MORGANTOWN — Notes, observations and more from West Virginia’s disappointing 34-12 loss to Penn State on Saturday:
It wasn’t so much the loss itself, as the way West Virginia played.
The hope, and the feeling going in, was that the Mountaineers were an improved team from 2023, and that was bolstered by the limited observations allowed of the team in fall camp, along with some optimistic observations from coaches and players, along with a few complaints about a lack of attention and respect.
WVU’s performance, admittedly poor in many respects, contrasted with all of that, making for a sizable letdown for everyone at Milan Puskar Stadium. In a lot of ways, WVU’s showing on Saturday was even worse — or Penn State’s control of the game more complete — than in last year’s 38-15 loss in State College.
Of course, in the buildup to the season, there’s not a lot of room for concerns or potential negatives, especially in the wake of a 9-4 bowl-winning season, but the takeaway from that should be twofold:
1. Take rosy predictions with a great of salt, and ignore all the noise on social media, and
2. Look at how the areas of concern that did make it into preseason coverage played out in the game.
That second item included a number of instances that came out about as poorly as possible for WVU. Its offensive line, especially in the interior, was dominated by the Penn State defensive front, which penetrated at will, producing a pair of sacks and six TFLs while keeping the Mountaineer rushing game throttled.
The West Virginia defensive secondary was also shaky, forcing just six incompletions while blowing a coverage in the waning moments of the second half to allow the Lions to score a touchdown that extended their lead to 20-6.
That only served to make the halftime rain delay of two hours, 19 minutes even more painful for those who stayed to watch the resumption of play, but it also raised some serious questions about the rebuilt secondary.
Substitutions and moves in the back end were prevalent in the second half, and the quick reaction is that there’s still a lot of work to do to construct a workable framework against the pass.
LINE DANCE: If football still comes down to line play as one of its fundamentals for winning, Penn State provided a couple of exhibits.
In addition to its defensive line wins, the reconstructed PSU offensive front answered the questions facing it in a resoundingly positive manner, gashing gaps in the WVU interior to produce a 5.3 yards per carry average.
That included several QB scrambles from PSU QB Drew Allar, who hasn’t been noted for a dynamic rushing style, although WVU coach Neal Brown did note that he produced at times last year while avoiding the rush.
West Virginia’s inability to get pressure on Allar (zero sacks) allowed him to be comfortable in the pocket, but also find gaps on those few occasions when his receivers didn’t get separation.
He had a 15-yard rush for a first down in the second quarter, and crushing scrambles for 10 yards on two third-and long plays in the third quarter when the Mountaineers desperately needed a stop.
Those set up another PSU score that extended their lead to 21 points and removed any faint — very faint — hopes that WVU could climb back into the contest. Add in another first down rush in the final period, and Allar finished with 44 rushing yards — more than any WVU player.
WHISTLE WOE: Were referee David Alvarez and his Big 12 crew their usual woeful selves in the game? Yes. But, also as usual, they missed a number of calls both ways, and in the end, there was at least some balance in the errors.
The crew chose not to throw flags on a potential roughing the punter and ignored an obvious offensive pass interference late in the first half, but WVU was helped by a pair of bad spots that allowed it to convert a fourth down and score its only touchdown of the game.
It’s understandable that Brown was frustrated some of the crew’s decisions, but they did not have an outsize effect on the game. That’s not always the case in contests in which Alvarez’s crew is involved.
SOME WORK TO DO: WVU had five players on defense making their first career starts. Returnees Tyrin Bradley and Josiah Trotter joined transfers Ayden Garnes, Garnett Hollis Jr., and Kekoura “KK†Tarnue on that list.
It’s not unfair to think that all of the mixing and matching in the secondary, following a month of competition to simply sort out those that were ready to play, contributed to some of the pass coverage problems, but the challenge now it to forge more consistent play in the back end.
POWER PLAYERS: West Virginia is one of only four schools to open against a power conference opponent in each of the past four seasons. It is 0-4 in those contests.
