Tale of the Tape: Penn State offense vs. West Virginia defense
The start of a new college football season is essentially here for Penn State. The Nittany Lions kick off their 2023 season with a primetime home opener in Beaver Stadium on Saturday night when former regional rival West Virginia comes to town. Penn State and West Virginia appear to be on different playing fields coming into the season with Penn State expected to be on the playoff radar well into the season and West Virginia being picked to finish in last place in the expanded Big 12.
And the stats from last season may be a thing of the past, but they do reveal some potential looks at what to expect to be the storylines for this weekend’s matchup. In short, West Virginia’s defense has a lot to prepare for going up against Penn State’s offense. If these trends carry over from the 2022 season, it could make for a long night for the Mountaineers while Penn State sets the tone for a promising 2023 season.
Below is a look at how the Penn State offense and West Virginia defense 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
Penn State’s passing game will obviously have a new leader in 2023. Sean Clifford has moved on and left the starting job open for sophomore Drew Allar, who was the top backup and received some experience on the field on multiple occasions last fall.
Penn State ranked 46th in the nation in passing yards per game with 252.5 passing yards per game last season with Clifford leading the game with three NFL targets in wide receivers Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley and tight end Brenton Strange.
West Virginia gave up plenty of passing yards per game last season. The Mountaineers ranked 111th in pass defense by allowing 262.7 passing yards per game in 2022. Five teams passed for at least 300 yards on West Virginia last season including 308 yards by Pittsburgh in the 2022 season opener. Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, and TCU also passed for at least 300 yards against West Virginia. West Virginia allowed 22 passing touchdowns and had just four interceptions in 2022.
Passing yards per attempt
Penn State also ranked 46th in the nation in passing yards per attempt last season with an average of 7.8 yards per attempt. Drew Allar averaged fewer than 6 yards per attempt in his backup role last season but returning wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith averaged 16.21 yards per reception in 2022. The only returning player with a higher average is tight end Theo Johnson (16.40).
West Virginia’s pass defense gave up 8.2 yards per attempt last season, which ranked 117th in the nation. The only power conference programs allowing more were Miami, Arkansas, Colorado, and Vanderbilt.
Rushing yards per game
Penn State saw a resurgence in the running game with freshmen Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen quickly emerging as a lethal combo. The Nittany Lions averaged 181.08 rushing yards per game last season, which ranked 46th in the nation.
West Virginia ranked 65th in the nation by allowing 149.58 rushing yards per game last season. The Mountaineers allowed 24 rushing touchdowns last season as well.
Rushing yards per attempt
Penn State rushers averaged 4.81 yards per carry last season, good for 38th in the nation. That average was weighed down a bit by Sean Clifford rushing for 2.55 yards per attempt on 69 rushing attempts. Singleton had an average of 6.8 yards per carry last season thanks in large part to some long runs he had throughout the season. Allen also averaged 5.19 yards per carry. With both returning behind one of the best offensive lines Penn State has had in over a decade, those averages should remain pretty high.
West Virginia allowed an average of 4.14 yards per carry in 2022, which tied for 69th in the nation with Houston, Indiana, and Ball State.
Points per game
Penn State’s offense rarely struggled to put points on the scoreboard. By the end of the season, Penn State ranked 20th in the nation in points per game with an average of 35.8 ppg. Penn State was held to fewer than 30 points just twice in 2022, and it happened in back-to-back games against Northwestern (blame the weather) and Michigan (the Wolverines were pretty good).
West Virginia ranked 116th in the nation in scoring defense after allowing 32.9 ppg in 2022. The only FBS teams with a worse ranking were Indiana, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Arizona, and Colorado.
