It was a chilly and brisk 50 degrees last night in the Times News area. You know what that means? It means that fall is almost here, and it also means that it’s time for some college football.

The Penn State Nittany Lions open their season tonight (7:30 p.m. ET) as they host regional rival West Virginia in a non-conference match-up. The game will be televised on NBC - the network’s first-ever game in Beaver Stadium.

As I talked about in my Schedule Breakdown and Prediction Column last week, the Nittany Lions come into the 2023 season with a ton of hype and expectations, boasting an AP Preseason Poll ranking of No. 7. A big reason for the preseason hype is the anticipated success the Nittany Lions are expected to have in the trenches.

I have been on record more than once, stating that this is the best offensive line unit that James Franklin has had in his tenure at Penn State. On the defensive side of the ball, the Nittany Lions’ line is expected to be one of the top pass rushing fronts in the nation. If these units live up to the hype, it could be a special year in State College.

Penn State’s opponent tonight is also expected to boast a strong offensive line unit. West Virginia’s line is led by All-American junior center Zach Frazier, and it’s no secret what the Mountaineers want to do this season - and that is run the football. Running back CJ Donaldson Jr. will serve as WVUs starting running back as he finished with 526 yards and eight scores in his freshman campaign. Garrett Greene is expected to be the starting quarterback after throwing for 493 yards and five touchdowns, while completing 55 percent of his passes in 2022.

I don’t think this is an exceptionally explosive offense, but the goal on the night for the WVU offense will be to try and run the football, collect first downs and grind out the clock - keeping the PSU offense off the field.

“They’ve got some offensive linemen, that we recruited heavily and didn’t get those young men to come to the Penn State, that are playing and playing well for them,” said Franklin. “Got a ton of respect for their running back, CJ Donaldson. Interesting story, came in as a tight end, got moved to running back, has played very well for them.”

The safe wager is that West Virginia will look to establish the run against the Penn State defense, and if it’s not able to do that it doesn’t have much of a chance in the game. I think it’s going to be tough for the Mountaineers to run the football. The Nittany Lions defense was extremely good against the run in 2022, and they return a lot of talent on that side of the ball. PSU limited nine of its opponents to less than 100 rushing yards last season and held 11 of its last 12 opponents below their season rushing average. The Nittany Lions also recorded at least seven tackles for loss in each of their last eight games last season.

The mismatch in this match-up is the Penn State offense vs. the West Virginia defense. The Mountaineers’ defense struggled last season. They were ranked 115th in the nation in scoring defense (32.9 ppg), 97th in total defense (412.2 ypg), 66th in rushing defense (149.6) and 110th in passing defense (262.7).

Look for the Nittany Lions to go right to the rushing attack with star-studded sophomore running backs Nicholas Singleton (1,061 rushing yards) and Kaytron Allen (867) returning. Also, don’t sleep on the addition of Williamsport native and portal transfer running back Trey Potts, who had 1,195 career rushing yards at Minnesota. Potts will settle in at running back No. 3.

With sophomore quarterback Drew Allar expected to get his first start tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised to see PSU lean heavily on the run early to ease Allar into the game. But once Penn State does start to see some success in the run game, look for Allar to go up top and take some shots. The early consensus is that Allar is a quarterback that specializes in hitting receivers with the deep ball - something the Penn State offense has been missing over the past few seasons.

Las Vegas has the Nittany Lions favored by 20.5 points.

Penn State has won 18 of its last 21 season-opening games and six of its last seven. The opening night game atmosphere in Beaver Stadium is going to be nothing short of pandemonium. As we talked about, the only way I see West Virginia being able to keep this game close is if it’s able to run the football consistently against the Penn State front. I just don’t think the Mountaineers are there quite yet, and I think the Penn State offense is going to be too fast in all phases for the Mountaineers’ defense to get stops.

My pick is Penn State 45, West Virginia 17.