West Virginia won their second consecutive road game at Cincinnati 31-24 and moved to 5-4 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 2-4 passes over 20+ yards in the air for 88 yards and an interception.
--Marchiol completed only 1-3 passes over 10-20 yards for 10 yards and a touchdown.
--That means 6 of his 9 completions were under 10 yards for 58 total yards.
--Marchiol was under pressure only only 3 drop backs but did not record a pass. Against the blitz on 5 dropbacks, he completed 2-3 passes for 48 yards and a score.
--In play-action situations, Marchiol was 5-6 for 53 yards and a score. He was 4-4 for 43 yards in screen situations against the Bearcats.
--Marchiol did not have a pass dropped in this game.
RUSHING:
--Out of the 97 rushing yards, a total of 84 came after contact for an average of 3.36 yards after contact per attempt.
--West Virginia ball carriers forced 5 missed tackles, with Nicco Marchiol leading the way with 3 followed by Jahiem White.
--West Virginia had only 3 runs over 10+ yards, with the long being 16.
--Of the 27 total rushing yards by Marchiol, 16 came off scrambles and 11 off designs.
--The 92 rushing yards snaps a streak of 11 consecutive losses that the program had when not hitting the century mark dating back to 2020.
RECEIVING:
--West Virginia targeted the tight end 5 times for 5 catches for 30 yards. Through eight games, the Mountaineers have now connected with the position 34 times for 394 yards and two touchdowns with Kole Taylor accounting for all but 57 of those yards and both of the touchdowns.
--The Mountaineers completed just one pass to the running back but it traveled for 28 yards to Jahiem White.
--Justin Robinson caught both of his targets for 60 yards and a touchdown. The Mountaineers completed just one other pass to wide receiver which was a 38-yard strike to Traylon Ray.
--West Virginia had one attempt at a contested catch but did not come down with it. That play also coincidentally resulted in the lone turnover.
--With only 9 catches in total, the Mountaineers were at 17.3 per reception.
--A total of 79 of the 156 yards came after the catch.
BLOCKING:
--West Virginia allowed Marchiol a total of 3.49 seconds to throw the football and kept him clean on 18 of 21 total dropbacks or 85.4-percent.
--West Virginia had the most success running off the left end (6-38) and in the gap between the center and right guard (3-21-1). Only a total of four runs resulted in a first down for West Virginia in this game.
--Wyatt Milum led the way in pass blocking with a grade of 87.7 across 21 snaps.
--Brandon Yates led the way in run blocking across 22 snaps at 75.4.
DEFENSE:
--West Virginia blitzed 8 times on 44 dropbacks and Cincinnati completed 4-7 passes for 37 yards and an interception. On the season, the Mountaineers have now blitzed 87 times on 302 dropbacks.
--West Virginia missed a total of 14 tackles.
--The Mountaineers had two defensive touchdowns for the first time since 2013.
--Garnett Hollis allowed 5-8 passes in his coverage to be completed for 116 yards and a touchdown. Dontez Fagan allowed 3-3 passes for 18 yards.
--Anthony Wilson allowed 4-5 passes in his coverage to be completed for 46 yards but recorded an interception for a touchdown.
--Garnett Hollis recorded the only pass breakup for West Virginia.
--Sean Martin played 60 of 80 snaps and recorded 3 tackles and a sack.
-- Fatorma Mulbah's 13 tackles were the most by a Mountaineer defensive lineman in over a decade.
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