--West Virginia desperately needed to find a way to go on the road and win this game and that’s exactly what they did. The Mountaineers responded with their backs against the wall and played their best offensive football game of the season against admittedly a bad UCF defense. This team started fast and never trailed in this game, taking advantage of mistakes by the Knights and turned it into points. The Mountaineers now move to 5-3, 3-2 in the Big 12 and head home to play BYU for a chance to become bowl eligible. There’s no question there have been opportunities for this team to be better, but after what had unfolded over the past two games and with the injuries mounting, they got it done. West Virginia spoiled homecoming for UCF after they hadn’t lost by double-digits at home in seven years and now can turn their attention to the final four games.
--West Virginia is now 3-0 against UCF including 2-0 in Orlando. That team is getting a dose of the jump to power five and the depth it takes, much like most of the newcomers.
--West Virginia has started slowly on offense to start games and out of half this season but credit the coaching staff here as the Mountaineers took the opening drive 75-yards on 9 plays for a touchdown and the first drive of the second half 68 yards on 8 plays for a touchdown. There were some really good play designs in this game and the Mountaineers took advantage of a struggling UCF defense. Really liked the mix in this game for the most part and the Mountaineers are going to need that moving forward. Never was that more apparent than the call on 4th and 2 late in the game that got Greene on the edge. West Virginia was a perfect 7-7 in the red zone if you take out the final kneel down and five of those were touchdowns. The Mountaineers were 7-15 on third down and 2-2 on fourth.
--Garrett Greene missed a few throws in this one but again continues to show massive improvement week-to-week. He completed 14-23 passes for 156 yards, while rushing for 55 yards and 3 touchdowns. West Virginia did a great job in this one getting Greene on the edge and allowing him to make decisions. At times, Greene needs to settle down and just deliver the football with accuracy, but it’s part of what makes him special as well. The arow is definitely pointing up for this offense. Greene scored three rushing touchdowns as a quarterback for the first time since Pat White. Not bad company.
--I’ve been high on Jaheim White since I first saw him in camp as a high school prospect and he simply moves at a different speed than anybody else in this backfield. White averaged 9.4 yards per carry in this game and his 32-yard run flashed some speed that we haven’t seen for a while. There is simply no excuse for him not to have a major role in this backfield moving forward.
--Sophomore CJ Donaldson was much better in this one rushing 17 times for 119 yards and a touchdown. He needs to continue to drive his feet after contact but was able to break some big ones in this one. His 21-yard run was his longest of the season and also had a 32-yard run. The Mountaineers are going to need him moving forward to play well and this was a great response.
--This was one of the weirdest games I’ve ever seen for a defense. West Virginia allowed 388 yards and three touchdown drives of 75+ yards while giving up massive chunks of yards at times. But the Mountaineers forced 4 turnovers and made critical plays when this team needed to do it. The Mountaineers were working with a patchwork unit at times in this one due to injuries especially at safety and linebacker but give this group a lot of credit for making some big plays in this one. The Mountaineers are going to need some of those guys to get healthy over the last four games, but you’ll take this. West Virginia has got to tackle better in these games, but the defense was opportunistic when it needed to be.
--Beanie Bishop was excellent in this game. He finished with 4 tackles, 2 interceptions and a pass breakup and was constantly challenging UCF wide receivers. Lee Kpogba also had a massive play in this game shooting the gap on the pulling lineman to force a fumble and allow the Mountaineers to go up double digits in the third quarter when the Knights had recaptured some momentum.
--The trick play was actually blocked and could have worked but the personnel on the field was definitely confusing. West Virginia gave the ball to Jaylen Anderson, who didn’t even play last week and dropped the touchdown to Houston for an interception.
--Devin Carter had some big catches in this game to move the sticks on third down, but also dropped a pair that would have extended drives. He is the best option for West Virginia out wide, but they need him to look the ball in and finish plays. Kole Taylor was also open in this one several times, but Greene missed him.
--Shoutouts to special teams. UCF had only one kick return for 18 yards, with the rest touchbacks, while they didn’t allow any return yards on punts. The Knights have some dangerous options there, and West Virginia was able to completely neutralize them in that phase. Also, Michael Hayes just continues to boot through kicks this time connecting on two including a 41-yarder for the final points of the game.
--It's almost hard to believe but when West Virginia led by 10 it was the first time they had done so since Texas Tech and the 17 point lead was the first that they have had all season against an FBS team.
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