See Penn State football in action 11 days before West Virginia: Practice photos
STATE COLLEGE — The final days of the preseason are here for Penn State football. The Nittany Lions worked under mostly sunny skies on a Tuesday afternoon when temperatures sunk into the low 60s here on the outdoor practice fields between the Lasch Building and Holuba Hall. In other words, it didn’t just look like game day is close. It felt like it, too.
Head coach James Franklin’s team sits just 11 days away from its opener at West Virginia (Noon ET, FOX). The team is on the cusp of splitting up into its main game day roster and then its developmental squad. That will happen this week. Some bonus game week practices will surely be mixed in. And, before we know it, kickoff will be here. Franklin is set to speak with reporters later Tuesday. Blue-White Illustrated will have coverage later from that portion of the team’s final availability of the preseason. Before that, check out our latest scenes from the practice field below.
Penn State practice photos: Aug 20
The latest on West Virginia
Meanwhile, in Morgantown, head coach Neal Brown’s Mountaineers were inside Milan Puskar Stadium on Tuesday. It is, of course, where the Big 12 progam and Nittany Lions will meet on Aug. 31. According to the school’s official website, the transition from preseason to in-season starts Wednesday with a practice featuring simulated game situations in a scrimmage setting.
“Today was good work,” Brown said. “We wanted to get back into the stadium at the game time and anytime you can get out when the sun is out in our stadium is good because the sun hits a little different.
“We got a lot of good 11-on-11 work, situational, and working a lot of third downs, red zone and two minute, and it was good. I thought there was some good stuff on both sides.”
Sportsbooks currently call Penn State a 9.5-point favorite. The Nittany Lions are in the middle of a five-game winning streak against West Virginia. Both sides are inching closer to making their final preparations before kickoff.
“It’s getting close, and we’ve got to be a team that really does the things that quality teams do,” Brown said. “We’ve got to be disciplined. We can’t be a team that has procedure penalties. We’ve got to be a team that is really smart and understands situational football who doesn’t beat ourselves. Those are some things that are just really important as we get closer to the game.”
