Penn State-West Virginia: What's new with the Mountaineers 10 days before meeting the Lions?
Penn State is 10 days away from kicking off the 2023 college football season. The Nittany Lions open with West Virginia on Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m. inside of Beaver Stadium on NBC. Neal Brown enters year five as the leader of the Mountaineers. He is 22-25 in his first four years and coming off consecutive losing seasons. As of Aug. 23, head coach James Franklin‘s team is nearly a three-touchdown favorite at most sports books across the country.
Here’s what’s new with the Big 12 program ahead of the showdown in State College.
West Virginia may not name a starter before kickoff
Depending on when you read this article, Penn State may have already named a starting quarterback. West Virginia may have, as well. But, both may wait to either game week, or actual game day, to make their first-team passer known. That could be the case even if each side has already declared a winner internally.
In Morgantown, junior Garrett Greene took on redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol for the QB1 job. The former completed 43 of 78 attempts for 493 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions last season. The latter was 4 of 13 for 61 yards and a touchdown in 2022.
“They know,” Brown told reporters this week when asked if a winner was picked. “We just haven’t done anything real formal with it, but I think they have a good understanding. Here is the thing; we’ve got two really good quarterbacks. I feel good about both of them. One of them is a little bit further ahead, and that’s kind of where it is, but I don’t know if it really helps us to share a whole lot, but I think the team has got a good feel for it.”
It’s not out of the question, either, that both will play under the Beaver Stadium lights. Which one does so first, however, remains to be seen.
“One of them has performed at a higher level, and we’re going to continue to push them, and we can play both of them in the game,” Brown said. “I feel comfortable with both of them, but it’s been clear who has been ahead at this point.”
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The Mountaineers have other position battles to figure out
According to a report from the school’s official website, a few other position battles are still up for grabs. before West Virginia travels to Penn State. The list includes WILL linebacker, a guard spot along the offensive line, the majority of the depth chart spots at receiver, and special teams positions. So, similar to the Lions, some things must still be figured out before the team hops aboard a fleet of coach busses for the ride to State College.
“We’ve got a really good idea who will start the game at pretty much every position, but there are a couple of battles that are still going,” Brown said.
Penn State ties to West Virginia
There are a few Penn State ties on the West Virginia roster. Let’s start with true freshman Rodney Gallagher. The former four-star recruit and receiver, who the Nittany Lions wanted badly before he ended up in Morgantown will play in his first college game next Saturday, per Brown. How much so, however, remains to be seen.
Finally, two former Nittany Lions should see the field. But, neither project as starters. Lance Dixon plays the team’s hybrid safety/linebacker role and Fatorma Mulbah will be part of the defensive tackle rotation.
