–Well, that’s the way you rebound. Neal Brown assured us this week that his team would finish strong at home and he wasn’t wrong. The Mountaineers sputtered on the opening drive, but essentially controlled things from that point forward scoring six touchdowns while holding the Bearcats to just 7 points and 179 yards before the game was effectively over. Cincinnati did finish with 21 points and 344 yards total, but it was a complete reversal of what unfolded last week against Oklahoma. Yes, I’m not confused that this 3-8 Cincinnati football team isn’t the same calibre one as the Sooners but it was important that this team found a way to thud this team at home. They did just that.
–The 606 yards are the most for West Virginia against a power five opponent since rolling up 704 against Oklahoma during the 2018 season. It tops the previous high of 567 against BYU earlier this season and after recording 546 against Houston it’s the third time they’ve done it against a power five team this season which is by far the most since Brown became the head coach. The key part is a lot of this offense has the potential to return next season. The offensive line also didn’t allow a sack. The offense was at 9.8 yards per play in this game, that’s ridiculous. That did not happen at any point even under Dana Holgorsen for context, even some of those ridiculous offensive games.
–West Virginia ran 7 more plays but that resulted in almost 300 more yards.
–After playing his worst game of the season, West Virginia redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Greene might have played his all-around best completing 12-19 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown through the air and rushing for 154 yards and 3 more touchdowns on the ground. He missed maybe a one or two throws in this one including a late interception, but this was an accurate Greene that took advantage of what Cincinnati was doing defensively to rip off chunk plays on the ground. This is only the third time in school history that a player has passed and rushed for 150 yards in the same game with Pat White holding the other two which is some good company to keep. That’s quite the impressive feat regardless of the opponent. If Greene plays like this, the offense is simply at a different level and the Mountaineers hope they can bottle this moving forward.
–The 424 rushing yards is the most that West Virginia has recorded under Neal Brown and the most overall since rushing for 426 against Kansas in 2015.
–Jaheim White simply moves at a different speed out there at running back. The freshman was excellent today both breaking tackles and picking up chunk yards in the process. He finished with 204 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and ripped off 9 (!) runs over 10+ yards. He also had the longest play of the season on the receiving end with a 75-yard catch and run touchdown. Feed him.
–Salute to Zach Frazier. If this is the last time that you see him playing on Mountaineer Field, he has been simply fantastic throughout his career. Just plays hard and does the little things.
–West Virginia was 3-1 against the newcomers and lost the only one they did on a Hail Mary to Houston. For the most part West Virginia bullied each of these opponents in those games and it’s a reminder that jumping up to this level on a week-to-week basis is a challenge.
–When you run for almost 430 yards you don’t need to use the wide receivers much, but Traylon Ray had a highlight reel catch in this one yet again while some others made the most of limited opportunities. Really like how they’ve been using Rodney Gallagher close to the line of scrimmage and letting him pick and weave some with his ability with the ball. Also felt the wide receivers did a great job blocking in this one.
–Overall a clean game, with only one turnover late and just 5 penalties for 45-yards. This team needs to play this brand of football to win games and they did that today.
–West Virginia yet again won on third down going 6-11 and 2-2 on fourth down. Meanwhile, Cincinnati was 6-13 so not too shabby but critical ones they tended to struggle.
–Lee Kpogba finished this game with 10 tackles and a sack and just always seems to be around the ball. He is going to really be missed next season.
--Second week in a row with a missed field goal from Michael Hayes but all-around strong day on special teams. The Bearcats had two kick returns for six yards, although I do wish somebody would let Preston Fox know he can call a fair catch on kickoffs.
–Next up is Baylor and the Bears also are struggling this year. A golden chance for the Mountaineers to punch their ticket for eight wins for only the fourth time since joining the Big 12 while improving their bowl status in the process. Nobody would have believed you if you said this team was going to win eight games at the start of the year and perhaps has even left some meat on the bone. Hitting seven is already an accomplishment considering the win total was only 4.5 this off-season, but this is a chance for Brown and company to seize some real momentum heading into the bowl season.
–The 606 yards are the most for West Virginia against a power five opponent since rolling up 704 against Oklahoma during the 2018 season. It tops the previous high of 567 against BYU earlier this season and after recording 546 against Houston it’s the third time they’ve done it against a power five team this season which is by far the most since Brown became the head coach. The key part is a lot of this offense has the potential to return next season. The offensive line also didn’t allow a sack. The offense was at 9.8 yards per play in this game, that’s ridiculous. That did not happen at any point even under Dana Holgorsen for context, even some of those ridiculous offensive games.
–West Virginia ran 7 more plays but that resulted in almost 300 more yards.
–After playing his worst game of the season, West Virginia redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Greene might have played his all-around best completing 12-19 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown through the air and rushing for 154 yards and 3 more touchdowns on the ground. He missed maybe a one or two throws in this one including a late interception, but this was an accurate Greene that took advantage of what Cincinnati was doing defensively to rip off chunk plays on the ground. This is only the third time in school history that a player has passed and rushed for 150 yards in the same game with Pat White holding the other two which is some good company to keep. That’s quite the impressive feat regardless of the opponent. If Greene plays like this, the offense is simply at a different level and the Mountaineers hope they can bottle this moving forward.
–The 424 rushing yards is the most that West Virginia has recorded under Neal Brown and the most overall since rushing for 426 against Kansas in 2015.
–Jaheim White simply moves at a different speed out there at running back. The freshman was excellent today both breaking tackles and picking up chunk yards in the process. He finished with 204 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and ripped off 9 (!) runs over 10+ yards. He also had the longest play of the season on the receiving end with a 75-yard catch and run touchdown. Feed him.
–Salute to Zach Frazier. If this is the last time that you see him playing on Mountaineer Field, he has been simply fantastic throughout his career. Just plays hard and does the little things.
–West Virginia was 3-1 against the newcomers and lost the only one they did on a Hail Mary to Houston. For the most part West Virginia bullied each of these opponents in those games and it’s a reminder that jumping up to this level on a week-to-week basis is a challenge.
–When you run for almost 430 yards you don’t need to use the wide receivers much, but Traylon Ray had a highlight reel catch in this one yet again while some others made the most of limited opportunities. Really like how they’ve been using Rodney Gallagher close to the line of scrimmage and letting him pick and weave some with his ability with the ball. Also felt the wide receivers did a great job blocking in this one.
–Overall a clean game, with only one turnover late and just 5 penalties for 45-yards. This team needs to play this brand of football to win games and they did that today.
–West Virginia yet again won on third down going 6-11 and 2-2 on fourth down. Meanwhile, Cincinnati was 6-13 so not too shabby but critical ones they tended to struggle.
–Lee Kpogba finished this game with 10 tackles and a sack and just always seems to be around the ball. He is going to really be missed next season.
--Second week in a row with a missed field goal from Michael Hayes but all-around strong day on special teams. The Bearcats had two kick returns for six yards, although I do wish somebody would let Preston Fox know he can call a fair catch on kickoffs.
–Next up is Baylor and the Bears also are struggling this year. A golden chance for the Mountaineers to punch their ticket for eight wins for only the fourth time since joining the Big 12 while improving their bowl status in the process. Nobody would have believed you if you said this team was going to win eight games at the start of the year and perhaps has even left some meat on the bone. Hitting seven is already an accomplishment considering the win total was only 4.5 this off-season, but this is a chance for Brown and company to seize some real momentum heading into the bowl season.
