For West Virginia football, their bye week could not have come at a better time.
A 4-1 start, and with all five games coming in a 29-day span, the week off is surely needed for a team who has physically battled their way to four consecutive wins. Now, sitting at 2-0 in Big 12 play, and with a pretty favorable road ahead, the Mountaineers could find themselves winning eight or nine games in 2023.
The Defense
While the defense can be brushed with a broad stroke (yes they are playing much better than last year), it can also be broken down into smaller positional groups to identify where their success is coming from.
Defensive Line
This defensive line which had a lot of questions marks heading into the year has answered those questions. It has been a revolving door as the Mountaineers roll a lot of bodies in and out of that front. The Mountaineers are 19th in the country in tackles for loss with 36.0, and it has not just been one guy who has done the damage. A player to mention though is Tomiwa Durojaiye. He came to WVU from Kentucky and has made an instant impact this season. He’s had a limited snap count, but leads the team in sacks and is second in tackles for loss.
Linebackers
The linebacking group will be one to keep an eye on after Trey Lathan’s injury. Lathan led the team in quarterback hits, and really got solid play out of the WILL position after there was a level of uncertainty surrounding that position throughout fall camp. Without Lathan, it will be a wait and see surrounding that spot, but Lee Kpogba has been doing exceptional things, ranking fourth in the Big 12 in total tackles.
Secondary
This secondary was one that got beat time and time again last year, but this year they have a different tune they are playing. Again, it will be a big test to see who they are without Aubrey Burks, especially against a Houston team that can score like crazy. They have forced five interceptions, and are holding quarterbacks to the lowest completion percentage in the Big 12 at 50 percent.
The Offense
While the offense seemingly still hasn’t hit their stride, there is a lot of good to pull from this group.
Quarterbacks
Let’s start with the not so great, the quarterbacks. While it has been a tricky position to navigate due to an injury to Garrett Greene, the reality is the Mountaineers have to throw the ball better if they want to win games. Outside of their game against FCS opponent Duquesne, West Virginia has only totaled more than 100 yards through the air in two of their four games.
West Virginia ranks 119th in passing offense this season. While they have survived this so far, it seems hard to imagine they will be able to continue to not execute through the air and still find ways to win games. At some point, something has to give.
Wide Receivers
On the other side of the pass game is this wide receiver room. Like the quarterbacks, there are a lot of unproven names in this bunch, and they have yet to hit their stride either. This can be equated to the pass game just not getting going in general.
Pro Football Focus gives West Virginia a receiving grade of 57.6 which is lowest in the Big 12 and 125th in the country.
Running Backs
To not much of a surprise, West Virginia’s offense has been built by their running backs. CJ Donaldson singlehandedly won the Backyard Brawl for West Virginia, while Jaylen Anderson has been good when he’s been on the field. It’s important to keep an eye on Jahiem White. The true freshman got to see the field more against TCU and his burst is something that it seems West Virginia really doesn’t have in their backfield right now. We know how good Chad Scott has been at developing these guys, so now it’s a matter of what happens next in White’s development.
Offensive Line
Great. That’s what you can take away from this offensive line. They have been great. We knew coming into the year that this line was going to be the backbone of this team and they have lived up to that expectation through the first month. Their pass block grade of 80.7 by PFF is 12th-best in the country. They have to keep doing their thing and the bye week for them comes at a great time with Tomas Rimac dealing with an injury as well as Wyatt Milum getting poked in the eye against TCU.
Tight Ends
It’s year five for Neal Brown and we have heard consistently about them wanting to use the tight end more and more. They have lived up to their promise this year, aided by 6-foot-7 Kole Taylor. Taylor has caught 13 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. His 13 catches are the most on the team.
His two touchdown receptions are also more than all the combined touchdown passes tight ends have caught in Brown’s first four years here.
Special Teams
The specials teams have been beyond good for West Virginia, helping them win the field position battle, as their net starting field position is fourth-best in the country.
Oliver Straw returned as WVU’s punter and he’s been excellent outside of a couple bad kicks. West Virginia ranks 13th in punt defense in the country, with teams averaging .14 yards per return. On the flip side, Preston Fox has added a jolt of energy to WVU’s punt return unit. Fox leads the Big 12 in punt return yards with 137.
On the kicking game, Michael Hayes has been huge boost too. The Georgia State transfer is 4 for 5 on field goals with his only miss being from 58 yards, after he made one from 53 but there was a penalty pushing him back. Hayes has also eight touchbacks on the season on kickoff duties.
Overall
This team is 4-1 and still has a lot of room for growth especially on the offensive side. If they can win at Houston and then take care of defending their home turf, they could set themselves up to be 6-1 heading into the last week of October. While nothing is guaranteed in this game and it’s important to take it game by game, this team has a lot to like through five weeks.
