Game Preview: WVU vs. TCU

No. 12/13 West Virginia (5-0, 2-0) will look to remain unbeaten by doing something they haven’t done since joining the Big 12 Conference in knocking off TCU (4-2, 2-1) in Morgantown.

West Virginia has lost the previous two meetings inside Milan Puskar Stadium to the Horned Frogs 39-38 in double overtime in 2012 and then 31-30 in 2014. This year the Mountaineers will look to reverse that trend as the team is currently one of only two unbeaten schools in the Big 12 Conference.

The two teams have been linked since joining the Big 12 together in 2012 and have squared off in close contests in three of the four meetings to date. The only exception being last season’s 40-10 TCU win.

West Virginia is coming off its most complete performance of the season in a 48-17 win over Texas Tech on the road in Lubbock as the offense piled up 650 total yards and the defense held the potenent Red Raiders offense 280 yards and 38 points below its season averages. The Mountaineers will now face another difficult task in the Horned Frogs.

The Horned Frogs are led by Gary Patterson who is in his 16th season atop the program amassing a career 147-49 record during his tenure in Fort Worth. Patterson is the winningest coach in the history of the school leading TCU to ten wins in 10 of the last 14 years as well as a total of eight conference titles and 13 bowl games during his time atop the program.

TCU is in year two with co-offensive coordinators Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham as the Horned Frogs offense has transitioned to an up-tempo spread attack. TCU is averaging 40.2 points and 530 yards of total offense per game with former Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill running the offense.

Hill, a junior, has thrown for 2,142 yards with 12 touchdowns through six games but also has tossed eight interceptions. A threat on the ground both running and keeping plays alive, Hill is second on the Horned Frogs in rushing with 206 yards and seven more touchdowns.

Junior Kyle Hicks is the primary ball carrier for TCU with 479 yards and seven touchdowns while he is averaging a total of 5.6 yards per carry. On the season he has eclipsed the 100-yard mark twice.

The wide receiver group is led by junior college transfer Taj Williams, a deep threat that has 506 yards on 25 catches, good for 20 yards per catch and four touchdowns. A total of eight wide receivers have caught at least ten passes on the season as the Horned Frogs spread the football around.

Under Patterson the strength of the Horned Frogs has been their defense but this season the unit has had its issues at times allowing 30 points per game and 423 yards per contest. Still the 4-2-5 is fundamentally sound and has been one of the premier defensive groups over the last decade in college football.

The unit is led by linebackers Ty Summers and Travin Howard, who rank as two of the top tacklers in the entire Big 12 Conference.

The Mountaineers will be looking to push their record to 6-0 for the first time since 2006 season.

The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

West Virginia Depth Chart:

OFFENSE:

QB - 3 Skyler Howard (Sr), 11 Chris Chugunov (r-Fr), 16 William Crest (r-So)

FB – 28 Elijah Wellman (r-Jr), 47 Michael Ferns (r-So)

RB – 7 Rushel Shell (r-Sr), 25 Justin Crawford (Jr), 4 Kennedy McKoy (Fr)

WR (X) - 1 Shelton Gibson (r-Jr), 12 Gary Jennings (So)

WR (Z) – 2 Ka’Raun White (Jr), 82 Devonte Mathis (r-Sr)

IR (Y) - 6 Daikiel Shorts (Sr), 5 Jovon Durante (So)

LT - 57 Adam Pankey (r-Sr), 74 Sylvester Townes (r-Sr)

LG – 70 Tony Matteo (r-Sr), 71 Rob Dowdy (r-Fr)

C - 65 Tyler Orlosky (r-Sr), 79 Matt Jones (r-Fr)

RG - 62 Kyle Bosch (r-Jr), 56 Grant Lingafelter (r-Jr)

RT - 53 Colton McKivitz (r-Fr), 77 Marcell Lazard (r-Jr.)

DEFENSE:

DE - 97 Noble Nwachukwu (r-Sr), 88 Adam Shuler (r-Fr)

NT - 49 Darrien Howard (Sr), 67 Alec Shriner (r-Fr)

DE - 95 Christian Brown (r-Sr), 92 Jon Lewis (r-Jr)

SAM – 30 Justin Arndt (r-Sr), 5 Xavier Preston (Jr)

MIKE - 3 Al-Rasheed Benton (r-Sr), 44 Hodari Christian (r-Jr)

WILL – 11 David Long (r-Fr), 27 Sean Walters (r-Sr)

CB – 19 Elijah Battle (Jr), 1 Antonio Crawford (r-Sr)

FS – 2 Jeremy Tyler (Sr), 16 Toyous Avery (r-So)

SPUR – 8 Kyzir White (Jr), 18 Marvin Gross, Jr. (r-Jr)

BS - 22 Jarrod Harper (r-Sr), 7 Khairi Shariff (r-Sr)

CB – 13 Rasul Douglas (r-Sr), 24 Maurice Fleming (r-Sr), 14 Nana Kyeremeh (r-Sr)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

PK - 48 Mike Molina (r-Jr), 80 Jonn Young (Fr)

P - 15 Billy Kinney (r-So), 80 Jonn Young (Fr)

LS -46 Nick Meadows (r-Jr), 43 R.C. Brunstetter (r-So)

H – 15 Billy Kinney (r-So), 80 Jonn Young (Fr)

KO - 48 Mike Molina (r-Jr), 15 Billy Kinney (r-So)

PR - 12 Gary Jennings (So)

KR - 1 Shelton Gibson (r-Jr), 12 Gary Jennings (So)

Notes:

--Coaching assignments for this season include: DC/LB Tony Gibson (field), OC/TE-FB Joe Wickline (press box), CB Blue Adams (field), WR Tyron Carrier (field), S Matt Caponi (field), OL Ron Crook (field), D/ST Mark Scott (press box), RB JaJuan Seider (field), DL Bruce Tall (field)

--West Virginia has won six games in a row and 10 of its last 11 dating back to November 2015.

--West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen is 1-3 against TCU head coach Gary Patterson. TCU has won both meetings in Morgantown as Big 12 Conference members by a combined total of two points.

--A total of 25 players have seen their first WVU action this season: CB Jordan Adams, S Toyous Avery, CB Elijah Battle, QB Chris Chugunov, CB Antonio Crawford, RB Justin Crawford, CB Mike Daniels, OL Rob Dowdy, FB Michael Ferns, CB Maurice Fleiming, DE Reese Donahue, LB Adam Hensley, P Billy Kinney, LB David Long, OL Colton McKivitz, RB Kennedy McKoy, LB Zach Sandwisch, DL Alec Shriner, DE Adam Shuler, WR Marcus Simms, WR Steven Smothers, S JoVanni Stewart, S Kyzir White, TE Trevon Wesco, TE Stone Wolfley.

--The 2016 roster consists of 120 players from 15 different states.

--There are 34 juniors and seniors on the West Virginia depth chart.

--The West Virginia offensive rosters includes 13 players that have started at least one game. The offensive roster consists of 19 true freshmen, eight redshirt freshmen, three sophomores, seven redshirt sophomores, one junior, eight redshirt juniors, two seniors and six redshirt seniors.

--Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the season the Mountaineers have run a total of 392 plays, 210 on the ground and 182 through the air. The rushing game has totaled 1081 yards for an average of 5.1 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns. The passing attack has totaled 1590 yards for an average of 13.4 yards per completion and eight touchdowns.

--The West Virginia offense has gained 48 first downs via the run and 73 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 216.2 yards per game on the ground, 318 yards per game passing.

--West Virginia has had ten touchdown drives of 80+ yards this season.

--The West Virginia defensive roster includes 6 players that have started at least one game. The West Virginia defensive rosters includes 20 true freshmen, 10 redshirt freshmen, one sophomore, three redshirt sophomores, nine juniors, four redshirt juniors, two seniors and 10 redshirt seniors.

--The West Virginia defense had held Big 12 opponents to under 50-percent on third down conversions in 22 consecutive games, a streak that dated back to 2013. That was snapped against Texas Tech.

--West Virginia has 14 senior starters on its depth chart and 20 seniors on its two deep, the most in the Big 12 Conference.

--The Mountaineers are No. 14 all-time in college football winning percentage.

--Since 2000, West Virginia is 104-13 when scoring 30 or more points in a contest.

Injuries/Suspensions: West Virginia running backs junior Justin Crawford and freshman Kennedy McKoy were injured against Texas Tech but are both expected to play this weekend against TCU. West Virginia junior free safety Dravon Askew-Henry is out for the season with an ACL injury same can be said for redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste. Freshman linebacker Brendan Ferns is also out for the season with an ACL injury. Freshman cornerback Jake Long is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Redshirt sophomore Jaleel Fields is out for the season with a knee injury. Redshirt junior Xavier Pegues is out until late October with a shoulder injury.

Redshirts: West Virginia has played true freshmen running back Kennedy McKoy, defensive end Reese Donahue, SAM linebacker Zach Sandwisch and WILL linebacker Adam Hensley, wide receiver Marcus Simms, wide receiver Steven Smothers and safety JoVanni Stewart to this point.

Points to Click:

Play the odds and take what’s there. To date this hasn’t been your typical TCU defense. The unit is allowing 30 points and 423 yard per game and has been susceptible to some big plays this season. Overall, the Horned Frogs defense ranks 84th in total defense and 85th in scoring defense, so there should be opportunities for West Virginia to move the football against this unit. The one thing that West Virginia has exceled at to date has been taking what the defense has given them and striking balance. That needs to happen again as the Mountaineers should have a chance to put up some points.

Use the crowd, don’t get tight. West Virginia has played well in its 5-0 start but is coming off its most complete game of the season by far against Texas Tech. Last time out on Mountaineer Field, West Virginia looked tight at times and started slow against Kansas State. That won’t be as easy to come back if West Virginia falls behind a high-powered TCU offense that has shown it can score with anybody. The Mountaineers will be at home and should be able to feed off the energy of a sellout crowd.

Frustrate Hill. Junior Kenny Hill is the key cog to the TCU offense and while he has put together a solid season has had times where he has struggled. Although he’s completing 63-percent of his passes, Hill has tossed eight interceptions to date and there could be opportunities there for the defense. The West Virginia defense has been one of the bigger surprises with this team and expect the Mountaineers to disguise their blitzes and try to confuse Hill much like they have the past two weeks.

Get lined up and go. The TCU offense is a high-octane attack that wants to snap the football quickly and attack opposing defenses. Much like it was against Texas Tech, getting lined up pre-snap and in the right position will be very important to avoid big plays from the Horned Frogs. TCU is currently the nation’s No. 16 scoring offense and want to get as many snaps as possible. Fortunately for the Mountaineers they are used to tempo going against their own offense but getting lined up and set is key.

Win third down. Against Texas Tech a streak that dated back to 2013 was snapped when West Virginia allowed a team to convert over 50-percent on third down for the first time in 22 Big 12 Conference games. TCU also is very effective in this department converting 48-percent of their attempts. Like it was against the Red Raiders keeping the Horned Frogs from converting on third down will keep the offense on the sidelines and it will become even more critical in the red zone. The same can be said for the West Virginia offense when it comes to moving the chains and keeping drives alive. The team that kicks field goals typically doesn’t walk away in Big 12 games as the winner.

Score touchdowns in the red zone: West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen has said that the Mountaineers are shooting for at least a 50-percent touchdown rate in the red zone. It’s been a mixed bag to date, but West Virginia is coming off its best performance of the season in that area against Texas Tech scoring touchdowns on six of eight trips inside the 20-yard line. A major improvement over some of the numbers earlier in the year. TCU has the ability to score points in bunches much like many of the other teams in this league and coming away with six instead of three when the Mountaineers move the ball into the red zone will continue to be key for the rate of success in this game.

Turnovers: This is an area that goes without saying as turnovers both avoiding them on offense as well as forcing them on the defensive side play a giant role in deciding the overall outcome of games. TCU has had an issue in this department so far this season ranking 73rd nationally in turnover margin, while West Virginia has been the better of the two. This game could come down to taking advantage of team’s mistakes and the Horned Frogs have shown the ability to be loose with the ball.