The West Virginia Mountaineers and No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions will open the 2023 season against each other at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA. Kickoff for this long-lost regional rivalry is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will air on NBC. Despite only being separated by three hours, this will be the first matchup between these two programs since 1992.
West Virginia (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) is now entering Year 5 of the Neal Brown era in Morgantown and he has been identified as one of the biggest hot seat candidates in the sport as the new campaign gets underway. The results have been middling for Brown’s run with the program as the Mountaineers have failed to go above six wins in each of his four seasons and missed a bowl outright last year. It’s those reasons why they were picked by the media to finish last in the Big 12 this season. As of this writing, Brown has yet to name a starting quarterback as junior Garrett Greene and redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol have been battling for the job throughout fall camp.
Penn State (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten) enters the new season with high expectations as some believe that this could be the year that head coach James Franklin’s crew can finally break into College Football Playoff contender status. Despite once again falling short against league heavyweights Michigan and Ohio State in 2022, the Nittany Lions otherwise handled business with an 11-2 record and a victory over Utah in the Rose Bowl. With longtime starting quarterback Sean Clifford gone to the NFL, the team will turn to highly touted quarterback Drew Allar to lead them this season. The sophomore won’t have to shoulder much of the load as he’ll have arguably the nation’s best 1-2 running back combo to work with in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
SP+ Rankings
West Virginia: 60 overall, 42 offense, 84 defense
Penn State: 6 overall, 22 offense, 5 defense
Injury update
West Virginia
S Davis Mallinger – Questionable (Back)
Penn State
N/A
ATS/Total
Against The Spread in 2022 (check here)
West Virginia: 6-6 ATS
Penn State: 9-3-1 ATS
Total in 2022 (check here)
West Virginia: Over 6-6
Penn State: Over 9-4
Current lines at DraftKings Sportsbook
Spread: Penn State -20.5
Total: 49
Moneyline: Penn State -1600, West Virginia +900
Opening line: Penn State -20.5
Opening total: 52
Weather
69 degrees, partly cloudy, 6 MPH winds WSW
The Pick
Penn State -20.5
Even if it is Week 1 and they’re still ironing things out, I can’t imagine the Nittany Lions not steamrolling the Mountaineers at home here. Penn State has a talent advantage over West Virginia all over the field and while Allar gets his bearings as the new starter, he’ll have two of the best backs in the nation that he can simply turn to if he runs into some trouble. Take PSU to cover as a heavy favorite as we begin the Neal Brown firing watch at WVU.