How Michigan Can Help WVU Upset Penn State

Greg McElroy cooks up the perfect recipe for the Mountaineers in Week 1.

Schuyler Callihan | Aug 12, 2024

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

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West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia enters the 2024 season with high expectations, but won't have the ability to ease into things thanks to a Week 1 date with top-10 Penn State. Every sportsbook will have the Nittany Lions favored to win this game and just about every college football analyst outside of the state of West Virginia will share that opinion.

ESPN's Greg McElroy, however, believes there's a chance the Mountaineers can do something special on August 31st.

“For Penn State, this is just a really difficult non-conference game. It’s a really difficult non-conference opener. One, you travel into a place that’s extremely hard to play. It’s going to be absolutely insane when you walk into Morgantown and you got to play in that level of hostility Week 1. It’s going to be a really tough venue, really tough place to play. I’ve done multiple games in Morgantown, one of the most underrated places in America. I love it.”

So, how can West Virginia do it? During his most recent episode of Always College Football, McElroy cited one example from last year that could be the perfect recipe for WVU - Penn State's 24-15 loss to Michigan.

“Michigan ran the ball thirty consecutive plays to kind of close out the game. Thirty consecutive plays and just pounded it over and over and over and over again. It wasn’t big plays. They weren’t manufacturing chunk yardage, it was just one after another like Novocaine. You give it time and it always works. If you think back to the recipe Michigan used in success against Penn State last year it was by pounding the football. Guess what West Virginia can do? They can pound the football. They’re the only team in the country with three 750-yard rushers last year and what’s interesting is that all three are back and all three can exploit you in different ways. Garrett Greene...excellent. As a quarterback, would like to see him continue to become more consistent throwing it. But we know CJ Donaldson is a hammer. 240 pounds, difficult to bring down. Not a guy you want to face in the hole on short-yardage plays. Jahiem White, we know what he's like when you ge him out in space. The guy is ridiculous. Absolutely electric.

"The Mountaineers, last year, averaged almost 230 rushing yards a game. That was the fourth-most in the country, it was the most among the Power Five. Only Rutgers ran the ball with more regularity, 59%, than West Virginia who called a run play 57% of the time. So, if there’s ever been a recipe or a recreating of what they’re going to try to do, I think West Virginia is going to watch that Michigan tape and they’re going to say we’re going to try and do exactly what they did.”

Michigan threw the ball just eight times in the win, while running it 46 times for a total of 227 yards. The Wolverines won the time of possession battle by nearly seven minutes and took care of the football throughout the entirety of the game.

Now, will Neal Brown only call eight pass plays? No. That's very unlikely, and McElroy knows that. But is it all that crazy to think Garrett Greene only throws it say, 16-18 times? Not at all. WVU knows they have to do everything they can to shorten the game and taking the same approach that Michigan had can help accomplish that. Obviously, the biggest part of it is executing. You can run the ball all you want but if you're not moving the chains and keeping your defense off the field, it doesn't matter.

Of course, if you're Neal Brown you'd like to jump on them early with some big explosive plays in the passing game and get the ball rolling offensively. But the key for this game in particular is to be patient, don't stray away from your identity, and just keep it within reach heading into the final quarter of the afternoon. If that happens, it's anyone's ball game.

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