Game Preview: West Virginia football at Virginia Tech

West Virginia will look to keep the momentum rolling in the latest edition of the Battle for the Black Diamond Trophy against rival Virginia Tech. The Hokies are 2-1 to start the season and the Mountaineers will be looking to win back-to-back games in the series.

WVSports.com dives into numbers and notes, a depth chart and where you can watch the contest among other items in this game preview.

Series: West Virginia 29-23-1

Last meeting: 2021 WVU 27 VT 21

Television: 7:30 p.m., ESPN, Matt Barrie (play-by-play), Louis Riddick (analyst) Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline)

--Neal Brown is in his fourth season atop the West Virginia football program with a record of 18-20. Overall, Brown has a 53-36 record as a head coach.

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

--Since 1980, West Virginia is 206-24-1 when scoring 30 or more points in a game. Since 2000, the Mountaineers are 66-7 when hitting the 40-point plateau, and WVU is 196-7 all-time when scoring 40 or more points in a game.

--West Virginia is 9-6 in games played on Sept. 22, including 0-1 in games played on the road. The first time that WVU played on Sept. 22, was in 1928 when the Mountaineers lost to Davis & Elkins, 7-0. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2018 vs. Kansas State at home (W 35-6).

--West Virginia has played Virginia Tech twice on Sept. 22, and is 1-1, winning 24-10 in Morgantown in 1973, and losing 34-6 in Blacksburg in 1994.

--The Mountaineers are one of two teams to play two power five teams on the road in the non-conference schedule with the other being Duke.

--The Mountaineers are 37-33-3 in games played on Thursdays, 13-13 in games played on Thursday nights and 11-9 in games played on ESPN on Thursday night. WVU has won 10 of the last 15 games played on ESPN on Thursday night and 11 of the last 17 games played on Thursday night.

--WVU is 95-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.

--West Virginia is 152-176-6 all-time against current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

--This is the 301st nationally televised game for West Virginia. All-time, the Mountaineers are 156-143-1 in nationally televised games.

--On first down, the Mountaineers have run 101 plays and have gained 630 yards for a 6.2 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 79 plays for 503 yards and a 6.4 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 46 plays for 345 yards and a 7.5 average gain. West Virginia has run nine plays on fourth down for 61 yards and a 6.8 average.

--Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2022 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 235 plays, 116 on the ground and 119 through the air.

--The rushing game has totaled 652 yards, an average of 5.6 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns. The passing attack has totaled 887 yards, eight touchdowns and an average of 11.5 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 1,539 yards of total offense, 18 touch- downs, an average of 6.5 yards per play and an average of 46.0 points per game.

--Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 27 first downs by the run and 44 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 217.3 yards per game on the ground, 295.7 yards per game passing and 513.0 yards per game of total offense.

--Over the last eight years, West Virginia has produced 144 takeaways, good for No. 41 nationally and No. 22 among Power 5 schools. Wisconsin has the most during the eight-year period with 185. Clemson is second with 177, while Iowa is third with 175.

--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).

--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).

--Eleven 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), 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.
7 Will Crowder, 6-2, 220, r-Fr. -or-
8 Nicco Marchiol, 6-1, 208, Fr. -or-
6 Garrett Greene, 5-11, 200, r-So.

RB: 24 Tony Mathis, 5-11, 207, r-So.
26 Justin Johnson, 5-11, 198, So. -or-
12 CJ Donaldson, 6-2, 240, Fr.

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. -or-
87 Mike O'Laughlin, 6-5, 255, r-Jr.

LT: 64 Wyatt Milum, 6-6, 307, So.
58 Nick Malone, 6-5, 300, r-So.

LG: 74 James Gmiter, 6-3, 310, r-Jr.
55 Tomas Rimac, 6-6, 312, 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: 72 Doug Nester, 6-7, 320, Jr.
50 Brandon Yates, 6-4, 308, r-So. -or-
66 Ja'Quay Hubbard, 6-5, 318, r-So.


DEFENSE:
DT: 55 Dante Stills, 6-4, 290, Sr.
96 Edward Vesterinen, 6-3, 281, So.
99 Zeiqui Lawton, 6-1, 274, r-Fr.

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.
7 Jasir Cox, 6-1, 204, Sr.

MLB: 8 Lee Kpogba, 6-1, 230, Jr.
36 Caden Biser, 6-0, 226, r-Fr.

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.
28 Jacolby Spells, 5-11, 180, Fr.

RCB: 11 Wesley McCormick, 5-11, 200, Sr.
20 Andrew Wilson-Lamp, 6-2, 178, r-Fr.
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.
27 Davis Mallinger, 6-1, 184, r-Fr.

PR: 13 Sam James, 6-0, 182, r-Jr.
15 Reese Smith, 5-10, 187, So. -or-
29 Preston Fox, 5-10, 184, r-Fr.

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