Back to the regularly scheduled programming ahead of West Virginia this weekend. This is one that the Red Raiders should be able to come out on top.
For the Red Raiders, there are a few keys this weekend, starting with JT Daniels.
JT Daniels:
Daniels has melded well in Graham Harrell’s offense after a couple of struggle years with Georgia. Tim DeRuyter should have his hands full containing the quarterback he coached against at Cal earlier in his career.
In Big 12 play, Daniels has thrown for five touchdowns in three games with two interceptions. He has thrown the ball more than 37 times in all three games and played great in the loss to Kansas and win over Baylor.
Daniels is a pocket-passer, something that the Red Raiders really haven’t seen this season and the Tech pass rush could be able to get to the quarterback pretty well this week.
Daniels has looked good this season and should challenge the Tech secondary with some solid weapons on the offense.
WVU’s Offensive Weapons:
The Mountaineers have quite a few weapons in the passing game that include Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Kaden Prather, Sam James, and Reese Smith.
Ford-Wheaton is the biggest threat of the group, standing at 6’3”, 224 LBs while going for 463 yards and four touchdowns. He has explosive speed and should be quite the challenge for Rayshad Williams and Malik Dunlap.
Prather, James & Smith all receive quite a few targets per game and all are averaging over 10 yards per rececption this season. James and Prather were both mentioned by DeRuyter as game breakers that must be accounted for by the defense.
On top of the receiving weapons, West Virginia has three running backs that have recorded over 230 yards on the ground.
The leading member of that crew is Tony Mathis who has gone for 459 yards and five touchdowns while CJ Donaldson and Justin Johnson Jr. have gone for 389 yards and 235 yards, respectively, while combining for another nine touchdowns on the ground.
Stills and an experienced D-Line:
Dante Stills, who is in his fifth season of college football, leads an experienced group on the defensive line that has been able to get to the quarterback 13 times this season.
Stills along with Jordan Jefferson and Sean Martin lead this group which is without a doubt the strength of the Mountaineer defense.
Lee Kpogba is the heart and sole of the linebacking corps having made 38 total tackles, three of which for loss, along with two sacks and four quarterback hurries.
The rest of the Mountaineer defense has somewhat struggled, which is why the Tech offensive attack will likely be through the air.
Mountaineers’ secondary struggles:
West Virginia is 101st in the nation in opponent passing yards allowed per game this season, which has been a major contributor to their conference worst 31.3 points per game allowed.
Marcis Floyd, Aubrey Burks, and Hersey McLaurin are the main pieces in the third level for the Mountaineers, a group that has struggled to create turnovers despite the outlier of the Baylor game that they are coming off.
Tech should be able to throw the ball pretty well and whichever quarterback Zach Kittley and Joey McGuire roll with, the turnovers shouldn’t be a problem this week.
For the Red Raiders, there are a few keys this weekend, starting with JT Daniels.
JT Daniels:
Daniels has melded well in Graham Harrell’s offense after a couple of struggle years with Georgia. Tim DeRuyter should have his hands full containing the quarterback he coached against at Cal earlier in his career.
In Big 12 play, Daniels has thrown for five touchdowns in three games with two interceptions. He has thrown the ball more than 37 times in all three games and played great in the loss to Kansas and win over Baylor.
Daniels is a pocket-passer, something that the Red Raiders really haven’t seen this season and the Tech pass rush could be able to get to the quarterback pretty well this week.
Daniels has looked good this season and should challenge the Tech secondary with some solid weapons on the offense.
WVU’s Offensive Weapons:
The Mountaineers have quite a few weapons in the passing game that include Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Kaden Prather, Sam James, and Reese Smith.
Ford-Wheaton is the biggest threat of the group, standing at 6’3”, 224 LBs while going for 463 yards and four touchdowns. He has explosive speed and should be quite the challenge for Rayshad Williams and Malik Dunlap.
Prather, James & Smith all receive quite a few targets per game and all are averaging over 10 yards per rececption this season. James and Prather were both mentioned by DeRuyter as game breakers that must be accounted for by the defense.
On top of the receiving weapons, West Virginia has three running backs that have recorded over 230 yards on the ground.
The leading member of that crew is Tony Mathis who has gone for 459 yards and five touchdowns while CJ Donaldson and Justin Johnson Jr. have gone for 389 yards and 235 yards, respectively, while combining for another nine touchdowns on the ground.
Stills and an experienced D-Line:
Dante Stills, who is in his fifth season of college football, leads an experienced group on the defensive line that has been able to get to the quarterback 13 times this season.
Stills along with Jordan Jefferson and Sean Martin lead this group which is without a doubt the strength of the Mountaineer defense.
Lee Kpogba is the heart and sole of the linebacking corps having made 38 total tackles, three of which for loss, along with two sacks and four quarterback hurries.
The rest of the Mountaineer defense has somewhat struggled, which is why the Tech offensive attack will likely be through the air.
Mountaineers’ secondary struggles:
West Virginia is 101st in the nation in opponent passing yards allowed per game this season, which has been a major contributor to their conference worst 31.3 points per game allowed.
Marcis Floyd, Aubrey Burks, and Hersey McLaurin are the main pieces in the third level for the Mountaineers, a group that has struggled to create turnovers despite the outlier of the Baylor game that they are coming off.
Tech should be able to throw the ball pretty well and whichever quarterback Zach Kittley and Joey McGuire roll with, the turnovers shouldn’t be a problem this week.
