West Virginia clinched their bowl eligibility with a 37-7 win over BYU. The 30-point margin was the largest against FBS competition under Neal Brown, and as a result, many backups for West Virginia saw fourth quarter action.
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 BYU. 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 Jahiem White: 80.7 (31 snaps)
- QB Nicco Marchiol: 79.9 (15 snaps)
- C Zach Frazier: 77.3 (67 snaps)
- QB Garrett Greene: 72.9 (67 snaps)
- WR Preston Fox: 72.2 (43 snaps)
- RG Ja’Quay Hubbard: 70.9 (23 snaps)
- RG Sullivan Weidman: 70.1 (17 snaps)
- RT Nick Malone: 68.1 (67 snaps)
- C Landen Livingston: 67.8 (10 snaps)
- WR Devin Carter: 67.4 (49 snaps)
- TE Kole Taylor: 65.9 (55 snaps)
- WR Rodney Gallagher III: 65.4 (44 snaps)
- WR EJ Horton: 64.0 (35 snaps)
- LT Wyatt Milum: 63.3 (67 snaps)
- HB CJ Donaldson Jr.: 62.3 (34 snaps)
- WR Tyler Evans: 60.0 (2 snaps)
- WR Traylon Ray: 59.0 (34 snaps)
- RG Brandon Yates: 57.1 (62 snaps)
- WR C.J. Cole: 56.8 (10 snaps)
- LG Tomas Rimac: 56.1 (61 snaps)
- WR Jarel Williams: 54.0 (10 snaps)
- LG Bryce Biggs: 53.8 (8 snaps)
- RG Cooper Young: 53.7 (10 snaps)
- TE Victor Wikstrom: 53.7 (10 snaps)
- LT Johnny Williams IV: 49.3 (15 snaps)
- HB Justin Johnson Jr.: 48.9 (19 snaps)
- TE Treylan Davis: 48.5 (30 snaps)
- RT Nick Krahe: 45.0 (7 snaps)
Jahiem White was once again the highest graded offensive player for West Virginia. He was also the team’s highest graded runner at 80.1 as he rushed for 146 yards at 9.1 yards per carry.
After coming in for mop up duty in the fourth quarter, Nicco Marchiol proceeded to have his highest graded game of the season. He ultimately finished with more rushing yards than starter Garrett Greene.
Zach Frazier’s overall grade was the highest of the season for him, with his run blocking grade of 76.1 leading the team and his best against FBS competition this season.
Garrett Greene was solid but did have his lowest graded rushing performance of the season at 53.4.
Kole Taylor led the team with an 88.9 pass blocking grade as a tight end. He also rebounded from a rough two week stretch overall before that.
Rodney Gallagher started for the first time this season and put on another solid performance. He struggled in the first half of the season but has put it together over the last two games.
Wyatt Milum had both good pass blocking and run blocking grades, but three penalties drag his overall grade down.
CJ Donaldson put on a solid performance but his overall grade is hurt by his 25.7 grade in the passing game, with him having three drops in that facet of the game.
The pass blocking was overall great as BYU’s defense finished with only two pressures without a sack or quarterback hit.
Overall, several players had their highest graded games of the season. The starters were pulled after 67 snaps and some of West Virginia’s backups got to see some action in the fourth quarter.
Defense
- FS Aubrey Burks: 93.3 (56 snaps)
- LB Lee Kpogba: 75.6 (52 snaps)
- DL Hammond Russell IV: 73.6 (18 snaps)
- SS Anthony Wilson: 73.5 (49 snaps)
- CB Beanie Bishop: 71.6 (56 snaps)
- LB Ben Cutter: 70.1 (40 snaps)
- DL Mike Lockhart: 67.9 (21 snaps)
- BAN Tyrin Bradley: 67.8 (27 snaps)
- LB Caden Biser: 67.3 (18 snaps)
- DL Sean Martin: 67.1 (28 snaps)
- S Marcis Floyd: 66.2 (42 snaps)
- DL Fatorma Mulbah: 64.3 (17 snaps)
- DL Asani Redwood: 62.9 (14 snaps)
- S Christion Stokes: 59.9 (2 snaps)
- CB Malachi Ruffin: 59.0 (53 snaps)
- DL Davoan Hawkins: 56.5 (13 snaps)
- DL Jalen Thornton: 54.7 (17 snaps)
- DL Tomiwa Durojaiye: 54.2 (25 snaps)
- CB Jacolby Spells: 51.8 (26 snaps)
- LB Tirek Austin-Cave: 49.8 (12 snaps)
- S Avery Wilcox: 47.4 (8 snaps)
- SPEAR Hershey McLaurin: 46.8 (24 snaps)
- BAN Jared Bartlett: 46.7 (35 snaps)
- DL Taurus Simmons: 46.4 (8 snaps)
- DL Edward Vesterinen: 43.7 (27 snaps)
- DL Corey McIntyre Jr.: 39.8 (6 snaps)
- SPEAR Raleigh Collins III: 39.5 (10 snaps)
The defense according to the PFF data had 15 pressures, seven quarterback hurries, five sacks, four missed tackles, seven pass breakups, and one penalty. The four missed tackles were a season low for the Mountaineers.
Neal Brown said in his post-game presser that he thought that this was the best that West Virginia’s safeties had played in a long time, and the PFF data reflected that. Aubrey Burks became the first defensive player to be a member of the PFF 90 club this season, with his 93.3 grade being the highest game grade given to a West Virginia player this season.
Lee Kpogba has put together back-to-back strong performances after a rough stretch between Weeks 3-8. He led the team with an 87.5 run defense grade and a 67.5 pass rushing grade.
Hammond Russell had his highest graded game of the season while serving as a rotational piece on the defensive line.
Anthony Wilson had his highest graded game of the season and led the team with an 83.4 tackling grade.
Beanie Bishop had another solid performance, only allowing two catches on seven targets and had a whopping four pass breakups.
Tyrin Bradley graded out a lot higher at the bandit position than the starter Jared Bartlett. Bartlett has been a non-factor for the West Virginia defense in recent weeks.
Edward Vesterinen had his lowest graded game of the season, with his 42.7 run defense grade being the lowest on the team this week.
The starters were pulled after 56 snaps and the backups got to see some action for the last eight defensive snaps of the game.
