on the field. We’ll take you through the West Virginia offensive attack from the ground up and explain how they’ll try to find creases in the Penn State defense.
Also, join the show live at 10 a.m. to get a final update on the recruits attending the game. Be sure to subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube so you don’t miss any of our live coverage today and on Saturday.
Penn State prospects flocking to season opener
Penn State recruiting insider Ryan Snyder joins the BWI Live show at the top of the hour to give one final update on the players planning to attend the game this weekend. He’ll give you the important prospects that Penn State wants to impress with a weekend victory. For the full list, join Blue White Illustrated for access to premium content. Right now, you can get in for 50% of the yearly subscription.
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Five Things to Watch: Defense
The West Virginia Mountaineers bring a dangerous running game to Happy Valley on Saturday, and we’ll break it down from the bedrock of the system to the top. Here’s a snippet from this week’s explanation of the running and passing games with quarterback Garrett Greene.
The zone running scheme, especially outside zone, is essential to fold into the passing conversation. A large portion of the West Virginia offense last year was built around the RPO and read-option concepts off of the running game.
The outside zone is an aggressive lateral rushing attack that forces the defense to flow in one direction with the offensive line. West Virginia’s line is good enough that you have to respect their ability to out-gap you up front. But off the back of this system, head coach and offensive coordinator Neal Brown pairs these secondary concepts. This causes a shearing effect on the defense, where most defenders have to follow the play. But the backside corners and safeties are still responsible for the screen game. Next, the offense adds Greene’s rushing ability slows down backside pursuit from the unblocked defender as well.
On today’s show, we’ll break down these concepts with visuals and then build off of that to explain how the Mountaineers passing attack functions with Greene at quarterback. Join the show to ask questions and give your comments to T-Frank live on air!
