‘This is everything’: What a breakout against Penn State would mean for WVU football DL Eddie Vesterinen

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A player like Eddie Vesterinen in the locker room adds perspective.

Some Mountaineers rose to prominence playing high school games in mega stadiums on ESPN, or they were courted by college programs since they strapped up their cleats in sponsored seven-on-seven camps in middle school. Those same players have car deals and paid autograph signings that stuff their wallets and bank accounts while they still sit through math class on weekdays.

Vesterinen learned the sport on grass fields in Finland alongside middle-aged men who were moonlighting as gridiron warriors. As for the money, things also get complicated for international students, and he likely does not enjoy the same NIL freedoms as his teammates.

Knowing this, there might not be a Mountaineer with more to gain from a win over No. 8 Penn State on Saturday than Vesterinen.

“This is it,” he said. “This is everything I’ve ever dreamed about. This is everything that those YouTube videos [showed]. The atmosphere, the pressure — this is everything in one game.”

By now, you probably know the story of how “Eddie V” ended up in Morgantown . Growing up in Finland, he fell in love with the sport of football after finding highlight compilations on YouTube, which led him to join local men’s leagues as a teenager. WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley soon found his film, and WVU eventually took a shot on the foreign product.

Over four years later, he is the only active WVU defender with at least half a sack in each of the last three seasons.

Eddie V is not set up to be a stat-sheet superstar as an interior defensive lineman in WVU’s defense. He takes on more double-teams than any rusher on the edge, and WVU also asks him to rotate positions along the defensive line as needed. Still, his numbers from are comparable to other players in WVU’s front seven on defense who are not asked to do as much schematically.

As a freshman, he logged 0.5 sacks and 10 total tackles. His tackle-for-loss number then jumped to 2.5 as a sophomore, which included a sack, after he recorded half of a tackle for loss as a freshman.

Last year, he finished tied for third on the team with three sacks, and he also led all WVU defensive lineman with 28 total tackles.

“The kid’s got the most relentless motor of anybody I’ve ever coached,” defensive line coach Andrew Jackson said last fall.

For the second consecutive season, WVU’s tallest task of the season arguably comes in Week 1 against Penn State. The Nittany Lions are ranked higher in the AP Preseason Poll than any of WVU’s 2024 Big 12 opponents, and the Mountaineers have not beaten Penn State since they delivered Joe Paterno one of the worst losses of his career in 1988. Penn State also won each of the last five matchups between the two schools, and all five wins came by multiple scores.

Thanks to a nine-win season, a victory in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl last year and a plethora of returning starters, the hype for Saturday’s matchup is unmatched in the Neal Brown era of WVU football.

This comes at the perfect time for Vesterinen. The senior’s slow crescendo to a starting role on the WVU defense has kept his NFL draft profile relatively low ahead of his senior season, especially compared to his interior defensive line counterpart Sean Martin and former teammate Dante Stills.

You can find Martin on several preseason watch lists, top-1000 rankings, and possibly even some way-too-early NFL Draft big boards. Eddie V? Not so much.

From a brand perspective, he also finds himself a step behind most of his teammates, and that is by no fault of his own. Most NCAA student athletes on visas because of their international backgrounds are not permitted to make money through their names, images and likenesses (NIL), which effectively keeps them from capitalizing on the new commercial era of college athletics.

The uncertainty regarding Vesterinen’s prospect status weighs heavy on his mind, and that has admittedly been the case all offseason for the true senior as he contemplates potential futures in the United States and Finland.

You would not be able to tell that from the coaches, though, as Neal Brown noted that Vesterinen is one of a pair of defensive lineman that has “kind of played above everybody else at this point” in fall camp and he has made improvements in size, speed and strength.

“It’s funny how it balances out,” Vesterinen said. “The better I do in football, the less anxiety I have [about] what I’m going to do after. So, every day at practice, I have anxiety [about] what I’m going to do next year, but at the same time, I’m working on it. At the same time, I’m getting to relieve the anxiety because I’m getting better.”

WVU will ask a lot from Vesterinen Saturday and throughout the beginning half of the season. Jackson’s defensive line corps is down a man as redshirt freshman defensive tackle Corey McIntyre Jr. recovers from an offseason injury.

Eddie V is one of a select few members of the defensive line who can play all three positions, so expect his snap count to be one of the highest among Mountaineers with their hands in the dirt Saturday.

As long as someone from the next level is watching, the the WVU defensive coaches’ favorite motor will keep running.

“I like this place,” he said. “I could spend some time here, but I think I’m going to pursue my football career as long as I can, and then we’ll see where it goes.”

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