NCAAF Tale of the Tape: Penn State defense vs. West Virginia offense
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown has complimented the overwhelming star power on Penn State’s defensive roster, and it is well deserved. Penn State’s defense turned in a fine 2022 season as it was led by some legitimate NFL talent and rising stars in the making across the board. The 2023 season may have a similar fate in the works.
Here is a look at how the Penn State offense fares compared to the West Virginia defense. Now, let’s flip the script and compare Penn State’s defense to West Virginia’s offense.
Below is a look at how the Penn State defense and West Virginia offense fared in a handful of key stats last season. All stats referenced below are credited to CFBStats.com and reflect stats from the 2022 season.
Passing yards per game
West Virginia’s offense wasn’t necessarily a big threat to pile up yardage through the air last season. West Virginia had the nation’s 71st-ranked passing offense with 227.5 yards per game. JT Daniels was responsible for the bulk of the passing game with 2,107 yards and 13 touchdowns. Garrett Greene was West Virginia’s second-leading passer with 493 yards and five touchdowns last season with the majority of that production coming in the final games of the year.
For as much talent as Penn State had on defense, the Nittany Lions did give up some passing yards last season. The Nittany Lions allowed an average of 212.3 passing yards per game in 2022, which ranked 46th in the nation. But considering Purdue (365 yards) and Ohio State (354 yards) were the only schools to throw for 300 yards or more, that’s not terrible. Most teams racked up some passing yards while trailing as well, but Penn State dominated Maryland with just 74 passing yards allowed to Taulia Tagovailoa and the Terrapins.
Passing yards per attempt
When West Virginia was moving the ball through the air, they were not likely to do so with big gains. West Virginia ranked 111th in the nation with a paltry 6.4 passing yards per attempt. Garrett Green had an average of 6.3 passing yards per attempt when he was running the offense.
Penn State’s secondary proved to be a reliable asset. Having a pair of NFL draft picks didn’t hurt with Joey Piorter Jr. and J’Ayir Brown leading the way. Penn State allowed just 5.8 yards per attempt through the air in 2022, good for fifth in the nation. Kalen King will help keep those numbers low this season.
Rushing yards per game
West Virginia performed a little bit better with its rushing production, relatively speaking. The Mountaineers had the nation’s 52nd-best rushing offense with 171.5 yards per game on the ground. But gone is last season’s leading rusher, Tony Mathis Jr. (transferred to Houston). CJ Donaldson Jr., West Virginia’s second-leading rusher a season ago as a freshman, will be the top back on the field this season.
Penn State allowed 111.23 rushing yards per game last season, ranking Penn State 17th in the nation against the run.
Rushing yards per attempt
West Virginia averaged 4.62 yards per carry last season, good for 48th in the nation. Donalson Jr. helped boost that average with 6.05 yards per attempt on 87 carries last season. Quarterback Garrett Greene averaged 6.13 yards per carry as well while rushing for 276 yards and five touchdowns. West Virginia was led by Jaylen Anderson’s 7.86 yards per carry on 35 touches last season.
Penn State’s run defense was tough to rack up yards against. Opposing offenses averaged just 3.32 yards per carry, giving Penn State the 13th-best rushing average per carry allowed in the nation.
Points per game
West Virginia just barely averaged over 30 points per game last season. The Mountaineers had an average of 30.6 points per game in 2022, which tied for 49th in the nation with Fresno State, Oklahoma State, and Tulsa. West Virginia piled up 65 points on Towson early in the year but was limited to 23 points or fewer four times elsewhere on the schedule (20 points vs. Texas, 10 points vs. Texas Tech, 14 points vs. Iowa State, and 23 points vs. Oklahoma). Three of those games were played on the road.
Penn State had a top-10 scoring defense in 2022. The Nittany Lions ranked 9th in the nation by allowing just 18.2 points per game. Ohio State was the only team to step into Beaver Stadium and put up more than 17 points in a game as a visitor.
