West Virginia is a point-and-a-half favorite for Thursday night’s game at Virginia Tech, which is Vegas, which gives home teams three points off the top, saying that the Mountaineers are just plain better than the Hokies.
But, based on what?
WVU is 1-2 coming in, and Tech is 2-1.
Both have a loss to somebody that they shouldn’t have lost to – Tech at ODU, West Virginia to Kansas (!), at home.
Both have an easy win over an FCS school – Tech beat Wofford, WVU beat Towson.
The only decent win among the two is Tech’s 27-10 win over Boston College in Week 2.
Hey, at least it’s a win over a Power 5.
What you need to know about WVU
West Virginia is averaging 46.0 points and 513.0 yards per game, but keep in mind, they scored 63 and gained 624 yards in the 63-7 win over Towson, so, there may be a skew to the stats with the small sample size.
You may have heard of starting QB JT Daniels, who transferred to WVU from Georgia, where he was 7-0 as the starter, but ultimately couldn’t unseat Stetson Bennett.
Daniels is averaging 251 yards per game through three starts at West Virginia, with six TDs and two INTs.
His favorite target has been Bryce Ford-Wheaton, a 6’3”, 224-pound redshirt junior, who has 24 catches for 296 yards and four TDs this season.
The Hokies will also need to account for another big target, 6’4” sophomore Kaden Prather (14 catches, 151 yards, 1 TD), and 6’0” burner Sam James (11 catches, 194 yards, 1 TD).
The running game is productive, with 6’2”, 240-pound freshman CJ Donaldson (29 carries, 274 yards, 6 TDs) and 5’11”, 207-pound redshirt sophomore Tony Mathis Jr. (49 carries, 234 yards, 2 TDs) getting the bulk of the action.
The guy to account for defensively is 6’4”, 285-pound defensive end Dante Stills, who leads the team with three sacks, five total QB pressures, and has a team-best 77.0 Pro Football Focus grade.
The WVU defense has generated a decent amount of pressure on opposing QBs – 30 pressures, nine sacks.
The weakness is in the secondary, which has allowed opposing QBs to throw for a 109.2 NFL passer rating.
Kansas QB Jalon Daniels was 18-of-29 for 219 yards and three TDs in the Jayhawks’ 55-42 win in Morgantown in Week 2, and Pitt’s Kedon Slovis was 16-of-24 for 308 yards and a TD in the Panthers’ 38-31 win over West Virginia in Week 1.
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Chris Graham
