Game Preview: West Virginia football at Baylor

West Virginia (2-3) will look to rebound on the road in a Big 12 Conference matchup against Baylor. WVSports.com offers a look at some key elements of the match up to get you ready for kick off.

In this game preview, we dive into numbers and notes, a depth chart, our video preview of the game as well as where to can watch the contest.

Series: West Virginia 6-3

Last meeting: 2020 WVU 27 BU 21

Television: 12 p.m. FS1. Cory Provus (PBP), Mark Helfrich (analyst)

NUMBERS AND NOTES:

--Neal Brown is in his third season atop the West Virginia football program with a record of 13-14. Overall, Brown has a 48-30 record as a head coach.

--West Virginia is 15th all-time in wins.

--The Mountaineers are 9-6 in games played on Oct. 9, including 3-6 on the road. Having won six in a row on Oct. 9, the last time WVU played on that date, was against UNLV in Morgantown in 2010 (W 49-10). The last time WVU played on the road on Oct. 9 was in 1976 at Temple (W 42-0)

--West Virginia is 1-3 all-time against Baylor on the road.

--West Virginia is 24-21-1 against schools from the state of Texas

--West Virginia hasn't won a road game since Nov. 29, 2019.

--This will be the 289th nationally televised game for West Virginia with the program 150-136-1 in those games.

--Coaching staff assignments: Matt Moore (AHC-OL/Field); Gerad Parker (OC-WR/Press Box); Chad Scott (Co-OC-RB/Field); Jordan Lesley (DC-OLB/Field); ShaDon Brown (Co-DC-DBs/Field); Jeff Koonz (ST Coordinator-ILB/Field); Andrew Jackson (DL/Field); Sean Reagan (QB/Press Box); Travis Trickett (TE-IR/Field); Dontae Wright (S/Press Box).

--West Virginia is is 92-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.

--The Mountaineers have gone to a bowl game in 17 of the last 19 years. West Virginia is one of 15 power five schools to accomplish that feat along with Georgia (19), Oklahoma (19), Wisconsin (19), Clemson (18), Florida (18), Florida State (18), LSU (18), Ohio State (18), Oklahoma State (18), Virginia Tech (18), Alabama (17), Auburn (17), Iowa (17) and Oregon (17).

--Since 1980, West Virginia is 203-22-1 when scoring 30 or more points in a game. Since 2000, the Mountaineers are 65-6 when hitting the 40-point plateau, and WVU is 195-6 all-time when scoring at least 40 or more points in a game.

--The Mountaineers defense is ranked No. 11 in red zone defense (.650), No. 12 in rushing defense (88.4), No. 27 in scoring defense (18.0) and No. 34 in total defense (315.8).

--The WVU defense has registered 45 tackles for loss, averaging 9.0 tackles for loss per game. The defense is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 2 nationally in tackles for loss. The Mountaineer defense also has registered 17 sacks this season, averaging 3.4 per game. That number is No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 12 nationally.

--Over the last seven years, West Virginia has produced 130 takeaways, ranking No. 30 nationally and No. 18 among Power Five schools.

--The 2021 roster currently consists of 108 players from 20 different states, Washington D.C. (1) and four foreign countries: Canada (3), Finland (1), Sweden (1) and The Netherlands (1).

--Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2021 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 334 plays, 165 on the ground and 169 through the air.

--The rushing game has totaled 560 yards, an average of 3.4 yards per carry and 10 touch- downs. The passing attack has totaled 1,323 yards, seven touchdowns and an average of 12.1 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 1,883 yards of total offense, 17 touch- downs, an average of 5.6 yards per play and an average of 30.0 points per game

--Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 40 first downs by the run and 59 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 112.0 yards per game on the ground, 264.6 yards per game passing and 376.6 yards per game of total offense.

--On first down, the Mountaineers have run 145 plays and have gained 765 yards for a 5.3 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 111 plays for 660 yards and a 6.0 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 67 plays for 379 yards and a 5.7 average gain. West Virginia has 11 plays on fourth down for 79 yards and a 7.2 average.

--West Virginia's touchdowns have come seven times on first down (4 rush/3 pass), five times on second down (3 rush/2 pass), five times on third down (3 rush/2 pass) and no touchdowns on fourth down (0 rush/0 pass).

--Sixteen true freshmen have played for the Mountaineers in 2021: Caden Biser (LB), Aubrey Burks (S), Will Crowder (QB), Treylan Davis (TE), Brayden Dudley (DL), Justin Johnson Jr. (RB), Davis Mallinger (S), Saint McLeod (S), Wyatt Milum (OL), Kaden Prather (WR), Cam Rice (DL), Tomas Rimac (OL), Hammond Russell IV (DL), Edward Vesterinen (DL), Victor Wikstrom (TE) and Andrew Wilson-Lamp (CB).

DEPTH CHART:
OFFENSE:
QB: 2 Jarret Doege, 6-2, 208, r-Sr.
6 Garrett Greene, 5-11, 193, r-Fr.

RB: 4 Leddie Brown, 6-0, 206, Sr.
24 Tony Mathis, 5-11, 205, r-So.
26 Justin Johnson, 5-11, 196, Fr.

TE: 87 Mike O'Laughlin, 6-5, 252, r-Jr.
85 T. J. Banks, 6-5, 245, r-Jr.

WR (X): 0 Bryce Wheaton, 6-3, 220, r-Jr.
3 Kaden Prather, 6-4, 210, Fr.

WR (H): 13 Sam James, 6-0, 183, r-Jr.
89 Graeson Malashevich, 5-9, 180, r-So.

SLOT: 16 Winston Wright, 5-10, 180, Jr.
15 Reese Smith, 5-10, 186, r-Fr.

WR (Z): 10 Sean Ryan, 6-3, 198, Jr.
9 Isaiah Esdale, 6-0, 202, r-Sr. -or-
17 Sam Brown, 6-2, 202, r-Fr.

LT: 50 Brandon Yates, 6-4, 295, r-So.
66 Ja’Quay Hubbard, 6-5, 310, r-So.

LG: 74 James Gmiter, 6-3, 298, r-Jr.
58 Nick Malone, 6-5, 290, r-So.

C: 54 Zach Frazier, 6-2, 308, Fr.
53 Jordan White, 6-2, 298, r-Fr.

RG: 72 Doug Nester, 6-7, 321, Jr.
79 John Hughes, 6-4, 305, r-Jr.

RT: 55 Parker Moorer, 6-5, 308, r-So. -or-
64 Wyatt Milum, 6-6, 291, Fr.

DEFENSE:
DT: 90 Akheem Mesidor, 6-2, 272, So.
52 Jalen Thornton, 6-2, 273, r-So.

DT: 55 Dante Stills, 6-4, 280, Sr.
95 Jordan Jefferson, 6-3, 298, r-So.

DE: 12 Taijh Alston, 6-4, 245, r-Jr.
91 Sean Martin, 6-5, 280, r-Fr.

BANDIT: 8 VanDarius Cowan, 6-4, 242, r-Sr. -or-
10 Jared Bartlett, 6-2, 225, r-So.

WLB: 5 Lance Dixon, 6-2, 210, r-So.
6 Exree Loe, 6-0, 218, r-Sr.

MLB: 7 Josh Chandler-Semedo, 5-11, 226, Sr.
47 Deshawn Stevens, 6-2, 255, r-Sr.

SPEAR: 19 Scottie Young, 5-11, 207, r-Sr.
9 Charles Woods, 5-11, 193, r-Jr.

CS: 29 Sean Mahone, 6-0, 200, r-Sr.
15 Kerry Martin, 6-1, 201, r-So.

FS: 4 Alonzo Addae, 5-11, 190, r-Sr.
25 Aubrey Burks, 5-11, 201, Fr.

LCB: 11 Nicktroy Fortune, 5-11, 194, Jr.
14 Malachi Ruffin, 5-10, 185, r-Jr.

RCB: 2 Daryl Porter, 5-11, 185, r-Fr.
3 Jackie Matthews, 5-10, 190, r-Jr.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: 48 Casey Legg, 6-4, 213, r-Jr.
35 Tyler Sumpter, 5-10, 219, r-Sr.

H: 89 Graeson Malashevich, 5-9, 180, r-So.

P: 35 Tyler Sumpter, 5-10, 219, r-Sr.

KO: 30 Evan Staley, 6-1, 202, r-Sr.

LS: 43 Austin Brinkman, 6-3, 215, r-Fr.
47 JP Hadley, 6-2, 242, r-Jr.

KOR: 16 Winston Wright, 5-10, 180, Jr.
17 Sam Brown, 6-2, 200, r-Fr.

PR: 15 Reese Smith, 5-10, 186, r-Fr. -or-
16 Winston Wright, 5-10, 180, Jr. -or-
9 Isaiah Esdale, 6-0, 202, r-Sr.

----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @JaredSerre

•Like us on Facebook