West Virginia HC Neal Brown: ‘We better be ready’ for Penn State football

We are just over two weeks away from the 2024 season opener for Penn State football. The Nittany Lions will hit the road to play the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown on August 31. The game will be premiered on Big Noon Kickoff on FOX. Everyone will be in store for a great matchup and both teams will face first game challenges. West Virginia head coach Neal Brown has recently opened up about the challenges in facing a team like Penn State in week one.

It’s never easy opening the college football season against a power-four team. But it’s even more challenging to play a team on the road that is historically known for its passionate fan base. Both Penn State football and West Virginia will deal with the same issue. That is going from scrimmaging against themselves to a marquee matchup in week one of the season.

Neal Brown discussed his thoughts on the reality of playing the Nittany Lions first on the schedule.

“It is what it is at this point,” Brown said. “I think it’s a great showcase game. If you asked any coach, we’d love to ease into it, right? We’ve played a couple of FCS first games and those are positive, you learn a little bit more about your team before you play maybe a rivalry game. But that’s not what we have so, it is what it is.

“We play Penn State, they’re a top ten team in the country. I was looking at a bunch of draft boards. I went over this with our team the other day, there’s a whole lot of Penn State guys listed. So, FOX is probably going to kick it off at 12:06-12:07 on August 31 and we better be ready. It doesn’t matter what who I’d like for it to be against, we play Penn State and the FOX crew is going to be here and we have to perform.”

West Virginia coach Neal Brown on playing Penn State:

“We’d love to ease into it, right? We’ve played a couple FCS first games and those are positive, you learn a little bit more about your team before you play maybe a rivalry game, but that’s not what we have” pic.twitter.com/dkJevp2KeY

— Lyle Alenstein (@LAlenstein) August 13, 2024

Brown expects the West Virginia faithful to be ready as well

Syndication: York Daily Record

During Big Twelve Media Days in July, Brown discussed the opportunity of hosting Penn State football in their week one matchup. He believes that the West Virginia fans will be ready come August 31.

“The Big Noon show will be there, so we’re fired up about that [matchup with Penn State]. Our fans will be ready for that, too. I think we’ll show well on national television. But it’s not just a big game for West Virginia. It’s a big game for our league.”

Penn State is looking to make it a 2-0 record against West Virginia in the past two seasons. James Franklin and the Nittany Lions went on to defeat West Virginia 38-15 in Happy Valley last September.

Thank you for reading Basic Blues Nation! Please follow us on all of our social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube) and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news and insights on your favorite Penn State athletics. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email us at basicbluesnation@gmail.com or direct message us on our social media.