Game Preview: West Virginia football vs. Baylor

West Virginia (2-3) will host a critical Big 12 matchup under the lights with Baylor (3-2) coming to town. The Mountaineers are looking for their first win in the Big 12 Conference against a Bears team that is coming off a Big 12 title a year ago.

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 6-4

Last meeting: 2021 WVU 20 BU 45

Television: 7 p.m., FS1, Noah Eagle (PBP), Mark Helfrich (analyst)

--Neal Brown is in his fourth season atop the West Virginia football program with a record of 19-21. Overall, Brown has a 54-37 record as a head coach.

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

--Since 1980, West Virginia is 207-24-1 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.

--WVU is 11-5 in games played on Oct. 13, including 5-1 in games played at home. The first time that West Virginia played on Oct. 13, was in 1906 when the Mountaineers defeated California (Pa.) YMCA, 11-0 at home. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2018 at Iowa State (L 30-14). The last time that West Virginia played at home on Oct. 13, was against Cincinnati in 1990 (W 28-20).

--West Virginia is 5-0 against Baylor in Morgantown.

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

--The Mountaineers are No. 15 nationally in third down conversions (.494) and No. 9 in fourth down conversions (.800).

--WVU is No. 20 nationally in red zone offense (.926) and No. 2 in the Big 12. The Mountaineers have the second-most red zone touchdowns in the league (25).

--West Virginia is ranked No. 13 nationally in time of possession and No. 1 in the Big 12 (33:22).

--This the 303rd nationally televised game for West Virginia. The program is the Mountaineers are 157-144-1 all time in such games.

--On first down, the Mountaineers have run 170 plays and have gained 973 yards for a 5.7 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 127 plays for 735 yards and a 5.8 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 77 plays for 466 yards and a 6.0 average gain. West Virginia has run 15 plays on fourth down for 100 yards and a 8.5 average.

--WVU’s touchdowns have come eight times on first down (6 rush/2 pass), 11 times on second down (4 rush/7 pass), three times on third down (2 rush/1 pass) and one time on fourth down (1 rush/0 pass).

--Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2022 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 389 plays, 192 on the ground and 197 through the air

--The rushing game has totaled 931 yards, an average of 4.8 yards per carry and 13 touch- downs. The passing attack has totaled 1,343 yards, 10 touchdowns and an average of 10.7 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 2,274 yards of total offense, 23 touchdowns, an average of 5.8 yards per play and an average of 38.2 points per game.

--Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 47 first downs by the run and 67 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 186.2 yards per game on the ground, 268.6 yards per game passing and 454.8 yards per game of total offense.

--Over the last eight years, West Virginia has produced 143 takeaways, good for No. 31 among Power 5 schools.

--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.

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

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

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