The 2023 college football season kicks off for the West Virginia Mountaineers and seventh-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday, September 2 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Live coverage will be part of NBC Sports’ B1G Saturday Night starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Keep reading for how to watch and key storylines for the game.
A rivalry renewed
This will be the 60th meeting between the teams, but it’s the first since 1992.
Penn State is led by James Franklin, entering his 10th season as head coach, and West Virginia has Neal Brown at the helm. Brown has a 22-25 record in his four previous seasons with the Mountaineers and has never earned seven wins in a season. He’s in the hot seat to start 2023.
Located just 135 miles apart, the schools first played each other in 1904 and played every year from 1947-1992. Penn State leads the series 48-9-2 and most recently won four-straight games against West Virginia, with the last being a 40-26 win on the road in 1992. The last time the Mountaineers beat the Nittany Lions was in 1988 — a 51-30 victory at home.
West Virginia
Scoring wasn’t the issue for the Mountaineers last year; it was giving up points — 32.9 points per game to be exact (second-most in the Big 12, ahead of only Kansas).
While West Virginia continues to try to find solutions defensively, the upside is the team returns its entire starting offensive line from the end of last season. There will be a new starting quarterback under center, though, after JT Daniels transferred to Rice. Junior Garrett Greene is expected to get the call after starting the final two games last season. The dual-threat rallied his team to a win over Oklahoma last year with one passing and two running touchdowns. But redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol has been putting pressure on Greene during the offseason. Marchiol has never started a game and saw sparing action in two appearances last season.
Brown announced on August 21 that a decision had been made on the starting quarterback. But he did not reveal the name of the starter, adding, “I don’t know if we’ll share that or not.”
Penn State
Penn State is riding high on momentum after an 11-2 season last year, including a 35-21 win over Utah in the Rose Bowl — the program’s second-ever Rose Bowl win. It was the exclamation point on the Nittany Lion’s fourth 11-win season in the previous seven years.
What the Nittany Lions are missing is a College Football Playoff appearance.
The last time the school won a national title was in 1986 (the other came in 1982). Penn State couldn’t best conference rivals Michigan or Ohio State in 2022, putting them on the outside of the playoff picture while the Wolverines and Buckeyes were part of the final four.
James Franklin and co. have time to build toward beating those teams and getting over the hump later this season. They’ll start fresh with an exciting roster, including expected starting quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and a much-hyped offensive line headlined by left tackle Olu Fashanu. After losing its top two wideouts to the NFL, Penn State will want to fill that position gap as soon as possible. KeAndre Lambert-Smith is expected to slot in as the main target. The defense retained stars at all three levels, highlighted by defensive end Chop Robinson, linebacker Abdul Carter and cornerback Kalen King.
“He’s kind of more of the old-school, traditional NFL quarterback,” Franklin said of Allar, who saw limited action as Sean Clifford’s backup in 2022. “He’s 6-5, he’s 242 pounds. He can make, if not every throw on the field, almost all of them. But he actually has a little bit more mobility than people may think, so there’s a lot of excitement about him.”
How to watch the West Virginia Mountaineers vs. No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions
- When: Saturday, September 2
- Where: Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania
- Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Watch: NBC, Peacock
How can I watch Big Ten on Peacock?
The West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions game will broadcast on NBC and stream on Peacock. Sign up for Peacock here.
What devices support Peacock?
You can enjoy Peacock on a variety of devices.
View the full list of supported devices here.
NBC Sports’ Big Ten Football and primetime games announced to date:
| Sat. Sept. 2 | Noon | East Carolina at Michigan | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 2 | 7:30 p.m. | West Virginia at Penn State | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 9 | Noon | Delaware at Penn State | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Charlotte at Maryland | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 5:00 p.m. | Washington at Michigan State | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Syracuse at Purdue | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Ohio State at Notre Dame | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Oct. 14 | 7:30 p.m. | USC at Notre Dame | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Nov. 11 | 7:30 p.m. | Michigan State at Ohio State | NBC, Peacock |
| Fri., Nov. 24 | 7:30 p.m. | Penn State at Michigan State (Ford Field) | NBC, Peacock |
The remaining NBC Sports’ Big Ten Football games will be announced during the season.
