Game Preview: West Virginia football at Iowa State

West Virginia (3-5) will look to rebound on the road in a Big 12 Conference matchup against Iowa State (3-5). 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 6-4

Last meeting: 2021 WVU 38 TCU 31

Television: 3:30 p.m. ESPN+, Mark Neely (play-by-play), Chad Brown (analyst)

--Neal Brown is in his fourth season atop the West Virginia football program with a record of 20-23. Overall, Brown has a 55-39 record as a head coach.

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

--WVU is 6-7-2 in games played on Nov. 5, including 1-4-1 in games played on the road. The first time that West Virginia played on Nov. 5, was in 1897 when the Mountaineers lost 12-0 to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2011 against Louisville at home (L 38-35). The last time the Mountaineers faced an opponent on the road on Nov. 5, was in 1938 (L 7-0) against Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio.

--West Virginia is 96-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.

--The Mountaineers are No. 24 nationally in third-down conversions (.479) and No. 14 in fourth-down conversions (.714).

--This will be the 306th nationally televised game for West Virginia. All-time, the Mountaineers are 158-146-1 in nationally televised games.

--Since 1980, West Virginia is 208-25-1 when scoring 30 or more points in a game. Since 2000, the Mountaineers are 67-7 when hitting the 40-point plateau, and WVU is 197-7 all-time when scoring 40 or more points in a game.

--On first down, the Mountaineers have run 267 plays and have gained 1,530 yards for a 5.7 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 199 plays for 1,171 yards and a 5.9 aver- age. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 121 plays for 682 yards and a 5.6 average gain. West Virginia has run 21 plays on fourth down for 103 yards and a 4.9 average.

--WVU’s touchdowns have come 12 times on first down (8 rush/4 pass), 13 times on second down (5 rush/8 pass), five times on third down (4 rush/1 pass) and two times on fourth down (1 rush/1 pass).

--Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2022 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 608 plays, 295 on the ground and 313 through the air.

--The rushing game has totaled 1,376 yards, an average of 4.7 yards per carry and 18 touch- downs. The passing attack has totaled 2,110 yards, 14 touchdowns and an average of 10.7 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 3,486 yards of total offense, 32 touchdowns, an average of 5.7 yards per play and an average of 34.4 points per game.

--Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 73 first downs by the run and 105 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 172.0 yards per game on the ground, 263.8 yards per game passing and 435.8 yards per game of total offense.

--Coaching staff assignments: Matt Moore (AHC-OL/Field); Graham Harrell (OC-QB/Press Box); Chad Scott (Run Game Coord.-RB/Field); Jordan Lesley (DC-OLB/Field); ShaDon Brown (Co-DC-DBs/Field); Jeff Koonz (ST Coordinator-ILB/Field); Andrew Jackson (DL/Press Box); Sean Reagan (TE/Press Box); Tony Washington (WR/Field); Dontae Wright (S/Press Box).

--Over the last eight years, West Virginia has produced 148 takeaways, good for No. 26 among Power 5 schools. Clemson has the most during the eight-year period with 182. Alabama is second with 181, while Iowa is third with 180.

--West Virginia has gone to a bowl game in 18 of the last 20 years. The Mountaineers are one of 15 Power 5 schools to accomplish that feat: Georgia (20), Oklahoma (20), Wisconsin (20), Clemson (19), Florida (19), LSU (19), Ohio State (19), Oklahoma State (19), Virginia Tech (19), Alabama (18), Auburn (18), Florida State (18), Iowa (18), Oregon (18) and West Virginia (18).

--Twelve true freshmen have played for the Mountaineers in 2022: Derek Berlitz (DLB), Aric Burton (BAN), Raleigh Collins III (S), CJ Donaldson (RB), Mumu Bin-Wahad (CB), Trey Lathan (LB), Nicco Marchiol (QB), Asani Redwood (DL), Jacolby Spells (CB), Oliver Straw (P), Keaton Thomas (DB) and Jarel Williams (WR).

DEPTH CHART:

OFFENSE:
QB: 18 JT Daniels, 6-2, 226, Jr.
6 Garrett Greene, 5-11, 200, r-So.
7 Will Crowder, 6-2, 220, r-Fr. -or-
8 Nicco Marchiol, 6-1, 208, Fr..

RB: 24 Tony Mathis, 5-11, 207, r-So.
26 Justin Johnson, 5-11, 198, So. -or-


WR (X): 0 Bryce Ford-Wheaton, 6-3, 224, r-Jr.
11 Cortez Braham, 6-2, 198, Jr.

WR (Y): 13 Sam James, 6-0, 182, r-Jr.
29 Preston Fox, 5-10, 184, r-Fr.

WR (H): 15 Reese Smith, 5-10, 187, So.
89 Graeson Malashevich, 5-9, 186, r-So.

WR (Z): 3 Kaden Prather, 6-4, 211, So.
4 Jeremiah Aaron, 5-10, 186, So.

TE (H): 88 Brian Polendey, 6-4, 256, r-Sr.
81 Treylan Davis, 6-3, 246, r-Fr.

LT: 64 Wyatt Milum, 6-6, 307, So.
50 Brandon Yates, 6-4, 308, r-So.

LG: 55 Tomas Rimac, 6-6, 312, r-Fr.
53 Jordan White, 6-2, 298, r-Fr.

C: 54 Zach Frazier, 6-3, 306, So.
53 Jordan White, 6-2, 298, r-Fr.

RG: 53 Jordan White, 6-2, 298, r-Fr.
72 Doug Nester, 6-7, 320, Jr.

RT: 66 Ja'Quay Hubbard, 6-5, 318, r-So. -or-
50 Brandon Yates, 6-4, 308, r-So.

DEFENSE:
DT: 55 Dante Stills, 6-4, 290, Sr.
96 Edward Vesterinen, 6-3, 281, So.

NG: 95 Jordan Jefferson, 6-3, 310, Jr.
93 Mike Lockhart, 6-3, 317, r-So.

DE: 91 Sean Martin, 6-5, 288, So.
12 Taijh Alston, 6-4, 255, r-Sr.

BANDIT: 10 Jared Bartlett, 6-2, 235, r-So. -or-
44 Lanell Carr, 6-1, 245, So.

WLB: 6 Exree Loe, 6-0, 214, r-Sr. -or-
7 Jasir Cox, 6-1, 204, Sr.

MLB: 8 Lee Kpogba, 6-1, 230, Jr.
36 Caden Biser, 6-0, 226, r-Fr.
18 Tirek Austin-Cave, 6-1, 228, So.

SPEAR: 27 Davis Mallinger, 6-1, 194, r-Fr. -or-
5 Lance Dixon, 6-2, 220, r-So.

FS: 2 Aubrey Burks, 5-11, 182, So.
13 Hershey McLaurin, 6-1, 210, So.

CS: 24 Marcis Floyd, 6-0, 194, r-Jr.
14 Malachi Ruffin, 5-10, 195, Jr.

LCB: 4 Rashad Ajayi, 5-11, 182, Sr.
9 Charles Woods, 5-11, 193, r-Sr.
28 Jacolby Spells, 5-11, 180, Fr.

RCB: 11 Wesley McCormick, 5-11, 200, Sr.
20 Andrew Wilson-Lamp, 6-2, 178, r-Fr. -or-
29 Mumu Bin-Wahad, 5-10, 179, Fr.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: 48 Casey Legg, 6-4, 216, r-Jr.
37 Parker Grothaus, 6-2, 216, r-Sr.

H: 89 Graeson Malashevich, 5-9, 186, r-So.

P: 41 Oliver Straw, 6-2, 214, Fr.
40 Kolten McGhee, 6-0, 187, r-So.

KO: 37 Parker Grothaus, 6-2, 216, r-Sr.
39 Danny King, 5-10, 172, r-Fr.

LS: 43 Austin Brinkman, 6-3, 215, r-Fr.

KOR: 4 Jeremiah Aaron, 5-10, 186, So.
26 Justin Johnson, 5-11, 198, So.

PR: 29 Preston Fox, 5-10, 184, r-Fr.
13 Sam James, 6-0, 182, r-Jr.

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