Countdown to Kickoff – Penn State

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia players and coaches alike have one message for Mountaineer fans attending today's sellout Penn State game – bring the noise! Even Finland's Eddie Vesterinen, a relative stranger to American football rivalries, understands the importance of a loud and enthusiastic crowd inside Milan Puskar Stadium. He played before last year's 110,000-plus crowd at Beaver Stadium, and while Penn State is dodging a big bullet by playing West Virginia here at noon instead of in prime time under the lights, noise is still noise. And in Milan Puskar Stadium, which sits next to Law School Hill, 60,000 fans can be just as loud as 100,000! "Last year, the noise impacted our communication," Vesterinen said earlier this week. "In this game, we need the fans to be 100%. I wish I could not hear anything while playing defense. If that happens, they won't be able to hear anything on offense. "We have to bring all the loudness, all the energy. That will help us on defense." There you have it, from a guy who has hardly been exposed to the frenzied atmospheres of West Virginia-Penn State and West Virginia-Pitt football games of years past. Eddie V wasn't even alive when quarterback Jeff Hostetler, a Penn State transfer, scored the go-ahead touchdown in West Virginia's come-from-behind victory over Pitt in 1983. The crowd roar was so loud after Hostetler's touchdown run that residents in nearby Westover could hear it. It was the same deal a year later in 1984 when WVU finally snapped Penn State's nearly three-decades-long winning streak over the Mountaineers. The noise was there from start to finish in West Virginia's 51-30 victory over the Lions four years later in 1988. Neal Brown, his coaches and players have gotten doses of the noise in the past.  The atmosphere for Texas during Brown's first year here in 2019 was pretty good, as were recent Virginia Tech and Pitt games, but that pales in comparison to what it was like for LSU in 2011, or many of the big games played here in the early 2000s when Rich Rodriguez had things going. Penn State coach James Franklin experienced some of it when he was an assistant coach at Maryland, standing on the sidelines for games at Milan Puskar Stadium in 2000, 2002 and 2004. All of those occurred in the afternoon, however. The last thing Franklin wanted to do was to come down to Morgantown, play at night, and then have to sit on a bus riding back to State College in the wee hours of the morning being serenaded to the soothing sounds of tinnitus. Hopefully, his ears will be ringing afterward while it's still daylight.

"I want our fans to be as loud as possible when Penn State has the ball and a little quieter when we have the ball … until we score," Brown said. "Then they can be as loud as they want."   Offensive tackle Ja'Quay Hubbard echoes his coach, with an added twist.   "When the defense is on the field, every fan should leave with their voice raspy," he said. "I want this to be the most challenging atmosphere in America. Mountaineer Nation, I know you will. I need you guys to get amped up.   "Now, when we're on offense, they should take a deep breath and settle down, let us make our calls and make our checks," Hubbard added. "Then when we score, they can get just as loud as when we are on defense. I want to see some timeouts and false starts when we are on defense."

Keep an eye on senior Nick Dawkins, who is expected to make his first career start on Saturday for Penn State after serving in a backup role the last four seasons.   On the flip side, the challenge for the fans to the team is to give them a reason to be loud from kickoff all the way to finish, much like it was here in 1984 and in 1988.   Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:   10 – Pennsylvania is one of four states boasting TEN or more players on West Virginia's roster this year. The Mountaineers have 14 Keystone State residents, which ranks third to West Virginia (28) and Ohio (17) and ahead of Florida (13).   9 – West Virginia's NINE victories over Penn State occurred in 1925 (Morgantown), 1931 (Morgantown), 1942 (Morgantown), 1944 (State College), 1953 (State College), 1954 (State College), 1955 (Morgantown), 1984 (Morgantown) and 1988 (Morgantown).   8 – The Mountaineers' last EIGHT home victories against ranked teams, dating back to their first year in the Big 12 in 2012, were by an average of 10.6 points per game.   7 – Last year as a freshman, running back Jahiem White averaged better than SEVEN yards per rush (7.7), the highest yards-per-carry average ever for a Mountaineer running back with at least 100 rushing attempts.   6 – No. 8 Penn State is one of SIX teams on West Virginia's schedule this year either in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll or receiving votes. The others are No. 17 Oklahoma State, No. 18 Kansas State, No. 21 Arizona, No. 22 Kansas and RV Iowa State.   5 – The Mountaineers have only lost FIVE home openers in Milan Puskar Stadium, originally known as Mountaineer Field. Overall, West Virginia is 39-5-1 in its home openers since 1980.   4 – WVU has won FOUR times when playing games on Aug. 31, including a 3-1 record at Milan Puskar Stadium. The last game on this date was in 2019 against James Madison, a 20-13 Mountaineer victory.   3 – Penn State coach James Franklin made THREE appearances at Milan Puskar Stadium as Maryland's assistant coach in 2000, 2002 and 2004.   2 – Penn State and UCF are the only TWO programs in college football with TWO career 1,700 rushers who played their entire careers at one school – Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton for the Lions.   1 – Penn State's preseason No. 8 ranking marks the highest ranked season-opening foe for West Virginia since 1998 when the Mountaineers entertained Ohio State, ranked number ONE in the country.   Today's matchup will kick off at noon and will be televised nationally on FOX with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft handling the call.   The FOX Big Noon Kickoff crew is on site in Almost Heaven Village to promote today's game and other week-one college football action. That show begins at 10 a.m.   The contest is also Stripe the Stadium and fans wanting to wear their gold or blue can access the seating chart to determine the appropriate colors for their seating sections.   Audio coverage begins with the Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 9 a.m. leading into the regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning at 11 am on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the popular Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.   Caridi is beginning his 40th season with the network.   Members of Don Nehlen's 1984 team that defeated Penn State 17-14 at Mountaineer Field will be recognized during the game.   Relevant game day information was released earlier this week.