By Bill Nestor
West Virginia opened the season with a disappointing 34 to 12 loss to Penn State. The perfect start fell into Mountaineer Head Coach Neal Brown’s lap as a scoreless opening quarter allowed his players to gain confidence while battling the number eight team in the country.
The second period did not go as well for the home team riding the emotion provided by a capacity crowd at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Nittany Lions scored back to back touchdowns that gave them the 13 to noting lead. WVU had a couple of scoring opportunities of their own, but would only manage a pair of field goals.
Nevertheless, the Mountaineers were poised to head to the locker room down by a lone score when Penn State caught West Virginia napping.
When they awoke, Penn State had just connected on a huge Hail Mary and would find the end zone on an 18-yard pass play with just 16 seconds left on the second quarter clock.
A weather delay that took place at halftime and lasted two hours and 19 minutes cooled off the Mountaineer offense. When they finally made it back out onto the field, they would only manage one second half score. The Nittany Lions would add two more big scores to put the game on ice.
The biggest difference between the two squads was the speed – overall team speed for Penn State and the lack of it for WVU. The slow developing plays didn’t help either as they had the Eers appearing to run in quicksand. The numbers don’t lie and the Mountaineersaveragd 3.7 yards per play while State averaged 7.6 per snap.
The good news for Brown and his team is that they have a “get right” game set for this Saturday as Albany comes to Morgantown. WVU should be able to name the score while getting the confidence level back up for quarterback Garrett Greene and the offensive unit.
Greene ended the battle in the opener going 15 of 28 for 161 yards. Those are pedestrian numbers for the offensive catalyst from a season ago. Not only did Greene not account for a score, he was held without his typical handfu;l of splash plays. On the ground, the Heisman hopeful garnered a mere five yards on 10 rushes.
Defensively, the Lions roared their way to several big plays that not only led to scores, but helped to keep the 62,000 in attendance at bay. There were several key third and long situations for the Nittany Lions that were converted to help sustain drives.
There are plenty of things to work on for this year’s edition and winning goes a long way in the healing process.
Brown can right the ship if his team can come out and take care of business early this week. Gaining confidence and remaining healthy are the top priorities in the game two battle with the Great Danes.
Week three will bring another quality opponent – and another chapter in the book that is the Backyard Brawl. That will also be the first trip away from Morgantown for West Virginia. The Panthers will more than likely stand in the way of a winning record just before conference play begins.
It’s time to buckle down for the Mountaineers and the season has only just begun!
That will do it for now! Until next week . . . take care and God Bless!!!