--West Virginia did what it needed to do and won this game, but still had to pull away after taking a 21-0 lead and letting that slip away to 21-14. The offense was pretty good for the most part outside a few things early but finished with 553 yards and 49 points. The Mountaineers rushed for 305 yards, which is the fifth time a Neal Brown coached team has hit that total. Still, Garrett Greene was better in this one, albeit not perfect completing 17-23 passes for 236 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing for 68 more and a score. Both starting running backs hit for over 100 yards in this one with Jahiem White at 10 yards per carry and CJ Donaldson at 8.9. But again, this is an FCS team and you expect an experienced offense to do this in this type of match up. Still, it was refreshing to see the Mountaineers not deal with so many of the self-inflicted mistakes that hurt this group so much last week. That's the biggest takeaway from this buffet of statistics to me.
--Now defensively there is a real concern there. Albany averaged 17 yards per completion in this one and was consistently able to win down the field in this game. The Great Danes threw for 306 yards and came into this game known as a team that wanted to rely on their run game. The Mountaineers were up 21-0 and that's when Albany opened things up and was able to exploit some things. It speaks volumes that even in fourth and short situations, Albany was throwing the football and sometimes down the field on fades and match ups where they could get one-on-one coverage. Simply put, this has to improve or this team is going to struggle to beat teams that can throw the football. This stuff works in tandem with up front a lot, but the safety play really lacked in this one and the corners had some issues at times as well. But the defense did record a pair of sacks.
--West Virginia was at 9.5 yards per play and yes it was an FCS team, but it's a total the Mountaineers have hit only one other time (Cincinnati last season) in Brown's tenure. West Virginia was 5-5 in the red zone and all of them were touchdowns. The offense was particularly good on first down averaging 10.1 yards per play. West Virginia had the ball nine times, scored 7 touchdowns, fumbled after a 39-yard run and had one three and out. Not a bad day despite starting a little slow.
--Seriously did anybody else know Kole Taylor was that fast? That was an impressive catch using his length in the middle of the field, but I was more impressed with his ability to turn on the jets and turn that into a 39-yard touchdown. It's clear he's a big part of this offense and the Mountaineers are going to need him to make plays like that.
--A total of 10 different players caught a pass for West Virginia and while they don't have a number one wide receiver it is a deep group that I think will shift from week to week.
--Wasn't as clean from a penalty standpoint with 5 for 45 yards, but I was most disappointed with the fact it took as long as it did to get the backups reps in this game. The Mountaineers won convincingly but you need to get as many snaps as possible for those players in games and it took too long to get to that point.
--The Mountaineers were 1-5 on third down, but 3-3 on fourth and if my memory is correct I believe that they scored on each of those conversions.
--Only one punt in this one, but West Virginia still has not allowed a return.
--But truthfully we can look at these stats all day, but what is going to matter is if the program can do some of this against FBS opponents on the schedule. Next up is Pittsburgh and it has the feel of a massive game for both teams. This West Virginia team was billed as the most talented under Brown by the head coach himself and if they start 1-2 on the season with the only win against an FCS team you can already figure out how the fan base is going to respond. I feel we've said this before, but it seems like a major moment just for the feelings from the fan base on the program.
--Now defensively there is a real concern there. Albany averaged 17 yards per completion in this one and was consistently able to win down the field in this game. The Great Danes threw for 306 yards and came into this game known as a team that wanted to rely on their run game. The Mountaineers were up 21-0 and that's when Albany opened things up and was able to exploit some things. It speaks volumes that even in fourth and short situations, Albany was throwing the football and sometimes down the field on fades and match ups where they could get one-on-one coverage. Simply put, this has to improve or this team is going to struggle to beat teams that can throw the football. This stuff works in tandem with up front a lot, but the safety play really lacked in this one and the corners had some issues at times as well. But the defense did record a pair of sacks.
--West Virginia was at 9.5 yards per play and yes it was an FCS team, but it's a total the Mountaineers have hit only one other time (Cincinnati last season) in Brown's tenure. West Virginia was 5-5 in the red zone and all of them were touchdowns. The offense was particularly good on first down averaging 10.1 yards per play. West Virginia had the ball nine times, scored 7 touchdowns, fumbled after a 39-yard run and had one three and out. Not a bad day despite starting a little slow.
--Seriously did anybody else know Kole Taylor was that fast? That was an impressive catch using his length in the middle of the field, but I was more impressed with his ability to turn on the jets and turn that into a 39-yard touchdown. It's clear he's a big part of this offense and the Mountaineers are going to need him to make plays like that.
--A total of 10 different players caught a pass for West Virginia and while they don't have a number one wide receiver it is a deep group that I think will shift from week to week.
--Wasn't as clean from a penalty standpoint with 5 for 45 yards, but I was most disappointed with the fact it took as long as it did to get the backups reps in this game. The Mountaineers won convincingly but you need to get as many snaps as possible for those players in games and it took too long to get to that point.
--The Mountaineers were 1-5 on third down, but 3-3 on fourth and if my memory is correct I believe that they scored on each of those conversions.
--Only one punt in this one, but West Virginia still has not allowed a return.
--But truthfully we can look at these stats all day, but what is going to matter is if the program can do some of this against FBS opponents on the schedule. Next up is Pittsburgh and it has the feel of a massive game for both teams. This West Virginia team was billed as the most talented under Brown by the head coach himself and if they start 1-2 on the season with the only win against an FCS team you can already figure out how the fan base is going to respond. I feel we've said this before, but it seems like a major moment just for the feelings from the fan base on the program.
