The West Virginia football team quietly had a solid season in the Big 12 Conference last season, but fell short of winning the league. Heading into the 2024-2025 season, the Mountaineers have received a generous gift from one of its most famous alumni: sports talk show host Pat McAfee, who played as a punter with West Virginia before heading to the NFL.

On Friday, McAfee announced his latest donation to the WVU family. McAfee stated that he will donate a sum of $1 million to the West Virginia NIL Collective, which provides financial opportunities to student athletes on the Morgantown, WV campus. The donation is on behalf of McAfee and his former West Virginia football teammates, McAfee said in a video posted to X.

“I am VERY lucky to be on that team and this is from ALL of us,” McAfee said.

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West Virginia kicks off season vs. Penn State

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium.
© Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Two of the better teams from mountainous, East of the Mississippi River states, Penn State football and West Virginia football, will clash on Saturday at noon ET in Morgantown. It's one of the better and likely most competitive games on the Saturday opening weekend slate and the game will give a chance for either West Virginia coach Neal Brown or Penn State coach James Franklin to score a much-needed high profile win heading toward their respective conference seasons.

Penn State is favored by between 7.5 and 9.5 points depending on what sportsbook you look at, giving them a strong likelihood of walking out of West Virginia's home stadium, Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, with a big win.