MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - It could be a little bit of a guessing game for West Virginia’s coaches at the outset of Saturday’s matchup against BYU at FedExField in Landover, Maryland.

 

Defensively, will the Cougars come out and do some of the standup stuff they did with their defensive linemen against Utah?

 

Will they pressure more to stop the run, or, will they keep their safeties back and not let the Mountaineers go over top?

 

Offensively, will BYU come out in an empty set as it did in its first two games against Arizona and Utah, or will it use a pro-style, two-back formation as it did last weekend against UCLA?

 

Will the Cougars continue to stretch the field horizontally with mesh routes, shallows and digs, or will they try and take a few more shots down the field?

 

Those are just some of the conversations that are going on over at the Milan Puskar Center this week as the Mountaineer coaches continue to prepare for what they are anticipating will be a very challenging football game on Saturday.

 

The Cougars (1-2) clearly have a defense that is good enough to have them 3-0, BYU surrendering less than 20 points in each of its first three games for the first time since its national championship season in 1984. The Cougar D has produced at least six negative yardage plays in all three games, including eight in last week’s 17-14 home loss to UCLA.

 

In that game, sophomore linebacker Butch Pau’u was all over the field, making 19 tackles, with 2½ of those coming behind the line of scrimmage. The 6-foot, 223-pound middle linebacker leads the defense with 37 stops, 22 unassisted.

 

“That guy is all over the place,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. “He’s hard to block. When you get on him he gets off blocks and he’s a sure tackler.”

 

Harvey Langi, a 6-foot-3, 253-pound senior, will sometimes line up at defensive end, sometimes at outside linebacker and sometimes go down into a three-point stance based on certain situations. Where and how Langi lines up could tip off what BYU is planning to do.

 

He shows 13 tackles, a tackle for a loss and a half sack.

Fred Warner, a 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound junior outside linebacker, ranks second on the team with 20 tackles and 3 ½ tackles for losses.

 

Senior defensive tackle Logan Taele, a 6-foot-2, 299-pounder, has been BYU’s most active defensive lineman statistically with 11 tackles and 2½ for losses.

 

This BYU group up front is big, thick, and very difficult to move.

 

Behind them in the secondary, the Cougars show plenty of experience with two seniors, right corner Michael Davis and free safety Kai Nacua, and junior strong safety Micah Hannemann.

 

The other starting DB is freshman left corner Troy Warner.

 

Collectively, this unit has almost completely shut down some pretty good offenses in Arizona, Utah and UCLA, allowing just 349.3 yards per game and only 111.3 yards per game on the ground.

 

“They are big, physical, play with great effort, passionate; they get there and they try to hurt you,” Holgorsen said. “They are sound, well coached, always in position and it means a lot to them.

 

“You can tell.”

 

On the other side of the ball, the BYU offense has been a work in progress under first-year offensive coordinator Ty Detmer. They have a very talented and experienced quarterback in fifth-year senior Taysom Hill, who owns a 16-8 career record as BYU’s starting quarterback and once threw for 417 yards in a game against Houston three years ago, but so far this season his numbers have been a little off.

 

He is completing just 58.6 percent of his pass attempts in a West Coast system that hasn’t taken a lot of shots down the field. He has two more interceptions than touchdown passes (4 to 2), and his longest completion is just 39 yards to running back Jamaal Williams.

 

Still, WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson says there is a lot to like about what Hill brings to the table.

 

“He is in control of the offense,” Gibson said. “You can tell he’s very poised, he’s mature and has a great handle on what they want to do.”

 

Hill has been the victim of some drops and also some breakdowns in pass protection the first three weeks of the season against some formidable defenses.

 

Some in Provo have been calling for BYU to use backup quarterback Tanner Mangum, an Elite-11 pro-style pocket passer, but BYU coach Kalani Sitake indicated earlier this week that he will likely stick with Hill on Saturday against the Mountaineers.

 

Williams, who rushed for more than 1,200 yards in 2013, ranks 18^th among active NCAA rushers with 2,774 career yards. The 6-foot-1-inch, 220-pound senior has run for 248 yards and a touchdown so far this year, averaging a solid 4.5 yards per carry.

 

“We haven’t seen a back like him in a while,” Gibson noted. “He’s 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and can run. We need to get to him early because if he gets going and gets a head of steam, he’s going to run over you. We have to make sure we’re swarming to the ball early and try to get to him before he gets to us.”

 

BYU’s two biggest receivers are also the Cougars’ top two pass catchers - 6-foot-4-inch, 220-pound Moroni Laulu-Pututau (13 catches for 101 yards) and 6-foot-6-inch, 215-pound Nick Kurtz (12 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown).

 

Both are averaging right around 10 yards per reception.

 

After struggling for most of the UCLA game, the Cougar offense caught fire late and has been much more effective in the fourth quarter, scoring 22 of its 51 points in the final period so far this year - by far the most points of any quarter. 

 

That is something to keep in mind as Saturday’s game unfolds.

 

Holgorsen is anticipating another tough, down-to-the-wire affair this weekend for his 2-0 football team playing near our nation’s capital.

 

“I think the main thing that everyone needs to understand is don’t look at their won-loss record, look at their history, their tradition, who they’ve played this year and how competitive their overall program has been for decades,” he said. “They have an unbelievable tradition in their history when it comes to playing really good football, and this team is no different. They could very easily be 3-0. They have tremendous football players, they’re big, they’re fast and they’re very passionate about playing the game of football.”

 

In addition to pitting two established football programs with longstanding traditions and national pedigree, the game will match one team from a Power 5 conference against another wanting to get into the same league.

 

It’s no secret the Cougars are seeking membership in the Big 12 Conference and a strong performance against West Virginia similar to what Houston did to Oklahoma a few weeks ago could influence some opinions.

 

“(Possible Big 12 membership) is probably going to give them a little extra motivation to be able to play this game, all of which says we better get ourselves ready to play,” Holgorsen noted.

 

Saturday’s meeting will be the first between West Virginia and BYU, and the Mountaineers’ second-ever appearance at FedExField. WVU defeated James Madison there, 42-12, back in 2012.

 

“Those neutral site games are always very important for us,” Holgorsen said. “They’re important for our fan base. We’ve played them before and we’re going to continue to play them. I’m a big fan of them and I know our fan base is as well and will show up and support them as much as they can.”

 

ESPN2 (Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer and Paul Carcaterra) will televise the game nationally, while the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG’s coverage begins with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show with Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfey and Jed Drenning leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi and Dwight Wallace an hour before game time.

 

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and tickets are still remaining and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster.

 

Saturday’s game will be West Virginia’s final non-conference regular season matchup of the year.