West Virginia looks to rebound from the loss to Maryland in the home opener against Long Island and 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: First Meeting
Last meeting: First
Television: 5 p.m., ESPN+, Bill Spaulding (PBP), Brooks Bennett (analyst)
NUMBERS AND NOTES:
--Neal Brown is in his third season atop the West Virginia football program with a record of 11-12. Overall, Brown has a 46-28 record as a head coach.
--West Virginia is 15th all-time in wins.
--The Mountaineers are WVU is 5-0 in games played on Sept. 11, including 4-0 at home. The last time WVU played on Sept. 11 was a 45-20 win over UCF in 2004.
--West Virginia is 21-0 against FCS teams.
--In home openers, West Virginia is 100-20-6, including winning 17 in a row. WVU is 36-4-1 since 1980, including 20-1 since 2000.
--West Virginia is 34-45-1 against schools from the state of New York.
--West Virginia was 5-0 at home in 2020.
--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 202-22-1 when scoring 30 or more points in a game. Since 2000, the Mountaineers are 64-6 when hitting the 40-point plateau, and WVU is 194-6 all-time when scoring at least 40 or more points in a game.
--Over the last seven years, West Virginia has produced 126 takeaways, ranking No. 25 nationally and No. 14 among Power 5 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 62 plays, 22 on the ground and 40 through the air.
--The rushing game has totaled 39 yards, an average of 1.7 yards per carry and two touchdowns. The passing attack totaled 286 yards, one touchdown and an average of 7.1 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 325 yards of total offense, three touchdowns, an average of 4.6 yards per play and an average of 24.0 points per game.
--Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained four first downs by the run and 13 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 39.0 yards per game on the ground, 286.0 yards per game passing and 325.0 yards per game of total offense.
--On first down, the Mountaineers have run 27 plays and have gained 146 yards for a 5.4 aver- age. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 19 plays for 90 yards and a 4.7 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 14 plays for 80 yards and a 5.7 average gain. West Virginia has run one play on fourth down for nine yards and a 9.0 average.
--In 2021, WVU’s offensive roster includes eight true freshmen, 12 redshirt freshmen, one sophomore, 10 redshirt sophomores, three juniors, seven redshirt juniors, one senior and two redshirt seniors.
--WVU’s total offensive personnel for 2020 includes four quarterbacks, five tight ends/ fullbacks, six running backs, 11 wide receivers, and 18 offensive linemen.
--In 2021, WVU’s defensive roster includes nine freshmen, 11 redshirt freshmen, one sophomore, six redshirt sophomores, one junior, seven redshirt juniors, two seniors and seven redshirt seniors.
--WVU’s total defensive personnel for 2020 includes 14 defensive linemen, 10 safeties, seven linebackers, six cornerbacks, five bandits and two defensive backs.
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: 6 Exree Loe, 6-0, 218, r-Sr.
5 Lance Dixon, 6-2, 210, r-So.
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
