Things to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference:

Game of the week

No. 8 Penn State at West Virginia, Saturday, noon ET (Fox)

The Mountaineers, coming off a surprising 9-4 record last year after being picked to finish last in the Big 12, are the league’s only team opening against a ranked Power Four team. West Virginia has lost its past three openers, including 38-15 at Penn State last year in the first meeting since 1992 between the schools that are only about 180 miles apart. The Nittany Lions have won 35 of the last 38 meetings since the mid-1950s.

West Virginia returns its top three rushers with running backs sophomore Jaheim White (842 yards and four TDs) and junior CJ Donaldson (798 yards and 11 TDs), and dual-threat senior quarterback Garrett Greene (772 yards rushing and 13 TDs). The Mountaineers’ 229 yards rushing per game were the most for a major conference team. Penn State was the nation’s top rushing defense allowing only 75.5 yards per game.

The undercard

TCU is the only other Big 12 team opening against a major conference opponent, Friday at Stanford, in the Cardinal’s first game as an ACC member after the dismemberment of the Pac-12. TCU went 5-7 last year. Josh Hoover is the TCU starting quarterback after averaging 339 yards passing the final six games as a redshirt freshman last year.

Colorado won at TCU last year in coach Deion Sanders’ first game with the Buffaloes while still in the Pac-12, but are now back in the Big 12 after 13 seasons away. They open Thursday night at home against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. The Buffs ended last season with a six-game losing streak, and eight losses in nine games after a 3-0 start.

Impact players

Nick Martin and Collin Oliver are returning starting linebackers for No. 17 Oklahoma State. Martin’s 140 tackles last season in his first as a starter were the most by a Cowboys player since 1984, and the most by a Big 12 player since 2018. Oliver, a defensive end his first two seasons in Stillwater, had 45 tackles, 15 1/2 tackles for loss, and four forced fumbles last season. The Cowboys host FCS national champion South Dakota State on Saturday.

Inside the numbers

No. 21 Arizona, one of the Big 12’s four newcomers, carries a seven-game winning streak into this season. West Virginia (three games) and No. 22 Kansas (two games) are the only other Big 12 teams that finished last season with consecutive wins. … Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II, the nation’s leading rusher last season, is one of eight returning Big 12 running backs that rushed for at least 1,000 yards last season, the most for any conference. … Eleven of the 16 openers in the Big 12 are against FCS teams.

From Year 1 to 2 decades

Two Big 12 teams have new coaches: Willie Fritz at Houston and Arizona’s Brent Brennan. There are also two coaches going into their 20th seasons, Kyle Whittingham for 12th-ranked and league newcomer Utah, and Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. The only longer-tenured FBS coach is Kirk Ferentz, going into his 25th season at Iowa.

When the week 1 Virginia football depth chart for Saturday’s season opener against Richmond was released on Tuesday, one name that was noticeably absent was Ben Smiley III, a sixth-year defensive end who has played in 29 career games and made eight starts on the UVA defensive line in 2023.

Tony Elliott provided some clarity on Smiley’s omission in Tuesday’s press conference, explaining that Smiley had missed significant time during fall camp with an injury and had only just returned to practice that day. He added that sophomore defensive end Miles Greene had also missed time with an injury and returned to practice last week, with those setbacks serving as the primary reasons why neither Greene nor Smiley were listed on the week 1 depth chart.

Instead, junior Terrell Jones, who recently made the move from defensive tackle to defensive end, and walk-on freshman Billy Koudelka were listed as the backups to Kam Butler and Chico Bennett, respectively.

“I think you’re going to see the depth chart at that position continue to grow as we progress forward,” Elliott said of UVA’s defensive ends. “But with Miles [Greene], we didn’t get him back until last week. And then Ben [Smiley], he’s back in practice. Today was his first day back in practice for a while.”

While Elliott did not elaborate on any of Virginia’s other injured players, the depth chart does answer some questions. As expected, junior wide receiver JR Wilson is not listed on the depth chart after having to get his knee scoped during fall camp, though Elliott previously expressed optimism that Wilson’s injury would not be long-term.

Also not listed on the depth chart were graduate offensive lineman Drake Metcalf and senior defensive end Bryce Carter, who are both out with longer-term injuries. As previously announced, junior linebacker Stevie Bracey, sophomore defensive end Mekhi Buchanan, junior offensive lineman Noah Hartsoe, and freshman wide receiver Triston Ward are all out for the season.

And now for the good news. No longer on the injury report are starting offensive linemen McKale Boley and Brian Stevens, who both missed extended time during fall camp and who are both listed as starters on the depth chart. Additionally, junior running back Xavier Brown has returned from his shoulder injury and is listed as Virginia’s third running back behind Kobe Pace and Jack Griese. Finally, senior linebacker James Jackson, who missed a chunk of fall camp rehabbing from an offseason surgery, is listed in his normal spot as a starting linebacker alongside Kam Robinson.

Virginia opens the 2024 football season on Saturday at 6pm at Scott Stadium. The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Virginia Football Position Overview: Breaking Down UVA’s Linebacker Unit

Virginia Football: Four True Freshmen Listed on UVA’s Week 1 Depth Chart

Tony Elliott Details Decision to Start Anthony Colandrea Over Tony Muskett

Virginia Football Releases Depth Chart for Season Opener vs. Richmond

Virginia Football Position Overview: Analyzing UVA’s Running Back Room

As Penn State coach James Franklin noted this week, tickets for Saturday’s Penn State-West Virginia game are in-demand.

“From what I understand, like, you can’t get ticket,” Franklin said. “You can’t find a ticket to this game.”

Well, you can, but they’re pricey. West Virginia announced Tuesday that the game officially is sold out, so fans looking for last-minute Penn State football tickets on the secondary market must be ready for some markup. According to Vivid Seats, the Penn State-West Virginia game is the most expensive ticket on the secondary market for college football’s Week 1. As of Wednesday afternoon, the lowest-priced ticket for the game was $193, according to Vivid Seats. That tops the price list for Week 1’s premium games.

For example, tickets for Saturday night’s game in College Station, Texas, between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 20 Texas A&M started at $180 as of Wednesday afternoon. Tickets for No. 19 Miami’s visit to Florida started at $149, according to Vivid Seats.

Tickets for Saturday’s game between No. 1 Georgia and No. 14 Clemson, which kicks off from Atlanta at the same time as Penn State-West Virginia, started at $90. And tickets for the Sunday-night game between USC and LSU in Las Vegas opened at $117, according to Vivid Seats. Prices, of course, fluctuate constantly.

StubHub expects Penn State to be one of the premium programs on the secondary market this season. According to the site, Penn State ranks 10th among college football’s most in-demand teams for 2024. And UCLA’s Oct. 5 trip to Penn State ranked fifth among the best-selling new conference games.

Penn State is making its first trip to Morgantown since 1992, so West Virginia knew it had a hot ticket for the opener. West Virginia excluded the Penn State game from its single-game ticket inventory, which meant fans had to buy season tickets or one of three mini-plans. This week, West Virginia announced that season-ticket plans were sold out as well as the Penn State game.

“I think the Penn State game is huge for us,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. “That’s a regional rivalry. … It’s not a rivalry that’s gone in West Virginia’s favor very often, so that’s a great opportunity for us. It’s Fox [Big] Noon Kickoff. All their Big Noon show will be there. We’re fired up about that. Our fans will be ready for that, too. I think we’ll show really well on national television. But it’s not just a big game for West Virginia. It’s a big game for our league and it’s an opportunity for our league and this new Big 12 without a couple schools that have been a part of the Big 12 for a long time in that first weekend on a marquee stage to show what kind of football that we play in this league.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s Penn State-West Virginia game is scheduled for noon ET, as Brown said, on FOX.

More Penn State Football

COLUMN: Penn State’s long 2024 road brings no shortage of drama

Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki faces familiar opponent in Nittany Lions debut

How James Franklin is preparing Penn State for a “challenging” trip to West Virginia

Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.