Game Preview: West Virginia football vs. TCU

West Virginia (3-4) will look to rebound at home in a Big 12 Conference matchup against TCU (7-0). 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 7-4

Last meeting: 2021 WVU 29 TCU 17

Television: 12 p.m. ESPN, Bob Wischusen (PBP), Roddy Jones (analyst) Kris Budden (sideline)

--Neal Brown is in his fourth season atop the West Virginia football program with a record of 20-22. Overall, Brown has a 55-38 record as a head coach.

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

--WVU is 7-10-1 in games played on Oct. 29, including 3-5-1 in games played at home. The first time that West Virginia played on Oct. 29, was in 1898 when the Mountaineers won 6-0 over Marietta in Clarksburg. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2016, against Oklahoma State at home (L 37-20). The Mountaineers faced TCU in Fort Worth on Oct. 29 in 2015 (L 40-10) on a Thursday night.

--No. 7/7 TCU, , is the highest ranked team to come into Milan Puskar Stadium since No. 6/6 Oklahoma in 2018.

--Over the last eight years, West Virginia has produced 146 takeaways, good for No. 26 among Power 5 schools.

--This will be the 305th nationally televised game for West Virginia. The Mountaineers are 158-145-1 in nationally televised games.

--Since 1980, West Virginia is 208-24-1 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.

--West Virginia has played 167 games against nationally ranked teams. Of those, 51 have been Mountaineer victories.

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

--On first down, the Mountaineers have run 233 plays and have gained 1,324 yards for a 5.7 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 174 plays for 1,058 yards and a 6.0 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 104 plays for 578 yards and a 5.5 average gain. West Virginia has run 18 plays on fourth down for 96 yards and a 5.3 average.

--WVU’s touchdowns have come 11 times on first down (8 rush/3 pass), 13 times on second down (5 rush/8 pass), three times on third down (2 rush/1 pass) and one time on fourth down (1 rush/0 pass).

--The rushing game has totaled 1,221 yards, an average of 4.8 yards per carry and 16 touchdowns. The passing attack has totaled 1,835 yards, 12 touchdowns and an average of 10.5 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 3,056 yards of total offense, 28 touchdowns, an average of 5.8 yards per play and an average of 35.0 points per game.

--Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 65 first downs by the run and 91 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 174.4 yards per game on the ground, 262.1 yards per game passing and 436.6 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).

--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.
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.
81 Treylan Davis, 6-3, 246, r-Fr.

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

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.
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: 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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