West Virginia redeemed themselves of last year’s Backyard Brawl and got the win against Pitt at Milan Puskar Stadium last night. After Garrett Greene exited with an injury, Nicco Marchiol played game manager and the Mountaineers used their run game and defense to win this game.
But how did the individual players grade out?
This article will take a look at the Pro Football Focus grades from West Virginia’s game against Pitt. The list will be split into offense and defense and list the grades from first to worst then discuss the notable highlights from the grades.
Offense
- HB CJ Donaldson Jr.: 75.0 (31 snaps)
- TE Trelan Davis: 69.9 (31 snaps)
- TE Kole Taylor: 66.9 (50 snaps)
- C Zach Frazier: 66.8 (65 snaps)
- RT Doug Nester: 66.8 (65 snaps)
- WR Hudson Clement: 63.6 (26 snaps)
- LT Wyatt Milum: 63.5 (65 snaps)
- RG Brandon Yates: 61.6 (65 snaps)
- QB Nicco Marchiol: 61.2 (59 snaps)
- WR Cortez Braham: 60.8 (30 snaps)
- LG Tomas Rimac: 60.7 (65 snaps)
- HB Jaheim White: 60.0 (4 snaps)
- WR Devin Carter: 59.9 (55 snaps)
- WR Preston Fox: 59.3 (31 snaps)
- WR Traylon Ray: 57.7 (2 snaps)
- WR EJ Horton: 57.4 (2 snaps)
- HB Jaylen Anderson: 55.4 (36 snaps)
- FB Luke Hamilton: 55.3 (5 snaps)
- WR Jarel Williams: 54.5 (3 snaps)
- QB Garrett Greene: 53.7 (6 snaps)
- WR Rodney Gallagher III: 53.5 (9 snaps)
- RT Nick Malone: 45.9 (10 snaps)
CJ Donalson led the offensive PFF grades this week and could have graded higher had it not been for a 28.9 grade in pass blocking. He had 18 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown before exiting with an injury in the second half.
Kole Taylor graded out well as a receiver, recording a 77.0 mark in that facet but graded low in run blocking at 50.7 in that facet.
Nicco Marchiol graded out at an average mark as he mostly played in a game manager type of role. He finished with only nine pass attempts, completing six of them with a touchdown pass to Taylor.
The starting offensive line played every snap possible, and all graded out better in pass blocking except for Brandon Yates, who graded out better in run blocking.
Cortez Braham led the team with a 74.0 run blocking grade as a wide receiver, with him being the only player grading above 69.4 in that facet.
Defense
- DT Fatorma Mulbah: 79.8 (15 snaps)
- LB Trey Lathan: 78.6 (57 snaps)
- SS Marcis Floyd: 76.3 (17 snaps)
- CB Beanie Bishop Jr.: 74.1 (58 snaps)
- CB Malachi Ruffin: 73.2 (58 snaps)
- DE Jalen Thornton: 70.8 (3 snaps)
- DE Tomiwa Durojaiye: 70.0 (13 snaps)
- FS Anthony Wilson: 68.8 (58 snaps)
- CB Hershey McLaurin: 66.3 (35 snaps)
- SS Aubrey Burks: 65.4 (58 snaps)
- BAN Jared Bartlett: 64.8 (44 snaps)
- DE Asani Redwood: 63.6 (15 snaps)
- DE Sean Martin: 63.3 (41 snaps)
- DE Davoan Hawkins: 61.5 (7 snaps)
- DT Mike Lockhart: 59.5 (31 snaps)
- BAN Tyrin Bradley: 58.2 (23 snaps)
- DT Hammond Russell IV: 57.3 (2 snaps)
- SPEAR Lance Dixon: 56.2 (16 snaps)
- DT Edward Vesterinen: 51.5 (38 snaps)
- LB Lee Kpogba: 43.8 (49 snaps)
Per PFF’s data, the West Virginia defense was credited with 11 pressures, two sacks, five quarterback hits, four hurries, and seven missed tackles.
Fatorma Mulbah led the defensive PFF grades for the second consecutive week. He also had the team’s highest run defense grade at 79.5 and you could argue that he’s the team’s most underrated player right now.
Trey Lathan was the team’s highest graded player in coverage. He graded out at 78.4 there, allowed a catch for five yards on one target and had a pass breakup on another.
Beanie Bishop had a standout game, recording an interception as well as a team-high 84.0 grade in tackling.
Aubrey Burks graded out well in coverage at 73.5 but not in run defense or in tackling, grading out at 50.3 and 23.5 respectively.
Jared Barlett and Lathan were the only players to grade out above 69.2 in pass rush, with both players recording a 77.9 mark in that facet.
Lee Kpogba had a down performance, with a 29.9 grade in coverage hurting his overall grade.
