Andy Kotelnicki Faces Familiar Opponent in Penn State Debut

Penn State's offensive coordinator and West Virginia coach Neal Brown have met three times. "He's a really talented playcaller," Brown said.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar talks with offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki during the Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

An obscure 2018 bowl game resurfaces Saturday in Morgantown, where No. 8 Penn State takes on West Virginia in a fascinating season opener. At the Dollar General Bowl six years ago in Mobile, Alabama, then-Troy head coach Neal Brown got his first good look at Andy Kotelnicki, then the offensive coordinator at Buffalo.

Kotelnicki's offense frazzled Troy in 42-32 loss that prompted Brown to ask his agent to gather some intel on Buffalor's coordinator. "I don’t know this guy but he does some really good stuff offensively," Brown remembered telling his agent.

On Saturday, Brown and Kotelnicki will face each other for the fourth time. Though Brown, West Virginia's head coach, is 2-1 against Kotelnicki, he knows that Penn State's new offensive coordinator will throw a gauntlet at him once again.

"He's a really talented playcaller," Brown said this week in previewing the Penn State-West Virginia game. "... He's going to figure it out."

RELATED: How James Franklin is preparing Penn State for a "challenging" trip to West Virginia

Kotelnicki gets a unique test in his first game as Penn State's offensive coordinator. Brown certainly is familiar with Kotelnicki and the tricks he can be tempted to throw. They have met twice since that bowl-game introduction as members of the Big 12.

As Kansas' offensive coordinator from 2021-23, Kotelnicki went 1-1 against the Mountaineers, delivering a huge Week 2 win during the 2022 season. Kansas' offense scored 49 points that day against West Virginia, with quarterback Jalon Daniels throwing three touchdown passes in a 55-42 overtime victory. The Mountaineers defeated Kansas 34-28 in another wild game in 2021.

"With that program and coach Brown, we go way back," Kotelnicki said. "I have quite a bit of familiarity with what he's done in the past. I have a boatload of respect for what they do, for sure."

Perhaps the quirkiest stat in Kotelnicki's three games vs. Brown is one that should make Penn State's defense take notice. In each of those games, Kotelnicki's offense has benefitted from a defensive touchdown:

• Buffalo scored on a 93-yard fumble return against Troy in the 2018 bowl game.

• Kansas scored on a 28-yard interception return against West Virginia in 2021.

• Kansas intercepted West Virginia's final overtime pass attempt in 2022, turning that into a 86-yard touchdown and the 13-point winning margin.

Having coached against Kotelnicki three times, Brown expects to see plenty of what he ran at Kansas. However, Brown also said that he anticipates seeing "remnants" of Penn State's offense. In fact, he stretched that assumption to include Penn State's other new coordinators: Tom Allen on defense and Justin Lustig on special teams.

"He didn’t take the job because the don’t have players," Brown said of Kotelnicki at Penn State. "That’s a pressure position he’s taken. They’ve had a few different guys [at Penn State as offensive coordinators]. [Penn State coach James Franklin] has had really talented individuals in that role, and there's some pressure that goes along with that role, for sure.

"But Andy knew. He’s very smart, and so he probably made a calculated decision. He looked at that roster and said, 'They’ve got some players, especially at running back, at tight end, and they've got some young wideouts.' He's got some pieces. There's a lot of things he can do. We've just got to take our best guess."

Brown also scouted second-year Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, who had one of his best games of last season against West Virginia. In his first career start, Allar completed 21 of 29 passes for a career-high 325 yards and three touchdowns.

"He played really well against us. He was the difference in the game," Brown said. "We did OK against their run game, but he hit some explosive passes against us that really hurt us and he was really accurate with the football in our contest. We didn’t do a great job covering, but I thought he played well. A lot of people struggle against Michigan and Ohio State. If you look at his entire body of work as a first-year starter, he did some really good things.”

Saturday's Penn State-West Virginia game kicks off at noon ET on FOX.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.