The West Virginia University football team has hit the two-thirds mark of its season, resting this weekend with a bye before visiting Cincinnati at noon Saturday. At 4-4, the Mountaineers’ campaign has seen its ups and downs. Here are some numbers that tell part of the story as to why WVU’s season has turned out as it has thus far.
– 49.5% – That’s how often WVU’s opponents have been successful in converting third and fourth downs this season. Foes have converted 44 of 95 third downs and 11 of 16 fourth downs. That means it’s nearly a literal coinflip whether West Virginia can stop an offense on those two downs, which tells you a lot about the defense’s struggles in 2024.
– 21 – How many plays 30 yards or longer the Mountaineers have allowed this season. That figure ties the Mountaineers for 115th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with five other teams. They’re also near the bottom of the FBS in 40-plus-yard plays allowed (tied for 129th with 14) and 50-plus-yard plays allowed (tied for 86th with five). The Mountaineers have been too much in the habit of giving up huge chunks of yards at a time.
– 38 – WVU’s ranking in rushing defense, a respectable 121.5 yards per game. West Virginia doesn’t give up a ton of yards on the ground, though that could be because of …
– 114 – WVU’s ranking in passing defense, allowing 261 yards per game. And it doesn’t take much for opponents to reach that mark. The Mountaineers are allowing 9.3 yards per attempt, second worst in the FBS. Throw all those numbers together, and they offer some reasons as to why Jordan Lesley was let go as defensive coordinator earlier this week.
– 4.6 – The Mountaineers don’t often hurt themselves with penalties. They average 4.6 per game, tied with Bowling Green and Oregon State for 14th best in the FBS. And the penalties they are flagged for often aren’t big ones. Their 34.4 penalty yards per game are sixth best in the nation.
– 9 – However, interceptions are a much bigger problem this year for West Virginia than they were last year. The Mountaineers have thrown nine so far, eight from Greene and one from Nicco Marchiol. West Virginia threw just seven interceptions all of last season.
– 22 – WVU’s FBS ranking in rushing offense. The Mountaineers are averaging 202.25 yards per game. No one on the team is averaging more than Garrett Greene’s 67.3 yards per game, but WVU has three players averaging at least 56.6 yards per game – Greene, Jaheim White and C.J. Donaldson. The Mountaineers don’t have a bellcow, so much as they have a herd.
– 81.8% – That was quarterback Nicco Marchiol’s completion percentage against Arizona in WVU’s last game. Marchiol completed 18 of 22 passes in that contest. It was the best completion percentage for a WVU starting quarterback since Skyler Howard went 10 for 12 (83.3%) in a win over Texas on Nov. 14, 2015.
– 3 – That’s how many of WVU’s 2024 opponents remained undefeated entering this weekend. Penn State, Iowa State and Pitt all were 7-0. Kansas State was right behind that group at 7-1. Those four make up the Mountaineers’ losses this year. The four opponents they’ve defeated – Albany, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Arizona – are a combined 11-21, a 34.3% winning percentage.
Let’s wrap up with a number for the future.
– 53.1% – That was the total winning percentage of WVU’s final four opponents of 2024: Cincinnati, Baylor, UCF and Texas Tech. Combined, they came into this weekend at 17-15. There aren’t any studs left on the schedule, but there aren’t necessarily any tomato cans, either. If anything, the home stretch of WVU’s regular season should remain interesting.
– Story by Derek Redd
