This weekend, Big 12 newcomer BYU travels to Morgantown to face the West Virginia Mountaineers. Both teams enter the game fielding 5-3 records, though the Mountaineers have one more conference win than the Cougars. This represents the first trip for BYU to Morgantown and just the second match-up for the two teams in their respective histories. That first matchup resulted in a 35-32 win for the Mountaineers. We are previewing WVU vs. BYU, with the opening kick set for 7:00 on Saturday, November 4. Fox will televise the game.
Previewing WVU vs. BYU
As we wrote earlier this week, the Mountaineers have established a ground-and-pound offensive identity. Coming off a win over fellow newcomer UCF, the West Virginia Mountaineers return home hoping to maintain their second-place tie in the Big 12 with a win over the Cougars despite mounting injuries for WVU.
On paper, the matchup certainly looks favorable for WVU’s offense. Defensively, the Cougars surrender over 150 rushing yards per game, a number West Virginia hopes to eclipse as the Texas Longhorns did last week. BYU also yields nearly 240 passing yards per game, though they have 12 interceptions on the season, making it an opportunistic unit.
BYU’s Offensive Struggles
BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis has struggled lately, throwing just two touchdowns to three interceptions in his last three games. He has completed just 54% of his passes for 476 yards in that same time frame. Considering how ineffective the Cougars’ rushing attack has been (they average just under three yards per carry and 81 yards per game), Slovis’ struggles certainly hurt a relatively pedestrian offense. Indeed, BYU averages 24.9 points and just 300 yards per game.
The declining production looks eerily similar to his arc at Pitt last season. Slovis started last season strong, but, over his final seven games in 2022, he completed just 55% of his passes while throwing five touchdowns to seven interceptions and averaging 200 yards per game. The main difference between this year and last is that Pitt averaged over 180 yards per game on the ground to help offset those struggles. Slovis offers virtually no production on the ground either.
The Cougars have just two running backs with more than 100 yards on the season. LJ Martin leads the Cougars with 438 yards on 96 carries. At wideout, the Cougars have three primary weapons. Chase Roberts leads the team with 459 receiving yards on 33 receptions and four touchdowns. Darius Lassiter and Isaac Rex also offer Slovis weapons should he overcome his recent struggles.
Looking at BYU on Defense
On defense, BYU surrenders just under 400 yards per game and nearly 26 points. In conference play, those numbers jump to 435 yards and nearly 32 points per game. Their turnover margin is also neutral in Big 12 play, despite a +8 margin overall. Ultimately, the Cougars have struggled to acclimate to Big 12 play, though they are faring better than their fellow newcomers. Only one other newcomer has any wins in conference play (Houston with one). The Cougars have two so far (over Cincinnati and Texas Tech).
The Cougars struggle to get pressure on the quarterback, as they have just eight sacks on the season. That said, they have caused some havoc on opposing rushers, despite surrendering nearly four-and-a-half yards per carry. The team totals 33 tackles for loss through eight games, averaging over four per game. Tyler Batty leads the team in that category with six tackles for loss. Jakob Robinson and Eddie Heckard lead the team in interceptions with four and three, respectively. Heckard has also forced two fumbles, while Batty has also forced a pair.
The defense fares worse on the road, as they have given up 37 points per game in their four Power Five road games. In conference play, that average is even worse (at 39 points per game).
How West Virginia Can Win
The Mountaineers seemingly led all of Division 1 in dropped interceptions before the game against UCF. They grabbed three of them last week, and all three were absolutely forced errors by the West Virginia defense. One came directly from pressure in the backfield leading to a lazy lob that Marcis Floyd easily grabbed. Both of Beanie Bishop‘s interceptions resulted from his physicality at the point of contact, even if the first one took a favorable West Virginia bounce.
Given that nine of the 12 sacks BYU has surrendered have come in Big 12 play and Slovis’ struggles started as he faced the more athletic defensive lines in the conference, the Cougars certainly seem to struggle with pressure. The Mountaineers will want to dial that pressure up to keep Slovis from throwing out of a clean pocket too often, especially with the Cougars’ athletic receivers. Forcing a couple of turnovers certainly would help the Mountaineers win this game.
WVU also needs to take advantage of BYU’s weakness against the run early and often. The sooner they can build a lead, the better their chances will be. In previewing WVU vs. BYU, we look to the Mountaineers’ ability to put pressure on the quarterback and to run the ball efficiently as the keys to the game. If they can do both, we like the Mountaineers’ odds of earning their sixth win this Saturday.
