Joel Klatt Cautions Colin Cowherd About Penn State Looking Past WVU

As part of Fox Sports promoting WVU and Penn State opening the 2024 season as Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff game, Joel Klatt joined “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” to preview the game on Wednesday.

After Cowherd started talking about Penn State’s situation in the expanded Big Ten, Klatt jumped in with some cautionary words about looking past the Mountaineers.

“That is a tough game, cause West Virginia got on a hot streak late last year. They got some good players and that environment is going to be incredible. Can’t wait for Country Roads,” said Klatt.

Feeding into Neal Brown’s belief his team is being slighted by the national media, most of the rest of the conversation focused on the Nittany Lions.

“We’re fired up about that,” Brown said about the FOX broadcast. “Our fans will be ready for that, too.”

But no matter what anyone in the media says, Penn State head coach James Franklin knows the situation his team will be facing when it opens the season at WVU.

“It’s a hornet’s nest,” said Franklin when asked about starting the season on the road against West Virginia at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.

“They take a lot of pride in their football team. They’ve got no pro team, so it’s all about West Virginia, all about Morgantown. So it will be a great environment to play in.”

James Franklin Refers to Penn State Playing at West Virginia as Facing ‘Hornet’s Nest’

There’s also intrigue and some storyline carryover from the 2023 edition. In addition to the 2023 game marking the first the time two historic programs faced off in decades, the night ended with some controversy.

Despite being up by two scores, Franklin decided to try to get another touchdown rather than take a knee, and Penn State succeeded, scoring with six seconds left. Brown didn’t like that too much.

“I wouldn’t have done it,” Brown said in his postgame presser. “But it doesn’t bother me. Stuff like that comes back around.”

After a 9-4 (6-3) season and a Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory, West Virginia is hungry to start off the 2024 season by getting revenge on Franklin and the Nittany Lions. Penn State beat WVU in the 2023 season opener at Beaver Stadium 38-15 before finishing the year at 10-3 (7-2) and then losing to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.

For a related story, Penn State responds to a recent comment from WVU defensive back Garnett Hollis about facing the Nittany Lions.