Mountaineer opener is like a blind date | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo courtesy of BlueGoldNews.com. WVU and head coach Neal Brown host No. 8 Penn State at noon Saturday.

MORGANTOWN – We have all been on blind dates and know that uneasy feeling you get when you wait for the night to arrive.

What does he or she look like? Will he or she like me? Will I like him or her? What will we talk about? What music does he or she like? Where should we go?

Neal Brown and his team find themselves in a similar situation as they prepare to face No. 8 Penn State in the opening game of the 2024 football season, which takes place at noon Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium and will be televised nationally on FOX.

Now, you might think that this wouldn’t be a big problem considering the two teams played each other a year ago. James Franklin is still Penn State’s head coach. Drew Allar remains at quarterback. Defensive end Abdul Carter is back to help with the defense along with talented linebackers.

So there’s enough familiarity to think you have an idea of ​​what the Nittany Lions have in store for WVU, but it’s not that simple. During the offseason, Franklin replaced all three of his coordinators – offense, defense and special teams.

It’s almost like a blind date with a girl or boy who just moved to town and you don’t really know what to expect yet.

How do you approach Andy Kotelnicki taking over the offense from the fired Mike Yurcich, Tom Allen replacing Manny Diaz on defense, Diaz moving to Miami as D-coordinator, and Justin Lustig succeeding Stacy Collins as special teams coordinator?

“We always start with the personnel question,” WVU head coach Neal Brown explained, “You evaluate the personnel and the guys you think you’re going to see. There will also be some surprises, some guys who have improved a lot since last season or since the spring, or maybe some high school players.”

“You look at the strengths and weaknesses of those players and then start to evaluate strategies. It’s just an estimate. You don’t know what we’re going to do, and all of our coordinators are back. We don’t know what they’re going to do, and they’re all three new.”

Since this is Franklin’s 11th year at Penn State, where his Nittany Lions were the third wheel in a two-wheeler race called Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten, WVU is familiar with his philosophies and tendencies.

When it comes to the coordinators, however, he has to deal with their careers.

They feel like they know what Kotelnicki brings, as he spent 2015-2020 as OC at Buffalo and was also at Kansas from 2021-2023. Brown played in Troy against Buffalo and won 42-32 in the Dollar General Bowl game just before getting the job at WVU.

WVU didn’t do quite as well when he faced Kotelnicki once at Kansas, losing 42-55 in overtime… and it’s safe to assume the coach has far better personnel at Penn State this year than he did at Kansas, when he slammed WVU 55-57.

“He didn’t take the job because they didn’t have any players. He took a pressure position,” Brown said: “They had very diverse people, and if you look at James Franklin’s career at OCS, you can see that he had really talented people in that role. Of course, there is a certain amount of pressure that comes with that role, but Andy is very smart.”

“He probably made a calculated decision and looked at the roster and said, ‘Oh yeah, they have some players, especially running back and tight end and some young wideouts. He has some players there and there are a lot of things he can do. We’re just making our best guess. The only thing he doesn’t have to guess is quarterback Allar, who completed 21 of 29 passes for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns last year.'”

The question is whether Allar will be used in the same way, especially after his three worst performances last year in Penn State’s three losses to Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss.

“It will be interesting to see how much carryover there is from Kansas to Penn State,” Said Jordan Lesley, WVU defensive coordinator. “The personnel is a lot different than what he used in Kansas. You look at everything a little bit. I think the best thing he does is do what his personnel can do.”

All of this makes it difficult for the players on the field to quickly adapt at the start of a new season, not only getting to know themselves on defense but also understanding what the offense is trying to do.

“The first games are very challenging,” said veteran defensive tackle Eddie Vesterinen. “We can’t really watch their spring game. They were messing around and not filming the real stuff. They were hiding something. Basically, I watched clips from Kansas and then I have to break down the offensive line because it’s not going to be the same.”

WVU’s offense faces a similar challenge, but with experience across the board, it should be easier for them to adjust to the changes Allen brings to the defense.

But until they go out and flip the coin, you don’t really know how this blind date will turn out.