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Series: West Virginia leads 4-2

Last meeting: 2017: WVU 38 BU 36

Television: 7 p.m., FS1, Justin Kutcher (play-by-play), DeMarco Murray (analyst), Petros Papadakis (analyst) Jennifer Hale (sideline)

No. 12/13 West Virginia (5-1, 3-1) is fresh off a bye week and will look to rebound after its first loss of the season when the Mountaineers play host to Baylor (4-3, 2-2) in a Thursday night contest.

The Mountaineers are looking to bounce back after falling to Iowa State 30-14 but will return home to the friendly confines of Milan Puskar Stadium to take on a Bears team that has been competitive throughout. Head coach Matt Rhule is entering his second year with the program after coming over from Temple and has already tripled his win total from his first season after going 1-11 in 2017.

But even in that year, the Bears had eight losses by 14 or less including the Mountaineers.

This will be the seventh meeting between the two schools with the Mountaineers holding a 3-0 mark in Morgantown after the series began in 2012 with a thrilling 70-63 matchup.

The Bears have been successful on offense rolling up 475 yards per game along with 313.3 through the air per contest ranking inside the top 12 nationally in both categories.

Sophomore Charlie Brewer returns as the starting quarterback for Baylor and is a player that West Virginia is plenty familiar with after he almost engineered a 25-point fourth quarter comeback against the Mountaineers a season ago in a narrow 38-36 loss that came down a failed two-point conversion.

Brewer has started the last 11 games for the Bears and during those games the offense has averaged 459.7 yards per contest. During those games he has passed for 275.4 yards per game with 19 touchdowns against six interceptions while adding four more scores on the ground.

Former Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd is the leading pass catcher for the Bears with 47 catches for 622 yards and 3 scores, while adding 112 yards and 3 more touchdowns on the ground. But he is far from the only option as Denzel Mims has accounted for 35 catches for 529 yards and 4 touchdowns and Chris Platt has 22 catches for 257 yards and a score.

Baylor will utilize a number of running backs with JaMycal Hasty leading the way with 301 yards and three scores and John Lovett (254 yards and 3 touchdowns) and Trestan Ebner (186 yards) also involved.

The offense has been especially good in the red zone scoring touchdowns on almost 70-percent of their trips into the 20’s with 18 scores on the year in 27 trips. The unit also controls the football as well ranking 13th nationally in time of possession on the season.

On the flipside, the defense also is excellent in the red zone allowing only eight touchdowns in 16 trips putting them inside the top ten nationally in that category as well.

Clay Johnston leads the Bears with 35 tackles while the defense has accounted for 38 tackles for loss and 15 sacks in the seven games this season.

The game is scheduled to be televised at 7 p.m. on FS1.

West Virginia Depth Chart:

OFFENSE:

QB: 7 Will Grier, (r-Sr.), 17 Jack Allison, (r-So.)

RB: 4 Kennedy McKoy (Jr.) or 32 Martell Pettaway (Jr.) or 20 Alec Sinkfield (r-Fr) or 4 Leddie Brown (Fr.)

FB: 42 Logan Thimons, (r-So.), 41 Elijah Drummond, (r-So.)

TE/H: 88 Trevon Wesco, (r-Sr.), 84 Jovani Haskins, (r-So.)

X WR: 8 Marcus Simms, (Jr.), 82 Dominique Maiden, (Sr.)

Y WR: 12 Gary Jennings, Jr., (Sr.), 16 William Crest, (r-Sr.)

Z WR: 13 David Sills V, (Sr.), 1 T.J. Simmons, (r-So.)

LT: 55 Yodny Cajuste, (r-Sr.), 72 Kelby Wickline, (r-Jr.)

LG: 73 Josh Sills, (r-So.), 57 Michael Brown, (r-Jr.)

C: 79 Matt Jones, (r-Jr.), 78 Jacob Buccigrossi, (r-So.)

RG: 65 Isaiah Hardy, (Sr.), 58 Joe Brown, (r-Jr.)

RT: 53 Colton McKivitz, (r-Jr.), 76 Chase Behrndt, (r-So.)

DEFENSE:

DE: 5 Ezekiel Rose, (Sr.) or 46 Reese Donahue, (Jr.)

NT: 40 Kenny Bigelow, (Sr.), 56 Darius Stills, (So.)

DE: 12 Jabril Robinson, (r-Sr.), 55 Dante Stills, (Fr.)

SAM LB: 9 JoVanni Stewart, (Jr.), 17 Exree Loe, (r-Fr.)

MIKE LB: 10 Dylan Tonkery, (r-So.), 34 Shea Campbell, (r-Jr.)

WILL LB: 11 David Long, Jr. (r-Jr.), 35 Josh Chandler, (Fr.)

SPUR: 6 Dravon Askew-Henry, (r-Sr.), 26 Deamonte Lindsay, (r-Jr.)

BS: 16 Toyous Avery, (r-Sr.), 39 Dante Bonamico, (r-So.)

FS: 2 Kenny Robinson, (So.), 29 Sean Mahone, (r-So.)

LCB: 28 Keith Washington, (r-Jr.), 24 Hakeem Bailey, (r-Jr.)

RCB: 4 Josh Norwood, (Jr.), 1 Derrek Pitts, (So.)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

K: 30 Evan Staley (r-So.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-So.)

P: 15 Billy Kinney, (r-Sr.), 30 Evan Staley, (r-So.)

LS: 64 Rex Sunahara, (r-Jr.), 51 Kyle Poland, (r-So.)

H: 15 Billy Kinney, (r-Sr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-So.)

KO: 30 Evan Staley, (r-So.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-So.)

PR: 8 Marcus Simms (Jr.), 13 David Sills, V, (Sr.)

KOR: 8 Marcus Simms (Jr.) 12 Gary Jennings, Jr., (Sr.)

NOTES:

--This year marks the 127th year of West Virginia football with the Mountaineers currently sitting in 14th place all-time in wins in college football.

--West Virginia is 14-14 in October under head coach Dana Holgorsen and 8-5 at home.

--West Virginia is 4-2 all-time against Baylor.

--Since 2000, West Virginia is 117-15 when scoring more than 30 points and 60-4 when scoring more than 40 points in a game.

--The Mountaineers are 84-11 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.

--In the Holgorsen era, WVU has produced 88 games with 300 or more yards, 68 games with 400 or more yards, 37 games with more than 500 yards and 18 with more than 600 yards.

--Under Holgorsen West Virginia has scored 30 or more points in 63 games, 40 or more points in 32 games, 50 or more points in 11 games and 60 or more points three times.

--West Virginia is just one of six power five teams to rank in the top 30 in scoring offense and scoring defense. The Mountaineers are 26th nationally at 36.8 points per game and 28th nationally allowing only 20.5 points per game.

--West Virginia is No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 7 nationally in third down conversion percentage by converting 50-percent (34/68) through four games.

--The 2018 roster consists of 122 players from 22 different states.

--A total of 25 players have seen their first on-the-field action at West Virginia: Jack Allison (QB), Charlie Benton (LB), Kenny Bigelow (DL), E.J. Brown (S), Joe Brown (OL), Leddie Brown (RB), Jacob Buccigrossi (OL), Shea Campbell (LB), Josh Chandler (LB), Zach Davis (OL), Isaiah Esdale (WR), Jovani Haskins (TE), Luke Hogan (K), Ricky Johns (WR), Exree Loe (LB), Rashon Lusane (S), Josh Norwood (CB), Jabril Robinson (DL), T.J. Simmons (WR), Alec Sinkfield (RB), Dante Stills (DL), Brenon Thrift (DL), Tyler Thurmond (OL), Keith Washington (CB), Brady Watson (RB)

--Coaching staff assignments: AHC/DC/LB Tony Gibson (field), OC/QB Jake Spavital (field), CB Doug Belk (press box), WR Tyron Carrier (field), S Matt Caponi (field), TE/FB Dan Gerberry (press box), RB Marquel Blackwell (field), LB/ST Mark Scott (press box), DL Bruce Tall (press box), OL Joe Wickline (field)

--West Virginia has run a total of 395 plays, 199 on the ground and 196 through the air. The rushing game has totaled 863 yards for an average of 4.3 yards per carry and six touchdowns. The passing game was accounted for 1,923 yards and 22 touchdowns. The offense is averaging 7.1 yards per play.

--West Virginia has gained 50 first downs by the run and 82 via the pass. The Mountaineers are averaging 143.8 yards per game on the ground and 320.5 through the air for 463.3 yards of total offense.

Injuries/Suspensions: Sophomore defensive back Derrek Pitts is likely out with a knee injury. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Charlie Benton will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a knee injury against Tennessee in the season opener. Senior linebacker Quondarius Qualls and redshirt sophomore linebacker Brendan Ferns are out for some time with ACL injuries sustained in the spring but are expected to return at some point this season. Redshirt sophomore cornerback Jake Long will be out for an unspecified amount of time with a broken wrist but also is expected to return. Two true freshmen in tight end Mike O’Laughlin (ACL) and Dillon Spalding (ankle) will miss the entire 2018 season after undergoing surgery.

POINTS TO CLICK:

--Get back on track. West Virginia is coming off a very disappointing 30-14 loss on the road to Iowa State but after a bye week and plenty of time to think it over the Mountaineers will have a chance to come out and show that was just a blip on the radar by putting together a strong performance at home against Baylor. This won’t be a cakewalk however, as the Bears have proven to be a much-improved club in 2018 but the Mountaineers will need to get off to a fast-start and erase any doubt that could have been established after that listless performance in Ames.

--Win the red zone. This one isn’t going to be easy as Baylor is one of the best teams nationally on both sides of the ball in these categories. West Virginia is going to have to buckle up on the defensive end to prevent the Bears from using the running ability of quarterback Charlie Brewer as well as his tall weapons at wide receiver to covert those opportunities into points. A week after only making it into the red zone once the entire game, the Mountaineers will now square off against an opponent that has only given up a total of eight touchdowns all season in that area. West Virginia can’t afford to kick field goals after putting together productive drives and must win that area.

--Run the ball when it’s needed. West Virginia has struggled to establish the run at times this season and especially has had some difficulties when given light boxes. That has especially been the truth the past two weeks and if Baylor elects to drop back in coverage, the offensive line and backs have to be able to make opponents pay that do that.

--Contain Brewer. This Baylor team relies a lot on what its sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer can do with both his arm and his leg and West Virginia has to be able to do a better job against him than they did against Brock Purdy the week before at Iowa State. Brewer can do a lot of different things with his scrambling ability to keep plays alive and has a bunch of wide receivers to target. Keeping him from deciding the game will be in the best interest of the Mountaineers.

--Special teams. Just go ahead and take out a space for this point every week, because it’s going to be there. Special teams have been much improved this season but it’s always a factor in determining the outcome of games and the Mountaineers will need to continue to play well there.

--Turnovers. West Virginia is 84-11 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle which is a very telling sign. The Mountaineers will need to take care of the football if they want to win this game and turnovers has been a problem of late for the offense.

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