Game Preview: WVU vs. Virginia Tech
Series: WVU 28-22-1
Last meeting: 2005: WVU 17, VT 34
Television: 7:30 p.m. ABC, Steve Levy (play-by-play), Brian Griese (analyst), Todd McShay (sideline)
No. 20/22 West Virginia is set to rekindle a rivalry that has remained dormant for over a decade when the Mountaineers take on No. 22/21 Virginia Tech inside Fed-Ex Field Sunday night in front of a prime time audience.
It is the first meeting between the two teams since 2005 and will be the 52nd meeting all time between the two programs. The Black Diamond Trophy Game rivals played each other annually from 1973 until the stoppage in the series when the Hokies left the Big East Conference for the ACC.
West Virginia leads the all-time series between the two programs 28-22-1, but Virginia Tech has won the last two meetings played and seven of the last ten including giving the Mountaineers its only loss during the 2005 Sugar Bowl Championship campaign. The two programs have met at neutral locations six times, with West Virginia holding a 5-1 record in such games.
But while there is a lot of history between the two programs, this will represent the first meeting between the two current coaching staffs and players.
Head Coach Dana Holgorsen is entering his seventh season atop the West Virginia football program and has led the Mountaineers to a 46-31 mark during his time in Morgantown. Coming off a 10-3 campaign last season, West Virginia is appearing in the pre-season AP and Coaches Poll Top 25 for the first time since 2012.
The Mountaineers will look to build on an offense that finished 17th nationally in total offense at 485.5 yards per game and 50th in scoring at 31.2. Gone from the unit is quarterback Skyler Howard, but insert Florida transfer Will Grier who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. In six games with the Gators, Grier threw for 1,206 yards and 10 touchdowns leading Florida to a perfect start.
Grier has been praised for his pocket presence as well as his leadership ability and will be throwing the football to a cast of relatively unproven wide receivers led by senior Ka’Raun White who is the leading returning pass-catcher with 583 yards and five scores. Juniors David Sills and Gary Jennings are expected to play a major role in the wide receiver room as well with both putting together strong camps.
West Virginia returns three of its top four options in the backfield from a season ago led by senior Justin Crawford, who was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year a season ago. The leading returning rusher in the conference, Crawford amassed 1,184 yards and four touchdowns while averaging over seven yards per tote. The Mountaineers also return sophomores Kennedy McKoy (472 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Martell Pettaway (260 yards, 1 touchdown) as well as a pair of freshmen.
The Mountaineers offensive line is an experienced unit that received a boost with the return of redshirt junior Yodny Cajuste at left tackle after an ACL injury in the season opener a year ago. The rest of the group from left to right consists of redshirt senior Kyle Bosch at left guard, redshirt sophomore Matt Jones in the middle, flanked by redshirt senior Grant Lingafelter at right guard and finally redshirt sophomore Colton McKivitz at right tackle.
On the defensive side, coordinator Tony Gibson was faced with replacing eight starts from a unit that finished atop the Big 12 Conference a season ago but much like last year the replacements are not necessarily new faces. While many will be serving in first-time starter roles, the Mountaineers defense will feature a number of players that have played snaps in the past.
This will be Holgorsen’s first matchup against Virginia Tech during his tenure, as well as the initial against the head man on the other sideline as well in Hokies coach Justin Fuente.
Fuente is in his sixth season a head coach and second in Blacksburg after leading the Hokies to a 10-4 campaign a season ago and an appearance in the ACC Championship Game. His efforts were rewarded by being named the Consensus 201 ACC Coach of the Year, leading the Hokies to its first ten-win season since 2011 and the most wins ever by a first-year head coach in program history.
Prior to Virginia Tech, Fuente served as the head coach at Memphis where he engineered a turnaround of the Tigers football program during his four years on campus.
On the defensive side, longtime assistant Bud Foster is in his 30th year with the program where he has served as the defensive coordinator for the Hokies since 1995. Consistently one of the better units in college football, under Foster the Hokies are 93-1 when holding opponents under 10-points and have scored 68 defensive touchdowns during that time.
Among FBS rankings since 1996, the first year Foster took over the full-time coordinator role, the Hokies are ranked 1st in sacks, interceptions, third-down percentage and completion percentage while ranking inside the top ten in a number of other categories.
This year will be no different as Virginia Tech’s defense is considered the strength of the unit and returns a wealth of experience throughout the group. The defense returns at least nine players that started over ten games a season ago and boasts one of the more impressive secondary units in the nation, particularly at cornerback with three players that have extensive time on the field in senior Greg Stroman, junior Adonis Alexander and senior Brandon Facyson.
The Hokies also return a pair of linebackers that each recorded over 100 tackles last season in redshirt senior Andrew Motuapuaka and junior Tremaine Edmunds. The defensive line, while not the deepest position on the roster, also features some very talented players with imposing size.
While the defense is considered the Hokies strong suit, the offense will welcome a new quarterback in redshirt freshman Josh Jackson who will be taking over for Jerod Evans. Jackson is the first redshirt freshman to open the season for Virginia Tech since Tyrod Taylor did it in 2007 and it represents the second straight year that the Hokies will be using a first-time starter.
Along with replacing Evans, Virginia Tech has been tasked with finding replacements for two of their best pass catchers from a season ago in Isaiah Ford and Bucky Hodges, as well as some shuffling up front. On special teams, Virginia Tech has been recognized consistently as one of the better units in all of college football over the years and the Hokies have plenty of experience there as well.
Kickoff for the matchup between two old time rivals is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the home of the Washington Redskins and will be televised nationally by ABC.
West Virginia Depth Chart:
OFFENSE:
QB: 7 Will Grier, (r-Jr.), 11 Chris Chugunov, (r-So.)
RB: 25 Justin Crawford, (Sr.), 4 Kennedy McKoy, (So.) -or-, 32 Martell Pettaway, (So.) -or-, 14 Tevin Bush, (Fr.) -or-, 20 Alec Sinkfield, (Fr)
HB: 28 Elijah Wellman, (r-Sr.), 81 Trevon Wesco, (r-Jr.)
X WR: 13 David Sills, (Jr.), 10 Reggie Roberson, (Fr.)
Y/H WR: 12 Gary Jennings, (Jr.), 19 Druw Bowen, (r-Fr.)
Z WR: 2 Ka'Raun White, (r-Sr.), 85 Ricky Rogers, (r-Jr.)
LT: 55 Yodny Cajuste, (r-Jr.), 72 Kelby Wickline, (r-So.)
LG: 62 Kyle Bosch, (r-Sr.), 76 Chase Behrndt, (r-Fr.)
C: 79 Matt Jones, (r-So.), 58 Ray Raulerson, (r-Jr.)
RG: 56 Grant Lingafelter, (r-Sr.), 73 Josh Sills, (r-Fr.)
RT: 53 Colton McKivitz, (r-So.), 72 Kelby Wickline, (r-So.)
DEFENSE:
DE: 88 Adam Shuler, (r-So.), 92 Jon Lewis, (r-Sr.)
NT: 99 Xavier Pegues, (r-Sr.), 96 Jaleel Fields, (r-Jr.)
DE: 46 Reese Donahue, (So.), 93 Ezekiel Rose, (Jr.)
SAM LB: 5 Xavier Preston, (Sr.), 44 Hodari Christian, (r-Sr.)
MIKE LB: 3 Al-Rasheed Benton, (r-Sr.), 7 Brendan Ferns, (r-Fr.)
WILL LB: 10 Dylan Tonkery, (r-Fr.), 45 Adam Hensley, (So.)
SPUR: 8 Kyzir White, (Sr.), 18 Marvin Gross, (r-Sr.)
BS: 16 Toyous Avery, (r-Jr.), 1 Derrek Pitts, (Fr.)
FS: 6 Dravon Askew-Henry, (r-Jr.), 9 Jovanni Stewart, (So.)
LCB: 24 Hakeem Bailey, (r-So.), 19 Elijah Battle, (Sr.)
RCB: 4 Mike Daniels, (Sr.), 12 Corey Winfield, (r-Sr.)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: 48 Mike Molina, (r-Sr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-Fr.)
P: 15 Billy Kinney, (r-Jr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-Fr.)
LS: 52 Nick Meadows, (r-Sr.), 64 Rex Sunahara, (r-So.)
H: 15 Billy Kinney, (r-Jr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-Fr.)
KO: 30 Evan Staley, (r-Fr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-Fr.)
PR: 12 Gary Jennings, (Jr.), 13 David Sills, (Jr.)
KOR: 12 Gary Jennings, (Jr.), 6 Dravon Askew-Henry, (r-Jr.)
NOTES:
--This year marks the 126th year of West Virginia football with the Mountaineers currently sitting in 14th place all-time in wins in college football.
--West Virginia is 29-21 all-time in stadiums that also house a professional football team and 5-2 under head coach Dana Holgorsen. The Mountaineers are 2-0 at Fed-Ex Field defeating James Madison in 2012 and BYU last season.
--Since 2000, West Virginia is 107-13 when scoring more than 30 points and 55-4 when scoring more than 40 points in a game. West Virginia has won 11 straight games when scoring 30 points or more.
--The Mountaineers are 81-11 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.
--This represents only the fourth time that West Virginia and Virginia Tech have squared off has ranked opponents. The previous three times came from 1996-98, with West Virginia winning two of those.
--This will be the first time that the two teams meet on a Sunday.
--The 2017 roster consists of 121 players from 20 different states.
--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), RB Tony Dews (field), LB/ST Mark Scott (press box), DL Bruce Tall (press box), OL Joe Wickline (field)
--West Virginia is 20-16 since 2001 while wearing white jerseys and white pants.
Injuries/Suspensions: West Virginia will be without redshirt sophomore David Long for at least the opener against Virginia Tech as he recovers from an off-season knee injury. Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Jacob Buccigrossi also isn’t expected back until sometime later in the year after a torn ACL during the spring. As for suspensions, sophomore wide receiver Marcus Simms will not play against the Hokies after an arrest during fall camp for off the field issues.
POINTS TO CLICK:
--Win up front. In the game of football this almost goes without saying, but West Virginia is going to have to win on both sides of the ball in the trenches. On the defensive side, the Mountaineers are going to have to halt the Hokies running game in order to force a young quarterback into difficult situations where an array of pressures can be mixed into the picture; while offensively the unit will have to hold up an aggressive Virginia Tech defense in order to allow Grier the time to throw the football down the field. It isn't as easy as it sounds, but it has to be done.
--Win at quarterback. Redshirt junior Will Grier has only six starts to his credit, but with the Mountaineers depending on the former Florida transfer offensively the offense can not afford to let a player making his first career college pass in redshirt freshman Josh Jackson outperform him. The Mountaineers will have to win on early downs and put Jackson in difficult situations while allowing Grier the opportunity to do what he does best when it comes to leading an offense and highlighting what he can do by throwing the ball from the pocket. The two aren't competing against one another directly but if at the end of the day Jackson has had the better game, it likely won't be very good news for the Mountaineers.
--Win one-on-ones. Whether it's offensively or defensively, West Virginia is going to have to win battles where it is put in these situations. The Virginia Tech defense is notorious for being aggressive and playing press coverage meaning that the wide receivers are going to have to release and make plays when those situations crop up. That's obviously no easy task given how good the Hokies secondary is, but there should be opportunities for West Virginia to make things happen.
--Run the football. Grier has received a lot of attention, but this offense's bread and butter, at least coming into the year, is what it can do with its options in the backfield. West Virginia has six players that can take carries and if the Mountaineers are able to run the football effectively it opens up the playbook in a variety of ways. Expect West Virginia to attempt to tempo the Hokies, who while they have experience on defense, are not as deep as they've been in years past. That all starts with being able to effectively move the sticks and doing it on the ground is a back-breaker for a defense. This is especially true in the red zone.
--Turnovers. West Virginia is 81-11 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle which is a very telling sign. The Mountaineers will need to do just that against a Hokies defense that is known for creating turnovers and making offenses pay with their mistakes often turning them into points. This is a key factor every game but it will be especially important against a Virginia Tech team that thrives in that department much more often than not.
--Special teams. Same can be said here when it comes to winning in the realm of special teams. West Virginia has been up and down in this department over the past couple seasons, and will need to be sound in every area of this side of the ball.
