Asti: Here’s What WVU Needs to Accomplish Beyond Winning Against Albany

By now, it’s been well documented how bad WVU was against Penn State. It’s been said countless times how they didn’t show up on a national stage and how disappointing that lackluster performance was in such a big game. As head coach Neal Brown said during his weekly press conference on Monday, it’s now time to flush that game and move on.

But with an FCS opponent up next, what do the Mountaineers need to accomplish against Albany? What has to occur to warrant WVU fans trusting 2024 can still be a special season?

Well, for starters, West Virginia needs to avoid history repeating itself in their FCS game. Even though Albany is a quality FCS program, Brown’s team can’t start slow and flirt with disaster for a while like they did against Duquesne in 2023. The Dukes actually had the Mountaineers on the ropes at one point, trailing only 14-10 until WVU exploded offensively in the second half after a weather delay.

Brown said Albany is used to winning, has some Power Four transfers and won’t be intimated to be playing on Mountaineer Field. And while that’s all true, West Virginia has to take care of business enough for the starters to regain confidence and the backups to see significant time in the second half.

However, just winning big isn’t all the Mountaineers need to accomplish on Saturday night.

Aside from the obvious of Garrett Greene needs to be way better and Brown needs to get Jahiem White the ball, West Virginia’s veteran group of receivers, who appeared overwhelmed against Penn State, must show their true potential.

The drops can’t happen again, especially not while facing FCS level corners. WVU’s receivers, most notably Jaden Bray, Justin Robinson and tight end Kole Taylor, should have a size and talent edge that should prove to win any one on battles.

WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose

This is also a game that should provide the younger players like sophomores Traylon Ray and Rodney Gallagher and freshman DayDay Farmer an opportunity to put up numbers and be heavily involved in the offense. It would even be nice for someone to explode, much the same way Hudson Clement did last season.

But most importantly, the drops can’t happen again. That’s been an issue with WVU’s receivers in recent past, but was supposed to be cleaned up with this group. This group was billed as the most talented, the most overall experienced and the most ready for a big stage. They looked like the opposite of all of that in Week 1.

Beyond the receivers, the Mountaineer defensive line will be under a microscope as well. Sean Martin and company will have to generate pressure on the quarterback throughout the entire season, something they failed to do against Drew Allar, for WVU to truly turn the season around. Generating pressure will be a key to winning the Backyard Brawl over Pitt. But first, it’s important for that unit to show they can do it against Albany.

WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose

All in all, everything needs to be way better or the WVU program will go from expecting to be a national contender to falling right back off the mountain. Because, as Brown put it, if they play like they did against Penn State, they won’t be able to beat anyone, and that means an elite or subpar opponent.

West Virginia (0-1) welcomes Albany (1-0) to Milan Puskar Stadium for both’s team second game of the 2024 season. Kickoff is set for 6 pm ET and the game will air on ESPN+.

For a related story, WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti provided his takeaways from WVU’s loss to Penn State.