Sunday Morning Thoughts: The Massive Letdown

Saturday's season-opener was one to forget.

Schuyler Callihan | Sep 1, 2024

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West Virginia Mountaineers

A year ago, the West Virginia Mountaineers were not in a position to pull off a stunning upset over top-10 Penn State, especially on the road.

This year, however, with the game at home and returning experience on the offensive side of the ball there was a thought that WVU could be the story of the first true weekend of the college football season. The Mountaineers won four of their final fives games in 2023, sparking some momentum and creating a buzz around the program that hasn't been seen in quite some time. All of the preseason hype combined with the Pat McAfee Show and FOX's Big Noon Kickoff made it feel like the golden days of WVU football again.

When the ball kicked off, it didn't take long for all of those feelings to go away.

I've had this game as a loss for West Virginia all along, but thought being more competitive was a reasonable ask. From the very jump, it was evident this team was not ready to play. The offensive line struggled to get downhill, receivers couldn't get open and when they did they dropped way too many passes. Defensively, there were too many missed assignments and missed tackles. Although the game was far from over when Penn State went up two scores, it felt like an impossible deficit to overcome.

All preseason long, Neal Brown talked about tackling. They tackled as much as they possibly could, having the most physical camp they've had since he arrived in 2019. He thought that this would give his team the best chance to give Penn State a game and then some. I'm not going to declare this as a poor tackling team just yet, but Saturday was horrendous. The fact that Josiah Trotter, a redshirt freshman linebacker playing in his first collegiate game was your best and most consistent player on the field is a problem.

The game was filled with things you can't have happen if you want to beat a program like Penn State. They gift you a turnover and the very next play, you say thanks, but no thanks and give it right back. You get Penn State to a pair of third and longs and instead of getting off the field, you allow a slow-footed quarterback to beat you with his legs and extend the drive. The score right before the half was a killer too. We can talk all the live long day about the non-offensive pass interference call, but the bigger issue is the receiver getting that open in the first place. Neal Brown said as much in his postgame press conference.

My biggest takeaway from this game is that West Virginia is still a long ways away from being a nationally relevant team. I'm not saying they can't go on a run and make some noise in the Big 12 Conference. This is more of a realization of WVU needing more high-end talent and more quality depth to be able to get to the College Football Playoff and actually do something when/if they get there. Penn State is what a playoff caliber team with national title aspirations looks like.

There's a gap between West Virginia and Penn State historically, sure, but present day is the only thing that matters. The Mountaineers were just hoping the gap wasn't as wide as it indicated on Saturday. There's a lot of season left and with the expansion of the College Football Playoff, the season doesn't really begin until Big 12 play opens up later this month. WVU was beaten soundly at Penn State last year and went on to win nine of its final twelve games. The same or perhaps better can still happen this fall.

For that to happen though, there has to be an identity found on the offensive side of the ball. We all know Neal Brown wants to be a run-first team. But there's more than one way to do that and they have to figure out which avenue is best for them. On Saturday against Penn State, I couldn't tell you what the gameplan was, I couldn't tell you what they were trying to get into. Not being able to get into a rhythm played a big part in that, but still, what was the idea going into the game?

Lastly, the decision to go for two. I know it ultimately didn't matter, but I still want to address my thoughts on it.

What was the logic there? You kick the PAT, you're down 14. You fail, which they did, now you must get two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to tie it up. Why are you chasing points when you're down exactly two scores?

Analytics is probably the answer you'll get from Neal. I know these decisions are made earlier in the week because you don't want to make a bad decision while going through the emotions of a game, but sometimes you can put yourself in a bad spot by going with the analytics. When you're trailing by two scores, you need to worry about getting back in the game, not worried about being in position to win it at that very moment.

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