Season still young for West Virginia despite stinging loss to No. 8 Penn State on big stage
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Neal Brown expressed confidence earlier this week that his Mountaineers were capable of producing a different outcome Saturday vs. Penn State than last year against the Nittany Lions.
To begin the 2023 campaign, West Virginia fell by 23 points in Happy Valley, a game that was close at halftime before Penn State began imposing its will and running away with things.
Ultimately, the Mountaineers’ 34-12 defeat to No. 8 Penn State on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium followed a similar script.
West Virginia was competitive until the final moments of the second quarter and scored just one touchdown on the day.
Quarterback Garrett Greene was kept in check through the air and on the ground, managing only 166 total yards, and tailbacks CJ Donaldson and Jahiem White only rushed for a combined 75 yards.
“First of all, I’ll credit Penn State,” Brown said postgame. “(They’re a) good team. (Penn State coach) James (Franklin) does a really good job there. He’s done it for a long time, but we played bad football. I can sit here and talk for a long time, but that’s the deal.”
West Virginia never seemed to get in rhythm offensively.
Greene fumbled four times, losing a pair, and the offense managed only 246 yards.
Two promising drives in the second quarter stalled out at Penn State’s 20 and 21-yard lines, with a failed fourth-down try at the Nittany Lions’ 16-yard line turning the ball over on downs in the first quarter.
“I don’t think any of our players played at a level that is going to be required to beat a team like (Penn State),” Brown said. “My expectation for this group is extremely high, and we didn’t come close, and we didn’t come close to meeting those expectations today.”
While it occurred with plenty of football left to be played, the backbreaker was allowing a three-play, 73-yard touchdown drive with 32 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Mountaineers had just made a field goal to pull within 13-6, which would have been a manageable deficit to begin the third quarter.
But in quick succession, Drew Allar dropped a 55-yard bomb to Omari Evans and followed with an 18-yard strike to Harrison Wallace, putting Penn State up 20-6 at the halfway point.
Drew Allar DEEEEEP to Omari Evans ????@PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/G2ZJf2fqQq
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 31, 2024
Really hoping Allar figures it out. QB class needs the juice. pic.twitter.com/hRB8kCf7b0
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) August 31, 2024
“We should have had them in a better spot at the end of the first half,” Brown said. “That should never happen with 32 seconds to go.”
Because of severe lightning storms around Morgantown, halftime turned into a pause of 2 hours, 19 minutes before play was able to resume.
While far from optimal, Greene didn’t attribute Saturday’s loss to the long interruption.
“The delay’s obviously not ideal just because you have to go sit for a while,” Greene said. “It’s almost like starting the game off again. But we didn’t execute well enough before or after the break.”
Brown also remarked during the week that Saturday’s game would not make or break West Virginia’s season.
That is as true as it was last season, when the Mountaineers bounced back after their Week 1 loss to Penn State to go 9-4, handing Brown his best season in five years at the helm.
But without question, losing big at home on a massive college football stage stings.
“Everything we want is still in front of us,” Greene said. “We’re still a good football team, and (Penn State) is a good football team. They whooped our asses today. That’s it.”
For West Virginia, the season is still young.
The Backyard Brawl is two weeks away, and four additional ranked matchups vs. Kansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Arizona are on deck later in the season.
As Brown and the Mountaineers move past a disappointing first week, attention turns to FCS foe Albany, which visits Morgantown on Sept. 7.
“The bottom line is we played poorly,” Brown said. “I say that giving credit to Penn State. They won the game, but that’s not what we’re capable of. We have higher expectations for ourselves. I told the players in the locker room the exact same thing. I told the staff the exact same thing — that was not good enough.”