The eve of Penn State football’s 2024 season is upon us, and tomorrow is the dawn of another campaign.

Penn State takes on West Virginia at noon in Morgantown to complete the home-and-home series. Although the Mountaineers are a familiar foe, their roster has notable differences now than a year ago. Let’s preview Penn State’s first opponent of the season.

The Team

Head coach Neal Brown has been at the helm in Morgantown since 2019. He’s gone 31-29 at West Virginia so far.

The Mountaineers are coming off their best season under Brown and best since 2016, going 9-4. James Franklin said in his weekly press conference on Monday that they should’ve won a 10th game, and that their 41-39 loss against Houston was “tough.”

Chad Scott is in his second year as offensive coordinator, while Jordan Lesley is in his fourth as the defensive coordinator. Meanwhile, Jeff Koonz is in his sixth year as the special teams coordinator.

Penn State owns a 49-9-2 overall series record. The Nittany Lions are on a five-game win streak extending to 1989, including last season’s 38-15 win in Drew Allar’s debut.

Offense

Senior quarterback Garrett Greene returns as West Virginia’s starting signal-caller. He’s a mobile quarterback who had solid numbers in the air and on the ground last season.

The Tallahassee, Florida, native had 2,178 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, and four interceptions while posting a 53.2% completion rate last year. He also had 708 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.

Greene, however, will be without Devin Carter, the team’s top receiving target in 2023 now with the Carolina Panthers. The Mountaineers do return Hudson Clement, who was second-most with 480 receiving yards. Clement and tight end Kole Taylor, who also returns, were tied for a team-most four receiving touchdowns last season.

In addition to Clement, the Mountaineers are projected to start redshirt junior Preston Fox and Oklahoma State transfer Jaden Bray at wide receiver. Fox had 368 receiving yards and two touchdowns while starting five games last season. Meanwhile, Bray had 382 receiving yards and two touchdowns over 10 appearances.

Meanwhile, Jaheim White and C.J. Donaldson return as co-starters at running back. White led the team with 871 rushing yards, while Donaldson had 820. Donaldson led running backs with 11 touchdowns, while White had four.

The Mountaineers have an offensive line comprised of veterans despite losing standout center Zach Frazier to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2024 NFL Draft. In his place is redshirt senior Brandon Yates. Redshirt junior Tomas Rimac is at left guard, while senior Wyatt Milum is at left tackle. Opposite the duo are Virginia transfer and Pennsylvania native Ja’Quay Hubbard at guard and redshirt senior Nick Malone at tackle.

West Virginia averaged 31.46 points per game last season. The Mountaineers were generally a run-first team, with 2,976 rushing yards compared to 2,674 passing yards. They had 565 rushing and 331 pass attempts.

Defense

West Virginia’s defense allowed 26.2 points per game. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers allowed 380.8 yards per game.

Similarly to its offensive line, West Virginia’s projected starting defensive line is filled with veterans. Senior Sean Martin is at defensive end, while seniors Fatorma Mulbah and Edward Vesterinen are the two tackles. Senior Tyrin Bradley Jr. is listed as a “spur,” which is essentially a defensive end or outside linebacker.

West Virginia’s linebacking corps is relatively younger. Redshirt freshman Josiah Trotter is the will, while redshirt sophomore Trey Lathan is the mike.

Duquesne transfer Ayden Garnes and Northwestern transfer Garnett Hollis Jr. are projected to start at right and left cornerback, respectively. Meanwhile, Anthony Wilson Jr., Josiah Jackson, and Aubrey Burks are the safeties.

Wilson led all returning players with 80 total tackles last season. The Mountaineers lost several notable pieces of their defense, including Lee Kpogba, Beanie Bishop Jr., and Marcis Floyd.

Special Teams

Redshirt senior Michael Hayes II is projected to be West Virginia’s kicker. He 17-for-21 on attempts with a 49-yard attempt being his longest. Oliver Straw returns as the punter, and he averaged 43 yards per punt with two touchbacks in 2023.

Meanwhile, Fox and Hudson are projected to return punts and kickoffs, respectively. Fox had 145 yards over 18 returns, while Hudson did not record any reps there.