West Virginia coasted to a 37-7 win over BYU on Saturday, their largest margin of victory in a conference game under head coach Neal Brown.
West Virginia improved to 6-3 on the year, clinching bowl eligibility in the process.
Jahiem White + CJ Donaldson are a very dynamic duo
CJ Donaldson and Jahiem White ran the ball for 30 times for a combined 248 yards on Saturday. White, a true freshman has come onto the scene in recent weeks and he had five rushes of 10 yards or more, with two of those runs eclipsing 30 yards.
Donaldson also had a really. good day, starting in the first quarter when he muscled his way while carrying two defenders for a fourth-down conversion, and added a pair of short touchdown rushes as well. Donaldson ran for 102 yards on the evening, and has come back to what many expected of him.
What this duo brings WVU is a different edge in the run game than they’ve seen. White has a quicker burst, while Donaldson provides that strong and tough element to his game. If they keep running this way and complementing each other, this offense can continue to blossom.
Offense does its thing… again
West Virginia’s offense is clicking. The Mountaineers have scored at least 34 points in each of their last four games, and has averaged 509 yards per game on offense in that span. West Virginia totaled 567 yards of total offense against BYU, the first time WVU has totaled that many yards of offense in a game against an FBS opponent since Nov. 23, 2018 against Oklahoma, when they had 704 yards of total offense. WVU’s 336 yards of rushing were also the most in a game since 2016, also against Oklahoma.
What West Virginia’s offense is doing right now is a big step up from where they were at the beginning of the year. They also now have opening drive touchdowns in each of their last two games, something that also seem far fetched in early October.
Back End of the Defense Dominates
West Virginia’s secondary has played a lot of snaps due to a lack of depth this season, but the group played their best game of the year on Saturday. While the numbers via interceptions weren’t there, the good tackling and strong play of that group was clearly evident.
Beanie Bishop made a fantastic play on a fourth down early in the game, while Marcis Floyd was also flying around to the ball. Anthony Wilson and Aubrey Burks all got in on the action as well. Those four guys combined for 20 tackles, a pair of TFL’s, and seven PBU’s.
This coverage was able to help WVU’s defensive line get home as the Mountaineers had eight total TFL’s, four hurries, and three sacks.
Michael Hayes having a sneakily good year
Michael Hayes made all of his kicks last night, including makes from 46, 22, and 23 yards respectively. He is now 12/13 on field goals this season with his only miss being from 50-plus. He leads the Big 12 with a 92% success rate on field goals.
