West Virginia held on to beat Arizona 31-26 and move to 4-4 on the season. WVSports.com takes a look at some of the advanced statistics to get a snapshot of the game as well as the season 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 sophomore Nicco Marchiol completed 2-3 passes over 20+ yards for 78 yards and a touchdown. The one incompletion was recorded as a drop.
--From 10-20 yards, Marchiol was 2-2 for 20 yards and a touchdown. The rest of the 14 completions were 10 yards in the air or fewer.
--Marchiol was kept clean on 79.3-percent or 23 of his 29 dropbacks. On those plays, he was 16-19 for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns. When under pressure on 6 drop backs he was just 2-3 for 8 yards.
--Against the blitz, Marchiol was 3-3 for 18 yards.
--The sophomore had three passes with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.
--Marchiol was at 9.0 yards per attempt and had an average depth of target of 7.3 yards.
RUSHING:
--Out of the 195 rushing yards, a total of 85 came after contact for an average of 2.24 yards after contact per attempt.
--West Virginia ball carriers forced 11 missed tackles, with Jahiem White leading the way with 4.
--The 55-yard run by Jahiem White was the longest play from scrimmage this season for the West Virginia offense.
--The Mountaineers had three runs over 10+ yards.
--A total of six runs resulted in first downs.
RECEIVING:
--West Virginia targeted the tight end 5 times for 4 catches for 36 yards. Through eight games, the Mountaineers have now connected with the position 29 times for 364 yards and two touchdowns with Kole Taylor accounting for all but 57 of those yards and both of the touchdowns.
--The Mountaineers targeted the running back position six times resulting in five catches for 22 yards. A total of 9 of those came on the first down catch by Jaylen Anderson to effectively end the game.
--Justin Robinson caught all three of his targets for 28 yards. Two of those resulted in first downs for the offense and 26 of his yards were after the catch.
--Hudson Clement had only two targets but caught both for 20 yards and a score. He had the only contested catch on the team.
--Traylon Ray led the Mountaineers with 78 yards receiving and caught 2 of 3 balls thrown his way. His 54-yard touchdown catch is the longest of the season for the West Virginia offense.
--A total of 119 of the 198 yards passing game after the catch.
--The Mountaineers pass catchers forced a total of 3 missed tackles.
BLOCKING:
--West Virginia allowed Marchiol a total of 3.30 seconds to throw the football.
--The offensive line allowed a single sack and one hit on Marchiol. The Mountaineers allowed a total of 5 pressures in the game.
--Tomas Rimac led the way in pass blocking at 86.8 across 31 snaps, while Brandon Yates led the way in run blocking at just 54.5 on 35 snaps.
--The offensive line and tight ends were penalized five times.
--West Virginia had 57 yards on jet sweep runs to the right and 19 to the left.
--The Mountaineers had success at the end with 7 for 36 (5.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown off the left end and 2 for 13 (6.5 yards per carry) off the right end.
--Marchiol had 31 yards on 6 quarterback scrambles.
--The Mountaineers were at 4.0 yards per carry or less in all other gaps.
DEFENSE:
--West Virginia blitzed 8 times on 37 dropbacks and Arizona completed 4-7 passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. On the season, the Mountaineers have now blitzed 79 times on 258 dropbacks.
--The Mountaineers missed a total of 10 tackles.
--West Virginia had a total of 5 pass breakups with Garnett Hollis leading the way with 2.
--Linebacker Trey Lathan allowed all 3 passes thrown in his coverage to be completed for 87 yards and a touchdown. Safety Anthony Wilson allowed 3-4 passes to be completed for 55 yards and a touchdown.
--Cornerback Garnett Hollis allowed 4 of 6 passes to be completed for 60 yards. Cornerback Dontez Fagan allowed just 2 of 3 for 12 yards.
--A total of 103 of the 308 Arizona passing yards came after the catch.
--The Mountaineers recorded 21 stops or tackles that constitute a "failure" for the offense and defensive lineman TJ Jackson had 7 of those.
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