Numbers and Notes: West Virginia football 2023 season
West Virginia closed the season going 9-4 in the fifth year under Neal Brown.
WVSports.com takes a look at some of the advanced statistics to get a snapshot of the season and what to expect moving forward.
Rivals.com has partnered with PPF and we look at some of their data to review the game and different position groups.
PASSING:
--Redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Greene completed 31 big-time throws, which is a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window. That total places him tied for fourth in the nation and tops in the Big 12 Conference. A total of 10.2% of his completions were big-time throws.
--Greene was at 8.6 yards per attempt and had an average depth of target of 13.5.
--Greene completed 32-69 passes over 20+ yards down the field for 1,179 yards with 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. A total of 75 percent of his touchdown passes came on throws over 20+ yards down the field.
--A total of 19 of those completions became down the deep center of the field, while only 3-14 were completed deep left of the field.
--Greene was blitzed on 37.5 percent of his 323 dropbacks and completed 54-108 passes for 1,014 yards with 5 touchdowns and 1 interception.
--West Virginia dialed up play action on 40.9 percent of dropbacks and Greene completed 61-117 passes for 1,170 yards and 9 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.
--Greene was effective in the screen game completing 36-41 attempts for 235 yards.
--Greene only threw the ball away 7 times and had on average 2.91 seconds to throw.
--A total of 116 of the 147 completions traveled for first downs.
--Greene had an adjusted completion percentage of 62.8 percent when you factor in 17 of his catchable passes that were considered drops.
--Redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol completed just 30-53 passes but his yards per attempt dropped to 4.5. He completed just 1-9 passes over 20+ yards with a pick.
RUSHING:
--West Virginia forced a total of 117 missed tackles with redshirt freshman Jaheim White leading the way with 32 on the year.
--The Mountaineers had a total of 96 runs over 10+ yards, significantly more than the 55 that the offense had last season. Greene led the way with 30 while White had 29.
--A total of 1,708 of the 3,306 yards came after contact.
--True freshman Jaheim White averaged 7.7 yards per carry. He averaged 3.72 yards after contact and rushed for 842 yards.
--Redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Greene finished with 773 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. That scoring total is the most from a quarterback since 2007 and tied for the 10th most all-time in a single season.
--A total of 361 of Greene's rushing yards came on scrambles.
--West Virginia had only one 50+ yard run all season.
RECEIVING:
--Kole Taylor led West Virginia in receptions with 35 on a team leading 60 targets.
--Devin Carter led West Virginia wide receivers in targets with 57 but hauled in only 27 of those for 501 yards and 2 touchdowns. A total of 4 of the 7 passing interceptions were thrown while targeting Carter this season.
--The pass catchers made just 20 of 56 contested catches this season. Carter led the way with 5, while tight end Kole Taylor had 4. However, Hudson Clement was the most successful hauling in 3 of his 4 attempts.
--A total of 986 of the 2,659 receiving yards came after the catch. Kole Taylor led the way with 197 yards.
--Hudson Clement and Kole Taylor tied with 4 touchdown catches each. Clement finished second in total yards with 480.
--West Virginia targeted the tight end position 58 times for 451 yards and 4 touchdowns during the regular season and well surpassed the 15 catches for 153 yards last season on 24 targets as the spot was a much bigger part of the offense.
--West Virginia only targeted the running back 31 total times resulting in 20 catches for 220 yards.
--West Virginia pass catchers forced just 23 missed tackles. Kole Taylor led the way with 6 on the season.
--The pass catchers had a total of 22 drops.
BLOCKING:
--The offensive line was charged with allowing only 2 sacks for the entire season.
--The Mountaineers offensive line allowed only 55 pressures, 42 hurries and 11 hits.
--West Virginia kept Greene clean on 74.0-percent of his dropbacks. That boils down to 239 where he completed 128-220 for 1,969 yards 11 scores and 3 picks.
--West Virginia rushed for over 200+ yards eight times on the season.
--West Virginia averaged over 5.0 yards per carry in each gap outside the left tackle at 43.7 (42-155 yards, 5 touchdowns) and right end 4.6 (73-334 yards, 4 touchdowns).
--The Mountaineers had the most success rushing behind the right guard with 49 carries for 355 yards, an average of 7.2 per tote and a touchdown. Also the left end was highly productive with 102 carries for 646 yards for an average of 6.3 per tote and a team-high 8 touchdowns. A total of 21 of the 90+ 10 yard runs came in this spot.
--The Mountaineers were penalized 43 times, although 5 were declined.
DEFENSE:
--On 479 passing drop backs by opponents, West Virginia blitzed 191 times or 40-percent. On those snaps teams completed 95-170 for 1,233 yards and 17 touchdowns and two interceptions on the season.
--West Virginia missed a total of 132 tackles or 10.15 per game. Anthony Wilson missed the most with 17 and Aubrey Burks was second with 15.
--Redshirt junior defensive end Sean Martin led the team with 19 hurries. He finished second with 7 hits while also recording a pair of sacks.
--Senior linebacker Lee Kpogba led the team with 42 stops or a tackle that constitutes a failure for the offense.
--West Virginia recorded a total of 41 pass breakups and 11 interceptions. Redshirt senior cornerback Beanie Bishop led the way in both with 4 interceptions and 14 pass breakups on the year.
--In coverage Bishop allowed 48 of 88 passes to be completed for 646 yards. He allowed 5 touchdowns to go along with his 4 interceptions and 14 PBUs.
--Redshirt senior cornerback Malachi Ruffin permitted just 42.6-percent of passes thrown in his coverage to be completed. That's 23 of 54 for 269 yards while allowing 3 touchdowns but recording an interception and 7 pass breakups.
--A total of 1,378 of the 3,078 receiving yards put up by opponents came after the catch.
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