--West Virginia was sitting at 2-4 with a road game against TCU and a home matchup against an Iowa State team that was playing its best football of the season. Well, football is a funny sport sometimes and two weeks later the Mountaineers find themselves at 4-4 with renewed life about the rest of the season. I said even during the losing streak that there was a lot of season left and the bye week was going to be critical to see where Neal Brown was at in regard to holding this team together. Well, it’s safe to say that he’s done that and more. This team has played its best two football games in back-to-back weeks and made plays on both the offensive and defensive sides to come out of this one with a win. This has the potential to be a season-shifting win as the Mountaineers now have evened up their record with four games remaining. You get Oklahoma State at home next week and that becomes a gigantic game. It seems somewhat hyperbolic to say this but there aren’t many teams that needed these past two weeks as much as West Virginia did and this team delivered.
--Who had West Virginia winning this game despite losing the turnover margin 2-1? West Virginia had 15 more plays and had the ball for over 9 minutes more. This was impressive in the sense that this defense doesn’t let people to that to them and they really controlled the line of scrimmage.
--Again, this team found itself in an early hole after Iowa State scored after three plays. But West Virginia for the second consecutive week had answers, not just there, but twice in the second half when they were trailing by 7 the Mountaineers had a response. We’ve discussed resiliency with this team and the past two weeks has really shown that there’s a lot of fight left despite the early season heartbreak.
--This was the first time that West Virginia has cracked 30 points against an FBS team since almost a year ago to the day against Kansas State and this was against a very good defense. The 38 points that West Virginia scored today was more than the (34) that they scored against Iowa State over the last three years combined. The Mountaineers rolled up the most yards (492) and points (38) against Iowa State since Oklahoma had 499 in 2019 and Kansas State scored 38 in 2018. This wasn’t by accident, that’s a very good defensive program and the Mountaineers carved them up and hit them in the mouth time and time again. This coaching staff has taken a lot of flak on the offensive side this season, but two weeks in a row they’ve had an excellent plan going into the game and it’s been executed. Four touchdowns on five red zone trips. Wowza.
--West Virginia now has their second win over a ranked team this season after beating Virginia Tech 27-21 earlier this year. That’s one more than Brown had in his first two years combined.
--Something that stood out to me during the game and especially after looking at it was third down. West Virginia was 9-15 while Iowa State was 2-12. On one of the misfires for the Mountaineers, it actually resulted in a touchdown after Doege found Winston Wright on fourth down. The biggest difference is West Virginia only needed around 4 yards per attempt, and Iowa State needed 8.
--For the second straight week, redshirt senior quarterback Jarret Doege played very well. He had the one telegraphed interception that was returned for a touchdown and another that was simply unlucky, but he appeared calm, collected and measured throughout the game. Doege completed 30-46 passes for 346 yards and a 3 touchdowns and again was able to keep plays alive in the pocket at times while delivering some on-point deep balls in this contest. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, but when Doege plays like this and the offensive line gives him time this team can win games. We’ve had this comparison between these two quarterbacks a lot and today, Doege outplayed Brock Purdy. He didn’t take a sack in this one and again, the coaches did a good job managing him. On third down Doege was 6-11 for 88 yards.
--After the pick six, West Virginia scored three straight touchdowns against statistically the best unit in the Big 12. This offense really took some chances and trust in their players and they made plays.
--Credit to Leddie Brown for going over 100-yards on the ground against the Cyclones. He had 109 yards on 22 carries and a pair of scores and really ran hard all day. The Mountaineers were able to run the ball just enough after they loosened things up with the intermediate passing game. Again, a good plan. Really limited action, but Tony Mathis was impressive in limited opportunities.
—I can’t say enough about the job that T.J. Banks did today. He played physical and also was used in the passing game. He was exceptional.
--Redshirt junior wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton showed you why you simply can’t take him off the field at times in this game. He was the vertical threat for the Mountaineers and hauled in 6 catches for 102 yards and 2 scores. His one touchdown that stood upon review might be one of the best catches that I’ve seen made at Mountaineer Field. It wasn’t a perfect game though with a drop that resulted in an interception, but he really played hard and physical in this one. Perhaps this is where they start to unlock his skill set moving forward and he starts to trust in his abilities.
--Junior wide receiver Winston Wright also hauled in 100-yards in this one and it’s the second time that the Mountaineers have had that occur since Texas Tech. He didn’t quite make the club, but credit to redshirt senior Isaiah Esdale for 6 catches for 61 yards and many of those tough catches.
--Again, second week in a row that the offensive line played significantly better up front. This group opened up holes in the run game and kept Doege clean, while the coaching staff seemed to really scheme things up to help that group. The Mountaineers get that type of effort moving forward and if you can do it against Iowa State, anybody is in play, then you’re cooking with gas.
--West Virginia’s defense played better than the final numbers would suggest. The Mountaineers allowed 424 yards and 31 points but remember seven of that came off a pick six and essentially two plays led to 14 points on busts and misfits by the defense. The defense gave up 123 yards to Breece Hall on two carries, but the other 22 carries he had only 44 yards. That matters because it knocked them off schedule quite a bit throughout the game. Credit to Brock Purdy, West Virginia only had a pair of sacks but could have had a lot more but he was able to slip out of those and make things happen. Speaking of the resiliency, this team forcing a fumble at the one-yard line with Iowa State looking to go in and tie the game speaks to that. That was a monumental play in this football game.
--Outside of that one bust on 68-yard touchdown; Iowa State completed only one pass over 15+ yards in the game. That speaks to what the Mountaineers were able to do in this game defensively. For comparison, the Mountaineers had a total of 7 such passes.
--In close games now, West Virginia is 3-3 on the season. The Mountaineers have lost some heart-breaking games this year, but this time the defense rose to the challenge. That situation has been there in all three of those losses and credit to this unit for keeping the opposition out of the end zone.
--Let’s just get this out of the way, this was a horribly officiated game on both sides. The offensive pass interference on Bryce Ford-Wheaton was shades of David Sills at TCU and the multiple pass interferences that they called on Iowa State were questionable at best. In the end, the calls likely evened out but this game really lost a lot of rhythm with stoppages and delays, etc.
--Linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo played fantastic in this one with 12 tackles and a sack. He missed a few opportunities, but he was seemingly everywhere in this one.
--Dante Stills is playing the best football of his career right now. It’s not going to show up in the stat sheet as much but he has simply been fantastic and is getting held a lot, too. He recorded a sack today and really the same thing can be said about Akheem Mesidor. Liked what West Virginia did with going bigger up front with the even front to give them a different look and big boying the Cyclones.
--Clock management continues to be an issue. Two timeouts on one drive in the third quarter, with the result being -2 yards on those plays. It didn’t hurt them today and Iowa State even had to burn one on offense, but this continues to be an issue almost every game.
--West Virginia is now 4-4 with four games left. It’s possible that my 8-4 projection is within the realm of outcomes, but I’m not getting ahead of myself here. Enjoy this one, because it’s a big win over a program that has controlled the Mountaineers of late and were playing their best football of the season. Oklahoma State at home is up next and that could be a massive game for the remainder of the year.
--Who had West Virginia winning this game despite losing the turnover margin 2-1? West Virginia had 15 more plays and had the ball for over 9 minutes more. This was impressive in the sense that this defense doesn’t let people to that to them and they really controlled the line of scrimmage.
--Again, this team found itself in an early hole after Iowa State scored after three plays. But West Virginia for the second consecutive week had answers, not just there, but twice in the second half when they were trailing by 7 the Mountaineers had a response. We’ve discussed resiliency with this team and the past two weeks has really shown that there’s a lot of fight left despite the early season heartbreak.
--This was the first time that West Virginia has cracked 30 points against an FBS team since almost a year ago to the day against Kansas State and this was against a very good defense. The 38 points that West Virginia scored today was more than the (34) that they scored against Iowa State over the last three years combined. The Mountaineers rolled up the most yards (492) and points (38) against Iowa State since Oklahoma had 499 in 2019 and Kansas State scored 38 in 2018. This wasn’t by accident, that’s a very good defensive program and the Mountaineers carved them up and hit them in the mouth time and time again. This coaching staff has taken a lot of flak on the offensive side this season, but two weeks in a row they’ve had an excellent plan going into the game and it’s been executed. Four touchdowns on five red zone trips. Wowza.
--West Virginia now has their second win over a ranked team this season after beating Virginia Tech 27-21 earlier this year. That’s one more than Brown had in his first two years combined.
--Something that stood out to me during the game and especially after looking at it was third down. West Virginia was 9-15 while Iowa State was 2-12. On one of the misfires for the Mountaineers, it actually resulted in a touchdown after Doege found Winston Wright on fourth down. The biggest difference is West Virginia only needed around 4 yards per attempt, and Iowa State needed 8.
--For the second straight week, redshirt senior quarterback Jarret Doege played very well. He had the one telegraphed interception that was returned for a touchdown and another that was simply unlucky, but he appeared calm, collected and measured throughout the game. Doege completed 30-46 passes for 346 yards and a 3 touchdowns and again was able to keep plays alive in the pocket at times while delivering some on-point deep balls in this contest. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, but when Doege plays like this and the offensive line gives him time this team can win games. We’ve had this comparison between these two quarterbacks a lot and today, Doege outplayed Brock Purdy. He didn’t take a sack in this one and again, the coaches did a good job managing him. On third down Doege was 6-11 for 88 yards.
--After the pick six, West Virginia scored three straight touchdowns against statistically the best unit in the Big 12. This offense really took some chances and trust in their players and they made plays.
--Credit to Leddie Brown for going over 100-yards on the ground against the Cyclones. He had 109 yards on 22 carries and a pair of scores and really ran hard all day. The Mountaineers were able to run the ball just enough after they loosened things up with the intermediate passing game. Again, a good plan. Really limited action, but Tony Mathis was impressive in limited opportunities.
—I can’t say enough about the job that T.J. Banks did today. He played physical and also was used in the passing game. He was exceptional.
--Redshirt junior wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton showed you why you simply can’t take him off the field at times in this game. He was the vertical threat for the Mountaineers and hauled in 6 catches for 102 yards and 2 scores. His one touchdown that stood upon review might be one of the best catches that I’ve seen made at Mountaineer Field. It wasn’t a perfect game though with a drop that resulted in an interception, but he really played hard and physical in this one. Perhaps this is where they start to unlock his skill set moving forward and he starts to trust in his abilities.
--Junior wide receiver Winston Wright also hauled in 100-yards in this one and it’s the second time that the Mountaineers have had that occur since Texas Tech. He didn’t quite make the club, but credit to redshirt senior Isaiah Esdale for 6 catches for 61 yards and many of those tough catches.
--Again, second week in a row that the offensive line played significantly better up front. This group opened up holes in the run game and kept Doege clean, while the coaching staff seemed to really scheme things up to help that group. The Mountaineers get that type of effort moving forward and if you can do it against Iowa State, anybody is in play, then you’re cooking with gas.
--West Virginia’s defense played better than the final numbers would suggest. The Mountaineers allowed 424 yards and 31 points but remember seven of that came off a pick six and essentially two plays led to 14 points on busts and misfits by the defense. The defense gave up 123 yards to Breece Hall on two carries, but the other 22 carries he had only 44 yards. That matters because it knocked them off schedule quite a bit throughout the game. Credit to Brock Purdy, West Virginia only had a pair of sacks but could have had a lot more but he was able to slip out of those and make things happen. Speaking of the resiliency, this team forcing a fumble at the one-yard line with Iowa State looking to go in and tie the game speaks to that. That was a monumental play in this football game.
--Outside of that one bust on 68-yard touchdown; Iowa State completed only one pass over 15+ yards in the game. That speaks to what the Mountaineers were able to do in this game defensively. For comparison, the Mountaineers had a total of 7 such passes.
--In close games now, West Virginia is 3-3 on the season. The Mountaineers have lost some heart-breaking games this year, but this time the defense rose to the challenge. That situation has been there in all three of those losses and credit to this unit for keeping the opposition out of the end zone.
--Let’s just get this out of the way, this was a horribly officiated game on both sides. The offensive pass interference on Bryce Ford-Wheaton was shades of David Sills at TCU and the multiple pass interferences that they called on Iowa State were questionable at best. In the end, the calls likely evened out but this game really lost a lot of rhythm with stoppages and delays, etc.
--Linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo played fantastic in this one with 12 tackles and a sack. He missed a few opportunities, but he was seemingly everywhere in this one.
--Dante Stills is playing the best football of his career right now. It’s not going to show up in the stat sheet as much but he has simply been fantastic and is getting held a lot, too. He recorded a sack today and really the same thing can be said about Akheem Mesidor. Liked what West Virginia did with going bigger up front with the even front to give them a different look and big boying the Cyclones.
--Clock management continues to be an issue. Two timeouts on one drive in the third quarter, with the result being -2 yards on those plays. It didn’t hurt them today and Iowa State even had to burn one on offense, but this continues to be an issue almost every game.
--West Virginia is now 4-4 with four games left. It’s possible that my 8-4 projection is within the realm of outcomes, but I’m not getting ahead of myself here. Enjoy this one, because it’s a big win over a program that has controlled the Mountaineers of late and were playing their best football of the season. Oklahoma State at home is up next and that could be a massive game for the remainder of the year.
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