Photo by: AP
Countdown to Kickoff - TCU
November 10, 2018 08:30 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Seventh-ranked West Virginia is now reaching the climactic point of its season.
Games remaining against TCU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma can set the Mountaineers up for greener pastures if they can take care of business, starting with TCU on Saturday in Morgantown at now sold-out Milan Puskar Stadium.
The 4-5 Horned Frog squad veteran coach Gary Patterson is bringing to Milan Puskar Stadium barely resembles the ones we've seen in the past, primarily because of injuries.
A staggering 20 players have suffered season-ending injuries and 36 different guys have missed playing time so far this season.
Hit hardest has been the safety position, which is so vital to Patterson's defense.
"I don't know if I've ever been down seven safeties in a three-safety system," Patterson said earlier this week. "Freshmen say they want to play, so here we go."
Patterson won't get any sympathy from Dana Holgorsen, who has watched his teams lose four of six games to Patterson's Horned Frogs since the two programs joined the Big 12 in 2012.
Last year in Fort Worth, TCU defeated West Virginia 31-24 after the Mountaineers had erased a 14-point, third-quarter deficit.
Trailing by a touchdown with 2:53 remaining, West Virginia appeared to be in good position to tie the game when Will Grier completed a 25-yard pass to David Sills V that took the football into TCU territory.
But Sills V was flagged for a questionable offensive pass interference penalty, which negated the play and moved West Virginia back deep in its own territory.
TCU eventually regained possession and ran out the clock.
Holgorsen also watched fifth-ranked TCU ring up the scoreboard in a 40-10 Horned Frog victory in Fort Worth in 2015, and he also endured a pair of stinging one-point losses to them here in 2014 and 2012.
"The history with us and TCU is pretty good," Holgorsen said. "These have been great games. There's been a couple of overtime games, there's been some last-second field goal games; they've been wars."
A season-ending shoulder injury to Shawn Robinson has forced Patterson to turn to Penn transfer Mike Collins as his starting quarterback.
Collins led the Horned Frogs to a 14-13 victory over Kansas State last weekend by completing 17-of-33 passes for 218 yards and a 67-yard touchdown pass to speedster Jalen Reagor.
The TCU defense limited K-State to just 13 points and 301 total yards on 75 plays for an average of just four yards per play.
West Virginia, meanwhile, got a big shot in the arm last Saturday from quarterback Will Grier, who threw three touchdown passes and ran in a two-point conversion with 16 seconds left to defeat 15th-ranked Texas, 42-41, in Austin.
Grier completed 28-of-42 passes for 346 yards and running backs Martell Pettaway and Kennedy McKoy combined to rush for 215 yards in a 578-yard afternoon for the Mountaineers.
The victory boosted West Virginia's record to 7-1 and keeps the Mountaineers in contention for one of four spots in the College Football Playoff. WVU is ranked ninth in this week's College Football Playoff rankings.
A win Saturday over TCU is imperative for West Virginia to remain in the discussion.
Today's True Blue game will kick off at noon and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Justin Kutcher, DeMarco Murray and Petros Papadakis).
"I'm excited about a noon game," Holgorsen said. "This time of year is a good time for a noon game. It's going to be the warmest part of the day. It's after Daylight Savings ends, so it's not like it's really that early."
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show (Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning) at 8:30 a.m. leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Drenning at 11 a.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – West Virginia has had 44 running plays of TEN yards or longer, and 11 of 20-plus yards or more.
9 – TCU's defense has surrendered NINE touchdown passes with no interceptions in the second half of its nine games so far this year.
8 – West Virginia has had at least EIGHT tackles for losses in six out of eight games this year. The high is 12, achieved twice against Tennessee and Baylor.
7 – In third-down situations, West Virginia's defense has allowed the SEVENTH lowest yards-per-carry average in the country this year (1.4), which is also the best in the Big 12.
6 – Quarterback Will Grier has SIX pass plays of 50-plus yards, ranking him second to Oklahoma's Kyler Murray among Big 12 quarterback. He has 18 since the beginning of last year – the most in the conference.
5 – Tony Gibson's defense ranks FIFTH nationally in tackles for loss with an average of 8.6 per game.
4 –Grier moved into FOURTH place in school history with 6,108 career passing yards.
3 – The Mountaineers rank THIRD nationally in team passing efficiency this week with a 182.4 rating.
2 – West Virginia has TWO multi-100-yard receiving performances so far this year, both coming by David Sills V and Gary Jennings Jr. against Tennessee and Baylor.
1 – All but ONE of Gary Jennings Jr.'s 35 catches this year have been for either a first down or a touchdown.
Enjoy today's game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
Games remaining against TCU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma can set the Mountaineers up for greener pastures if they can take care of business, starting with TCU on Saturday in Morgantown at now sold-out Milan Puskar Stadium.
The 4-5 Horned Frog squad veteran coach Gary Patterson is bringing to Milan Puskar Stadium barely resembles the ones we've seen in the past, primarily because of injuries.
A staggering 20 players have suffered season-ending injuries and 36 different guys have missed playing time so far this season.
Hit hardest has been the safety position, which is so vital to Patterson's defense.
"I don't know if I've ever been down seven safeties in a three-safety system," Patterson said earlier this week. "Freshmen say they want to play, so here we go."
Patterson won't get any sympathy from Dana Holgorsen, who has watched his teams lose four of six games to Patterson's Horned Frogs since the two programs joined the Big 12 in 2012.
Last year in Fort Worth, TCU defeated West Virginia 31-24 after the Mountaineers had erased a 14-point, third-quarter deficit.
Trailing by a touchdown with 2:53 remaining, West Virginia appeared to be in good position to tie the game when Will Grier completed a 25-yard pass to David Sills V that took the football into TCU territory.
But Sills V was flagged for a questionable offensive pass interference penalty, which negated the play and moved West Virginia back deep in its own territory.
TCU eventually regained possession and ran out the clock.
Holgorsen also watched fifth-ranked TCU ring up the scoreboard in a 40-10 Horned Frog victory in Fort Worth in 2015, and he also endured a pair of stinging one-point losses to them here in 2014 and 2012.
"The history with us and TCU is pretty good," Holgorsen said. "These have been great games. There's been a couple of overtime games, there's been some last-second field goal games; they've been wars."
A season-ending shoulder injury to Shawn Robinson has forced Patterson to turn to Penn transfer Mike Collins as his starting quarterback.
Collins led the Horned Frogs to a 14-13 victory over Kansas State last weekend by completing 17-of-33 passes for 218 yards and a 67-yard touchdown pass to speedster Jalen Reagor.
The TCU defense limited K-State to just 13 points and 301 total yards on 75 plays for an average of just four yards per play.
West Virginia, meanwhile, got a big shot in the arm last Saturday from quarterback Will Grier, who threw three touchdown passes and ran in a two-point conversion with 16 seconds left to defeat 15th-ranked Texas, 42-41, in Austin.Grier completed 28-of-42 passes for 346 yards and running backs Martell Pettaway and Kennedy McKoy combined to rush for 215 yards in a 578-yard afternoon for the Mountaineers.
The victory boosted West Virginia's record to 7-1 and keeps the Mountaineers in contention for one of four spots in the College Football Playoff. WVU is ranked ninth in this week's College Football Playoff rankings.
A win Saturday over TCU is imperative for West Virginia to remain in the discussion.
Today's True Blue game will kick off at noon and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Justin Kutcher, DeMarco Murray and Petros Papadakis).
"I'm excited about a noon game," Holgorsen said. "This time of year is a good time for a noon game. It's going to be the warmest part of the day. It's after Daylight Savings ends, so it's not like it's really that early."
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show (Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning) at 8:30 a.m. leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Drenning at 11 a.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – West Virginia has had 44 running plays of TEN yards or longer, and 11 of 20-plus yards or more.
9 – TCU's defense has surrendered NINE touchdown passes with no interceptions in the second half of its nine games so far this year.
8 – West Virginia has had at least EIGHT tackles for losses in six out of eight games this year. The high is 12, achieved twice against Tennessee and Baylor.
7 – In third-down situations, West Virginia's defense has allowed the SEVENTH lowest yards-per-carry average in the country this year (1.4), which is also the best in the Big 12.
6 – Quarterback Will Grier has SIX pass plays of 50-plus yards, ranking him second to Oklahoma's Kyler Murray among Big 12 quarterback. He has 18 since the beginning of last year – the most in the conference.
5 – Tony Gibson's defense ranks FIFTH nationally in tackles for loss with an average of 8.6 per game.
4 –Grier moved into FOURTH place in school history with 6,108 career passing yards.
3 – The Mountaineers rank THIRD nationally in team passing efficiency this week with a 182.4 rating.
2 – West Virginia has TWO multi-100-yard receiving performances so far this year, both coming by David Sills V and Gary Jennings Jr. against Tennessee and Baylor.
1 – All but ONE of Gary Jennings Jr.'s 35 catches this year have been for either a first down or a touchdown.
Enjoy today's game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
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