What Triggered Lack of Execution from WVU Offense Against Penn State?

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Just as WVU head coach Neal Brown said while flushing away the stench of his team’s season opening loss to Penn State, the numbers don’t always tell the story of a game, but they did on Saturday. But beyond playing “bad football” and only putting 12 points on the scoreboard, what actually went wrong for the West Virginia offense?

After offensive coordinator Chad Scott admitted he was disappointed and surprised by how his players performed, he offered a simple explanation for what happened while talking to the media on Monday.

“That was disappointing and surprising. We’ve been very discipline the entire camp. We’ve worked a tremendous amount of red zone throughout fall camp and had a lot of success doing it. So that was surprising as well, didn’t execute that,” said Scott.

WVU OC Chad Scott says he was disappointed and surprised after being so disciplined all camp.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) September 2, 2024

He pointed to discipline, ball security and execution in the red zone as three main things that caused WVU problems.

And to further hammer home Scott’s comments, West Virginia only managed to score one touchdown in the red zone all game, otherwise settling for two field goals and a failed 4th down attempt.

By the numberers, the Mountaineer offense totaled just 246 yards (161 passing and 85 rushing) and turned the ball over three times, including once on the very next play after the WVU defense handed them the ball after securing an early fumble recovery. Another glaring issue was third down efficiency, succeeding on 4-of-14 plays on third down.

Quarterback Garrett Greene completed 15 passes on 28 attempts for 161 yards and ran for an additional 5 yards off 10 rushes.

On how Greene performed on Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” national stage, Brown made it clear that everything else is difficult when your quarterback doesn’t play up to par. “Not good enough. And I love the kid. He’ll play better football,” said Brown while evaluating Greene’s play as the leader of the Mountaineers.

Even worse, 2023 freshman sensation running back Jahiem White ran for 33 yards on just eight carries while CJ Donaldson accumulated 42 yards on the ground and scored the lone WVU touchdown to lead the usually potent Mountaineer rushing attack. WVU’s leading receiver in receptions was Tarylon Ray with four and was Preston Fox in yards with 41.

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

Takeaways: WVU Football Far from Back to Glory, but Season Far from Over