Season Review: West Virginia's 2023 Offense
West Virginia finished the season with a 9-4 record and a win in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. The Mountaineers finished 6-3 in Big 12 Play and 3-1 outside of the league, including the win over North Carolina in Charlotte.
The Mountaineers returned some key pieces on that side of the ball from the previous year but had a new offensive coordinator in Chad Scott although head coach Neal Brown was the one still calling the plays for the offense.
It was a significant step forward for the offense and the best under Brown to date.
Points Per Game ... 31.5 (38th NCAA)
Total Offense ... 434.6 (27th NCAA)
Rushing YPG ... 228.9 (3rd NCAA)
Rushing YPC ... 5.3 (26th NCAA)
Passing YPG ... 205.7 (89th NCAA)
Passing YPC ... 15.02 (5th NCAA)
--West Virginia boasted one of the nation's best offenses over the final eight games of the season ranking inside the top 40 in almost every critical category. This was a football team that ran the ball first behind a veteran offensive line, but was able to create plays down the field in the passing game.
3rd down conversions ... 40% (61st NCAA)
Sacks allowed ... 10 (3rd NCAA)
Tackles for loss allowed ... 62 (31st)
Red zone scoring ... 84.5% (68th NCAA)
Red zone TD rate ... 60% (53rd NCAA)
Turnovers ... 14 (27th NCAA)
Best Game
Cincinnati. West Virginia saved their best for the Bearcats when the offense rolled up 664 yards of total offense, a high-mark since Brown inherited the program and averaged a ridiculous 9.8 yards per play in the process. The Mountaineers won the game 42-21 but it truly wasn't even that close with the way the offense was hitting on all cylinders. In the game, West Virginia rushed for 424 yards another high-mark for the offense.
Worst Game
Oklahoma. Not counting the bowl game, West Virginia rolled up at least 450 total yards in all but one of the seven games of the season with that being the matchup with the Sooners. Yes, I could have picked one of the games earlier in the year with a backup quarterback atop the offense but looking at the entire offense in-tact this game stands out. It's not that the Mountaineers were terrible, but they were outclassed in almost every way scoring just 20 points and mustering only 334 yards.
Offensive MVP
Garrett Greene. I'm not sure you could truthfully pick anybody else and keep a straight face. Greene was the engine to this offense and put together a strong campaign where he threw for 2,406 yards and 16 touchdowns against just 4 interceptions while rushing for 772 more yards and 13 scores. Greene was the leader on the offensive side of the ball and did a much better job limiting mistakes while commanding the attack. The fact he can return for another year is a major bonus for West Virginia.
Biggest Surprise
Jaheim White. It's not that I didn't expect White to make the most of his opportunities when on the field, it's how much of a part of the offense he eventually became. The true freshman saw limited snaps through the first half of the year, but ended the season as the team's leading rusher with 842 yards and 4 touchdowns while averaging 7.7 per carry. He also was effective as a pass catcher when used. The arrow is pointing up.
Biggest Disappointment
The veteran wide receivers. West Virginia came into the season with several veterans on the roster that looked to carve out a role in that room in Cortez Braham and Jeremiah Aaron. But the duo combined for just 4 catches for 25 yards before electing to self-redshirt after four games so they could enter the transfer portal. That forced younger wide receivers into the mix and while that move will pay off long term, the fact that those two never made any sort of mark was a let down early on in the year.
The Good
--The offensive line. West Virginia made it no secret that the offensive line held the key's to success on that side of the ball and they much more often than not delivered. West Virginia was one of the nation's top rushing attacks and the offensive line gave up only a total of 10 sacks on the entire season. Even when there were injuries up front, position coach Matt Moore was able to shuffle the deck around and the group kept performing.
--Maturation of Greene. While interesting at times last year, Greene made the leap to becoming a difference maker in 2023 as the signal caller for this team. He took much better care of the football and understood his role as a leader and playmaker.
--The deep ball. Greene was third in the country in big time throws with 31 and completed 46-percent of his passes over 20+ yards for 1,179 yards and 12 touchdowns. That is 75-percent of his scoring tosses on the season. The Mountaineers averaged over 15 yards per completion and the deep ball was a big part of that.
--The young wide receivers. West Virginia was forced to throw several freshmen into the mix at wide receiver such as Traylon Ray, Hudson Clement and Rodney Gallagher but that should pay off into the future. All three made significant plays at different points in the season and will each have three years of eligibility remaining.
--Kole Taylor. The LSU transfer came into West Virginia with limited statistics during his time in Baton Rouge but responded by leading the Mountaineers in catches with 35 for 444 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was effective as a pass catcher at all levels and is the first tight end to lead West Virginia in catches since the 1980's.
--Turnovers and penalties. This one goes without saying as it was one of the biggest improvements on the entire roster especially in procedural miscues.
What Must Improve
--The intermediate passing game. For as good as Greene was at delivering the ball down the field, the one area that must improve is the intermediate game. Greene only completed 52-percent of his passes and big part of that was missing the layups.
--Breaking tackles. For as good as this offense was at times, one area it struggled was to create yardage on its own. Jahiem White led the ball carriers with 32 and Greene recorded 29 but if you take those two out that group only managed to break 54 combined. That number needs to improve to create more big plays that were blocked. The same is true in the passing game where Kole Taylor forced the most missed tackles out of the entire group.
--More consistency at wide receiver. Several different players took turns here at various points of the season and by the end of the year Traylon Ray and Hudson Clement looked like they were ready to take the next step. But they must find consistency there.
--Touchdowns in the red zone. It's not that West Virginia was bad here, but they've got to be able to finish drives with six points instead of settling for field goals.
Grades for Each Position
QB: A-
RB: B
WR: C
TE: B-
OL: A
Key Departures
OL Zach Frazier, OL Doug Nester, WR Devin Carter
West Virginia doesn't lose a ton from this past year's roster but the two offensive line departures will be especially impactful. It's simply hard to replace somebody the caliber of Zach Frazier with what he gave the Mountaineers at center and Doug Nester has been a steady contributor throughout his career.
Key Arrivals
WR Jaden Bray, OL Xavier Bausley
Way-too-early WVSports.com Projected Depth Chart
QB: Garrett Greene
Nicco Marchiol
RB: Jahiem White
CJ Donaldson
WR: Traylon Ray
Hudson Clement
WR: Jaden Bray
EJ Horton
WR: Rodney Gallagher
Preston Fox
TE: Kole Taylor
Treylan Davis
LT: Wyatt Milum
Johnny Williams
LG: Tomas Rimac
Sully Weidman
C: Brandon Yates
Laden Livingston
RG: Ja'Quay Hubbard
Sully Weidman
RT: Xavier Bausley
Nick Malone
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