Game Preview: West Virginia football vs. Kansas

West Virginia will look to rebound in a home early season Big 12 Conference matchup against Kansas. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and head coach Neal Brown will look to push his record against the Jayhawks to 4-0.

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 10-1

Last meeting: 2021 WVU 34 KU 28

Television: 6 p.m., Big 12 NOW on ESPN+, Courtney Lyle (PBP), Forrest Conoly (analyst) and Tori Petry (sideline)

NUMBERS AND NOTES:

--Neal Brown is in his fourth season atop the West Virginia football program with a record of 17-19. Overall, Brown has a 52-35 record as a head coach.

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

--The Mountaineers are 7-1 in games played on Sept. 10, including 7-0 in games played at home. The first time that WVU played on Sept. 10, was in 1977 when the Mountaineers defeated Richmond, 36- 0. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2016 vs. Youngstown State at home (W 38-24).

--In home openers, West Virginia is 101-20-6, including winning 18 in a row. WVU is 38-4-1 in home openers since 1980, including 21-1 since 2000.

--WVU has won all six meetings against Kansas in Morgantown, outscoring the Jayhawks, 237-84, an average of 39.5 - 14.

--The Mountaineers are 94-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.

--West Virginia finished the Pitt game, going 5-for-5 in the red zone. WVU is currently tied for No. 1 nationally in red zone offense. WVU’s best performances in the red zone in 2021 were 5-for-5 vs. Iowa State and 7-of-9 against LIU.

--WVU finished with five sacks at Pitt, marking the most in a game since having six against Virginia Tech on Sept. 18, 2021. The Mountaineers are No. 5 nationally in sacks.

--On first down, the Mountaineers have run 32 plays and have gained 174 yards for a 5.4 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 24 plays for 89 yards and a 3.7 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 16 plays for 141 yards and an 8.8 average gain. West Virginia has 1 play on fourth down for 0 yards and a 0.0 average.

--Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2022 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 73 plays, 33 on the ground and 40 through the air.

--The rushing game has totaled 190 yards, an average of 5.8 yards per carry and two touch- downs. The passing attack has totaled 214 yards, two touchdowns and an average of 9.3 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 404 yards of total offense, four touch- downs, an average of 5.5 yards per play and an average of 31.0 points per game.

--Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained seven first downs by the run and 11 via the pass. On average, West Vir- ginia has totaled 190.0 yards per game on the ground, 214.0 yards per game passing and 404.0 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).

--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).

--Since 1980, West Virginia is 205-23-1 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 40 or more points in a game.

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.
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.
2 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: 12 Taijh Alston, 6-4, 255, r-Sr.
91 Sean Martin, 6-5, 288, So.

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

WLB: 5 Lance Dixon, 6-2, 220, r-So.
6 Exree Loe, 6-0, 214, r-Sr.

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

SPEAR: 27 Davis Mallinger, 6-1, 194, r-Fr. -or-
7 Jasir Cox, 6-1, 204, Sr.

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. -or-
11 Wesley McCormick, 5-11, 200, Sr.

RCB: 9 Charles Woods, 5-11, 193, Sr.
20 Andrew Wilson-Lamp, 6-2, 178, r-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: 13 Sam James, 6-0, 182, r-Jr.
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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