WVU Football Superlatives for the 2023 regular season
West Virginia wrapped up the regular season 8-4 and WVSports.com staff members Keenan Cummings and Zach Anderson hand out some superlatives from the year.
Football Superlatives:
Most Valuable Player:
ZA: For me, the most valuable player for this year's team is pretty simple and it's quarterback Garrett Greene. Head coach Neal Brown reinforced the fact that this junior signal caller from Florida was the driving force in many of their wins and losses and he even said that having Greene gave his team a chance in every game.
This is backed up by a strong breakout season for Greene, which includes him grading out seventh best amongst Power 5 quarterbacks according to PFF. This signal caller also broke records along the way to finish with 2,178 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns along with another 747 yards rushing and 13 scores on the ground in the regular season. Greene led WVU resurgence to an 8-4 record and for next season, he said he's not going anywhere.
"Anybody can call me and I'm not leaving," Greene said.
KC: Garrett Greene in a runaway to me. Greene came into the season as a bonafide question mark on this roster, but exited the season as perhaps one of the top quarterbacks set to return in the Big 12 Conference next season. Greene has always been dynamic rushing the ball and proved that again with 13 scores and almost 800 yards, but it was his development as a passer that helped the offense churn along. He tossed for over 2,000 yards and 15 scores and the scary thing is there is plenty of room for him to improve heading into the future. If Greene makes even more leaps this off-season in his fundamentals throwing the football the sky is the limit here. This team was entirely different with Greene leading the offense and that's a testament to him.
Best Lineman:
ZA: With all of his accolades with the grit and determination he showed for his home-state team this season, it's impossible to not choose Zach Frazier as WVU's best lineman in 2023. Although many players on the defensive and especially on the offensive front had strong years, Frazier has developed into an NFL-level prospect in just two seasons, and he was awarded at the end of this season, his second-straight All-Big 12 First Team Honor.
Last season, Frazier was nominated as an All-American and in 2023 he led West Virginia to third nationally in rushing yards and to 27th in total offensive yards. Looking back at just the regular-season finale, Frazier put his body on the line for his team, and to Brown this embodies the hard-working and highly intelligent player that he is. Now after leaving the Mountaineers, I expect Frazier to be a second-day pick at this year's NFL Draft and continue to represent his home state.
KC: You can have some arguments for somebody else, but I'm not making them. Zach Frazier was the head of the snake to this West Virginia offensive line and played his role to perfection. Truthfully, you could give this award on emotion alone just by the way that Frazier closed on his career by quite literally pulling Hudson Clement for a first down and then managing to get off the field despite a serious injury to avoid a run-off.
Frazier was a man of few words who let his play on the field do the talking. He played over 3,200 snaps during his career and might have played some of his best football this season. A first-team all-Big 12 selection, Frazier was the engine for this offense.
Best Defender:
ZA: The best defender has to go to transfer cornerback Beanie Bishop and the magical performances he had this season. Although it was not a perfect season for the West Virginia defense, Bishop was a steady hand in the Mountaineers' success there, finishing with four interceptions, 59 tackles and 20 pass breakups in the regular season.
Bishop brought himself into the national spotlight with these performances, earning a semifinalist nomination for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given out each year to college football's best defender. Racking up the accolades, Bishop was also named All-Big 12 First Team and finished first among all Power 5 defenders with 17 forced incompletions.
KC: Lee Kpogba is the choice for me. Bishop is plenty deserving, but to me the depth situation behind Kpogba was even more dire than what the Mountaineers had at cornerback and he responded with a team-leading 85 tackles and 3 sacks.
Kpogba played in all 12 games and rarely left the field. He was asked to take on an even bigger role when Tray Lathan went down with an injury and displayed versatility throughout. Bishop is as close as possible here because many of these same things ring true for him as well, but I wonder where this team would have been without Kpogba at the linebacker spot this year given how things played out.
Best Win:
ZA: Although it wasn't a pretty game, the contest that came away with the best implications on the season for West Virginia was in its win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 16. With a 17-6 final, the Mountaineers definitely had more dominant performances later in the season but this one will stick out in nearly every fan's mind and it also sticks out in mine.
In the early season, this game was one of which WVU struggled mightily to move the ball, and Greene was taken out of the game due to injury as well. In the first of two games where this occurred, West Virginia beat its rival with a backup quarterback, Nicco Marchiol, while passing for less than 100 yards in a victory. This victory showed the grit this team had and this was a case of WVU just getting the job done against debatably, the most important opponent on its schedule.
KC: Pitt is the low-hanging fruit and it should be right near the top given the fact it was a rivalry game and this team was starved to win a game like that. But to me, the best win of the season was on the road at UCF. Why is that the pick, you ask?
Well, West Virginia had just lost consecutive games to fall to 4-3 on the season with a road trip to take on the Knights. The season could have completely gotten away from the Mountaineers with another loss and after a disappointing campaign the year prior, the threat of that was certainly real. Well, West Virginia left little doubt going on the road and beating UCF 41-28, the first time they had lost at home by double digits since 2016.
That win would propel the Mountaineers to a 3-1 finish on the season and allow the program a chance to build some momentum heading into the off-season.
Worst Loss:
ZA: This season's worst loss has to be the heart-breaking defeat against Houston and many people see this as a game that could have given WVU a chance at a Big 12 Championship appearance if this one went the other way, however it's hard to tell. The defense struggled in this contest and one unsportsmanlike conduct penalty changed the outcome of this game.
Many know that to reach the 41-39 final score, West Virginia scored a miraculous 50-yard touchdown with 12 seconds remaining but in its own miracle, the Houston Cougars, led by former WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen, took only two plays to go the length of the field and completed a hail mary as time expired to defeat the Mountaineers. West Virginia did everything right on the offensive side of the ball in this game, but the ball bounced the wrong way and derailed a chance at the title.
KC: Houston. It's not the way that West Virginia lost the game that bothers me so much, because truthfully the way things played out against Oklahoma State in the fourth quarter was worse. But it's the fact that the Mountaineers never should have been in that position to begin with considering the struggles that the Cougars had all year.
It was a listless effort in the first half of this game that allowed Houston to build some momentum and keep them in the game. While West Virginia would wake up, it was too little too late and the 49-yard Hail Mary ended up costing the program in the standings when it was all said and done. Had West Virginia just played to their standard in that contest, this team could be looking to get to 10-wins instead of 9.
It makes matters even worse that Houston decided to fire Dana Holgorsen after the year. There's no shame in losing at Penn State, at Oklahoma or even to a surging Oklahoma State team at home - but there was no excuse for that Houston loss.
Best Newcomers:
ZA: According to PFF, running back Jahiem White graded out as one of the best five freshmen in the country and his splash this season was certainly unexpected. While not seeing the field much out of the first seven games of the season, White broke out against UCF to cement his spot in the running back with 85 yards and a touchdown. His role grew exponentially from there, finishing the regular season with 817 yards and three touchdowns, while becoming a fan-favorite along the way.
On defense, linebacker Ben Cutter took a new and unexpected role this season and thrived there, after being thrust into the lineup due to a season-ending injury to fellow linebacker Trey Lathan.
Cutter said during the season that he didn't expect this opportunity but that he was ready for it and Brown said he continued to improve with each game he started on the field. The freshman defender finished fourth on the team in tackles with 51 stops, six tackles for loss and two sacks which will cement his return to playing in the Mountaineers' front seven next season.
KC: For me, it's Kole Taylor. Taylor led West Virginia in receptions with 33, the first time that has happened at the tight end position since the 1980's. And his 411 yards were second on the team, while his 4 touchdowns were tied for the top mark. The Mountaineers made it a priority to find a tight end that could stretch the field and handle his responsibilities blocking, check mark for both of those areas.
Taylor was used all over the field and had an average depth of target of 9.9, while hauling in the longest pass at the position since 2018. Taylor had more than three times more production by himself than the entire position had in 2022 in a somewhat depressed passing attack. That deserves some recognition.
On defense, the answer to me is Beanie Bishop. An under-the-radar, experienced transfer add in the off-season, Bishop finished the year with 20 pass breakups and 4 interceptions while serving as a constant at the cornerback spot.
Bishop had a strong argument to be the best defensive player to me.
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