West Virginia football takes on a strong FCS challenger this week when Youngstown State comes to Morgantown. Here is how to catch all the action.
West Virginia dominated Tennessee in Charlotte in the season opener. The defense held the Volunteers to 301 yards of offense and only two touchdowns in a 40-14 blowout. In the wake of that victory, the Mountaineers jumped three spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25. Now they return home and take on FCS opponent Youngstown State on Saturday.
Will Grier completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 429 yards and five scores. Four different receivers caught touchdown passes, and both Gary Jennings Jr. and David Sills V went over 100 yards catching the ball. The running game is a work in progress, with Dana Holgorsen experimenting with running backs.
Youngstown State coughed up a lead in the fourth quarter of their opener, losing 23-21 to Butler. Even so, the Penguins are not going to just lay down for the Mountaineers in Morgantown. Bo Pelini’s team may have lost against the Bulldogs, but it would be foolish to write off their chances entirely after the opening loss. The defense collapsed late in the defeat, but the Penguins showed they have the offensive talent to compete with West Virginia at least for a while.
Penguins quarterback Montgomery VanGorder went 18-of-27 against Butler for 234 yards and three scores and added 23 yards on two carries. But Zak Kennedy missed two field goals in the course of the contest. Even hitting one of the two kicks would have given Youngstown State the victory heading into their showdown against West Virginia.
The game will only be broadcast regionally on AT&T SportsNet, a mid-Atlantic network that is found throughout West Virginia and northeastern Ohio where both teams are based. For fans outside that geographic area, an online streaming option will be available for free through the West Virginia athletics website. Here’s how you can watch the Saturday game between West Virginia and Youngstown State:
Date: Saturday, Sept. 8
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Location: Morgantown, W.V.
Venue: Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Live Stream: WVU Live | FuboTV
Keys to Victory
West Virginia can avoid the potential trap on home turf by playing focused football on Saturday. Grier needs to have his usual prolific game, against a Penguins defense that held Butler quarterback Will Marty to 253 yards and two scores on 25-of-38 passing. As long as every unit does its part, Mountaineers fans should have plenty to party on Saturday night.
Youngstown State needs its defense to firm up in a big way. The Penguins need Montgomery VanGorder to carve up the West Virginia secondary and keep pace with Grier on the stats sheet. And they need the Mountaineers to make a couple of costly mistakes with turnovers. Basically every single thing needs to go perfectly their way and they will still need a lot of luck as well.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com
Point Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
Prediction
To an audience following along on computer screens and video footage streamed to television sets, a Youngstown State team that is two years removed from an appearance in the FCS national championship game will keep pace with West Virginia for the first half. But the Mountaineers will pull away in the second half to win by 20.
It is a win that won’t move the needle much in the polls, as wins over FCS competition are usually no-win propositions from that standpoint for Power Five teams. But it will be a solid win nonetheless for Dana Holgorsen’s squad on Saturday.
Final Score: West Virginia 51, Youngstown State 31