Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Hot Reads: Let's Play Two
September 28, 2018 09:51 AM | Football
Radio sideline reporter Jed Drenning provides periodic commentary on the Mountaineer football program for WVUsports.com. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @TheSignalCaller.
Where were you a year ago this Saturday?
I know where Alan Bowman was.
It was Sept. 29, 2017, a Friday evening in Bowman's hometown of Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Grapevine has occupied a chunk of North Texas real estate since the mid-1800s when the settlement, initially a band of homesteaders, was organized against Comanche raiding parties by Gen. Richard Montgomery Gano, who owned property in the area. In more recent times, the community has transformed into a booming center of commerce, owing to its proximity to DFW – one of the largest airports in the world.
But in accordance with the unwritten law of the Lone Star State, when the Friday night lights at Mustang-Panther Stadium in Grapevine come on, all focus turns to the gridiron. And that's where Alan Bowman found himself 364 days ago.
Long before taking Lubbock by surprise as the most unlikely guy to nudge aside names like Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield in the Texas Tech freshman record book, Bowman was the triggerman for the Grapevine High Mustangs -- and what a night GHS was having against Fort Worth Polytechnic.
Grapevine opened the game through the air, passing on every down of its first possession, which culminated in a Bowman scoring strike. A quick stop was followed by another Mustangs touchdown. Then another. And another. By halftime, the demolition was in full force at 50-0 and Grapevine never looked back, cruising to a decisive 70-0 win.
Bowman threw for a modest – all things considered – 202 yards before giving way to the reserves. Adding insult to injury for Polytechnic was the fact that the Parrots finished with minus 1 yard of total offense.
A little birdie will tell you Bowman's opponent on the one-year anniversary of that blowout win, Will Grier and the No. 12 West Virginia Mountaineers tomorrow at noon Eastern, might muster a little more offensive output than did those poor Poly Parrots. Say that five times fast.
Bowman's story has picked up steam in the last handful of weeks and why not? As a true freshman early enrollee, he spent the offseason in a three-way battle for the job, earning the No. 2 spot going into the opener against Ole Miss before McLane Carter's ankle injury thrust Bowman into action.
Straight off the Texas Tech conveyor belt that manufactures prolific passers like Ford churned out Model T cars, Bowman has settled into the role quickly. In his first start, he completed 88 percent of his passes. In his second, he eclipsed Mahomes' Big 12 single-game freshman passing mark with 605 yards, earning multiple national player of the week honors. In his third start, he led the Red Raiders into the hostile confines of T. Boone Pickens Stadium and blistered then-No. 15 Oklahoma State with 397 yards as TTU upended the Cowboys 41-17.
Two years ago, WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson famously did what no NFL team has done this fall when he bottled up Mahomes in the Mountaineers' 48-17 win. The task in Lubbock this time feels nearly as tall. Rattling Bowman will be easier said than done. In a whirlwind three-plus games, he's already crossed swords with an SEC defense (Ole Miss), stared down the top-rated defender in the nation (Houston's Ed Oliver) and sent the Paddle People of Oklahoma State's West End Zone packing.
The Red Raiders' weapon of choice is movement -- motions and shifts that make an array of funky formations seem even funkier. They love window dressing, but their silver bullet offensively is tempo. A raw, unapologetic, warp speed approach that rips off a play every 23 seconds.
In many ways, Texas Tech's greatest ability is the defense's inability to keep pace, leading to missed assignments, blown coverages and other gaffes. Throw in the coaches' video and examples of it are everywhere. Deep corners rolled up into short zone coverage with no help overtop, linebackers directing traffic even as the ball is snapped, defensive linemen caught upright.
Thriving on the chaos its speed creates, Tech averages a national-best 93.3 snaps per game. Compare that to the snap totals during West Virginia's days in the more methodical and plodding Big East.
In 2010, for example, when Bruce Irvin and the Mountaineers finished No. 3 in the country in total defense, WVU faced an average of just 62 plays per contest. Twice that season the West Virginia defense faced a mere 51 snaps. Try and square that against Big 12 play where, for instance, the Mountaineers two years ago faced 50 snaps against the Texas Longhorns – by halftime.
In other words, putting a modern twist on Ernie Banks famous "Let's play two" line, defenses in the Big 12 Conference are sometimes asked to defend not one but nearly two games' worth of plays. That places an obvious premium on turnovers and third-down success – the things that most directly impact possessions.
In the spirit of the feverish tempo the Mountaineers will confront on Saturday, here are 93 quick-hitting bullet points – one for each snap the Red Raiders are averaging. Feel free to tap out and take a breather when the need arises. We've got plenty of fluids on the sideline.
1. Texas Tech has lost eight times under Kliff Kingsbury in which they've run more than 93 plays.
2. One of those eight losses was this year's opener against Ole Miss (47-27) when the Red Raiders ran 95 plays.
3.TTU leads the Big 12 and ranks No. 5 nationally in time of possession, gobbling up 36 minutes per game.
4. The Red Raiders haven't finished higher than No. 48 nationally in time of possession since the NCAA began tracking the stat in 2005.
5. WVU leaders – receiving yards per game: Marcus Simms 98.3, David Sills V 82.0, Gary Jennings Jr. 80.3
6. These numbers establish West Virginia as the only team in the country featuring THREE different pass catchers averaging 80 or more receiving yards per game.
7. Texas Tech's win at Oklahoma State last week was its first victory in Stillwater since 2001.
8. Bowman threw 151 passes before suffering the first interception of his college career.
9. Kirk Bohls of the Austin-American Statesman has West Virginia ranked No. 5 in his poll – higher than any other AP voter.
10. WVU's spot in the various voters' polls ranges from a high of No. 5 with Bohls to a low of No. 16 by Bill Landis of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
11. Interestingly, Landis has No. 25 Texas Tech ranked No. 20 in his poll.
12. To lift the curtain and see how others voted, visit CollegePollTracker.com
13. Texas Tech ran for 224 yards in last Saturday's win in Stillwater, paced by Demarcus Felton's career-high 130.
14. The Red Raiders achieved those rushing numbers against an OSU defense that seven days earlier held Boise State to 34 yards on the ground.
15. West Virginia is tied with Utah at No. 1 in the country in scoring defense (12.3 points per game).
16. At 389 passing yards per game, Bowman leads the nation.
17. At 372 passing yards per game, Grier ranks No. 3 in the country.
18. Averaging 52.3 points per game, Texas Tech leads the Big 12 in scoring and ranks No. 5 in the country.
19. Kliff Kingsbury credits Dana Holgorsen as being the person who got him into coaching.
20. As members of Kevin Sumlin's Houston coaching staff in 2008, Holgorsen and Kingsbury shared a two-bedroom apartment in midtown Houston.
21. Simms' 82-yard TD against Kansas State last week was the ninth-longest in WVU history and the third-longest of the Holgorsen era.
22. The two under Holgorsen longer than Simms' catch were Stedman Bailey's 87-yard scoring grab against Baylor in 2012 and Bailey's 84-yarder against UConn in 2011.
23. Texas Tech is seeking victories over top-15 opponents in back-to-back weeks for the first time since 2008.
24. The last time the Red Raiders took down ranked opponents in consecutive weeks was 2012.
25. Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal has reported that Red Raiders wide receiver T.J. Vasher is doubtful against WVU after suffering a knee sprain at Oklahoma State
26. Vasher is a long-bodied (6-foot-5) playmaker who hurt the Mountaineers last year in Morgantown with touchdown grabs of 60 and 53 yards.
27. Texas Tech leads the country in total offense with an average of 624 yards per game.
28. TTU last led the nation in total offense in 2016 (567 per game) and finished No. 2 in the country in 2015 (580 per game).
29. West Virginia leads the Big 12 in total defense (304 yards per game).
30.After converting just 33.5% of third downs in 2017 (seventh in the Big 12), Dana Holgorsen and Jake Spavital made it an offseason focus for the WVU offense.
31.Mission accomplished so far. The Mountaineers lead all Power 5 teams with a third-down success rate of 62.5% this year.
32. Texas Tech is one of only 10 FBS teams to reach the end zone on 100% of its red-zone possessions at home this year, but the only one of the 10 to be in double digits (14 TDs in 14 RZ trips).
33.Snap Counts in 2017 game: TTU 72, WVU 70 (WVU won 46-35)
34. Snap Counts in 2016 game: WVU 77, TTU 77 (WVU won 48-17)
35. Snap Counts in 2015 game: WVU 81, TTU 78 (WVU won 31-26)
36. Snap Counts in 2014 game: WVU 94, TTU 84 (WVU won 37-34)
37. Snap Counts in 2013 game: WVU 82, TTU 81 (TTU won 37-27)
38. Snap Counts in 2012 game: WVU 91, TTU 72 (TTU won 49-14)
39. Since the start of 2017, Will Grier has thrown 23 TD passes in the red zone
— 16 of which have gone to David Sills V.
40. Those 16 red-zone touchdown catches by Sills V since the start of 2017 lead all FBS pass catchers.
41. After helping the Houston Cougars force 73 turnovers in two years (2014-15), defensive coordinator David Gibbs was lured to Lubbock to help Texas Tech generate takeaways.
42. Turnovers forced by TTU in the 42 games with Gibbs: 74
43. Turnovers forced by TTU in the 42 games preceding Gibbs' arrival: 50
44.His performance against K-State pushed Simms atop the Big 12 all-purpose yardage leaderboard (149 per game).
45.Simms now ranks No. 12 nationally in that category. He finished No. 2 in this category last year.
46. The last Mountaineer to actually finish a season atop the Big 12 all-purpose yardage heap was Tavon Austin back in 2012.
47. The WVU offense is tied for No. 2 in the nation in tackles-for-loss allowed per game.
48. Percentage of third-down throws that move the sticks: #1) 66.7% - Will Grier, WVU (16/24), #2) 65.0% Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama (13/20)
49. If this was the Mountaineers' 34-13 win over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in 2009, the game would be over with this – your 49th defensive snap of the afternoon. But it's not, so forge on.
50. Via @DavidHaleESPNon Twitter: Percent of possible yards gained (i.e. if you'd scored a TD on every drive): 1. Ohio State 2. NC State 3. Oklahoma 4. WVU
51. If this was West Virginia's 2003 win over No. 3 ranked Virginia Tech your day would be complete with this 51st defensive snap. But, again, it isn't. Keep plugging along.
52.With 605 yards against Houston, Bowman became just the third freshman in NCAA history to throw for more than 600 yards in a game.
53. Bowman's total eclipsed the previous Big 12 freshman mark of 598 yards set by Mahomes against Baylor in 2014.
54.Bowman's performance against Houston marked the 18th time in FBS history and the fifth time a TTU quarterback threw for 600-plus yards.
55. If this was West Virginia's watershed 17-14 win over No. 4 Miami in 1993, this 55th snap would signal the end of the game for the Mountaineer defense. But not today. There's a lot of football left, so move it along – nothing to see here.
56. The last time WVU visited Jones AT&T Stadium, Tony Gibson's 'Dawgs' limited TTU to 17 points, snapping the Red Raiders' NCAA record streak of nine straight home games with 50-plus points scored.
57.In that 2016 win, West Virginia held the Red Raiders ground game to 1.26 yards per attempt — its lowest in a home game since 2010.
58. Texas Tech's "Masked Rider" was the nation's first mascot to ride on horseback.
59. The Rider easily predates Florida's State's Chief Osceola and Renegade as well as USC's Traveler.
60. Texas Tech ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 14 nationally in third-down defense (27. 9%).
61. If this was WVU's 21-20 upset of No. 4 Boston College in 1984, snap No. 61 would be the end of your day as a Mountaineer defender. But this isn't 1984. You're not chasing Doug Flutie, you're chasing Alan Bowman – and your day isn't nearly over yet.
62.Grier has played 13 complete games at WVU (discounting the Texas game in which he left early with an injury), posting a 10-3 record.
63. In 12 of those 13 games Grier has thrown for more than 300 yards.
64. In 8 of those 13 games he's thrown for 350 yards.
65. In 8 of those 13 games he's completed at least 70 percent of his throws.
66. In seven of those 13 games he's thrown at least 4 TD passes.
67. In five of those 13 games he's had 5 TD passes.
68. Since the start of the 2017 season, Grier has 42 completions of 30-plus yards. That's the most among FBS passers.
69. In its 63-49 win over Houston two weeks ago, Tech ran its 69th offensive play with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
70.The WVU defense ranks No. 3 nationally with an average of 10.3 tackles-for-loss per game.
71. Breakdowns of West Virginia's 31.0 TFL's by position group: Linebackers – 11, Defensive Line – 11, Defensive Backs – 9.
72. Last year's 46-35 win in Morgantown marked WVU's second-biggest comeback in Mountaineer Field history, crawling back from a 35-17 deficit.
73. In last season's matchup, Texas Tech was flagged 16 times for 159 yards, including three pass interference calls on one third-quarter TD drive by West Virginia.
74. WVU in the game drew 9 penalties for 93 yards.
75. TTU's regular kicker Clayton Hatfield didn't make the trip and the Red Raiders missed three field goals.
76. Grier was 8-10 for 109 yards passing in the fourth quarter including a pair of touchdowns.
77. After gashing the Red Raiders for more than 300 rushing yards the previous two meetings, WVU was held to 44 yards on the ground.
78. Those 44 rushing yards were the fewest by West Virginia in a regular season game since Alabama limited the Mountaineers to 28 in the 2014 opener.
79. Trailing by 18 in the third quarter last year, the Mountaineer defense tightened up, holding TTU scoreless on its final five possessions to set the stage for the comeback.
80. Texas Tech ranks last in the Big 12 and No. 110 in the country in pass defense, yielding 284 yards per game.
81. The Red Raider defense has allowed 14 scrimmage plays of 30-plus yards this season, tied for the most among Power 5 teams.
82. Grier's national rankings: pass yards per attempt – 11.8 (No. 2), completion percentage – 74.7 (No. 3), passer rating – 215.8 (No. 2)
83. Current school records in those categories – pass yards per attempt – 9.7 (Jake Kelchner, 1993), completion percentage – 71.2 (Geno Smith, 2012), passer rating – 164.0 (Kelchner, 1993)
84. Bowman will be the ninth freshman starting quarterback West Virginia has faced since Gibson took over as defensive coordinator in 2014.
85. WVU's record in the previous eight games against freshman signal callers is 6-2 (4-1 vs. true freshmen, 2-1 vs. redshirts).
86. In those eight games, WVU has held opponents to a 26.6% success rate on third down.
87. Opposing offenses in those eight games have averaged 22 points per outing.
88. Those eight previous freshman QBs have completed 54.7% of their throws against Gibby's 'Dawgs,' tossing 10 touchdowns against 11 interceptions and losing three fumbles.
89. Tevin Bush crowd surfing on the WVU sidelines following his TD catch last week against Kansas State was everything that's right with college football. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and go check it out.
90. Since the start of the 2000 season, Texas Tech has amassed more total yards (114,711) and passing yards (88,580) than any team in the country.
91.Holgorsen and Kingsbury have coached 160 combined games at their respective schools.
92.During that time, their offenses have gained a total of 79,880 yards.
93.That equates to 45.4 miles ... proving it's always faster to travel by air.
Congratulations – the final gun just sounded and 93 snaps are in the books.
I don't know where I was a year ago, but I know where I'll be on Saturday.
In the meantime, I'll see you at the 50.
Where were you a year ago this Saturday?
I know where Alan Bowman was.
It was Sept. 29, 2017, a Friday evening in Bowman's hometown of Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Grapevine has occupied a chunk of North Texas real estate since the mid-1800s when the settlement, initially a band of homesteaders, was organized against Comanche raiding parties by Gen. Richard Montgomery Gano, who owned property in the area. In more recent times, the community has transformed into a booming center of commerce, owing to its proximity to DFW – one of the largest airports in the world.
But in accordance with the unwritten law of the Lone Star State, when the Friday night lights at Mustang-Panther Stadium in Grapevine come on, all focus turns to the gridiron. And that's where Alan Bowman found himself 364 days ago.
Long before taking Lubbock by surprise as the most unlikely guy to nudge aside names like Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield in the Texas Tech freshman record book, Bowman was the triggerman for the Grapevine High Mustangs -- and what a night GHS was having against Fort Worth Polytechnic.
Grapevine opened the game through the air, passing on every down of its first possession, which culminated in a Bowman scoring strike. A quick stop was followed by another Mustangs touchdown. Then another. And another. By halftime, the demolition was in full force at 50-0 and Grapevine never looked back, cruising to a decisive 70-0 win.
Bowman threw for a modest – all things considered – 202 yards before giving way to the reserves. Adding insult to injury for Polytechnic was the fact that the Parrots finished with minus 1 yard of total offense.
A little birdie will tell you Bowman's opponent on the one-year anniversary of that blowout win, Will Grier and the No. 12 West Virginia Mountaineers tomorrow at noon Eastern, might muster a little more offensive output than did those poor Poly Parrots. Say that five times fast.
Bowman's story has picked up steam in the last handful of weeks and why not? As a true freshman early enrollee, he spent the offseason in a three-way battle for the job, earning the No. 2 spot going into the opener against Ole Miss before McLane Carter's ankle injury thrust Bowman into action.
Straight off the Texas Tech conveyor belt that manufactures prolific passers like Ford churned out Model T cars, Bowman has settled into the role quickly. In his first start, he completed 88 percent of his passes. In his second, he eclipsed Mahomes' Big 12 single-game freshman passing mark with 605 yards, earning multiple national player of the week honors. In his third start, he led the Red Raiders into the hostile confines of T. Boone Pickens Stadium and blistered then-No. 15 Oklahoma State with 397 yards as TTU upended the Cowboys 41-17.
Two years ago, WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson famously did what no NFL team has done this fall when he bottled up Mahomes in the Mountaineers' 48-17 win. The task in Lubbock this time feels nearly as tall. Rattling Bowman will be easier said than done. In a whirlwind three-plus games, he's already crossed swords with an SEC defense (Ole Miss), stared down the top-rated defender in the nation (Houston's Ed Oliver) and sent the Paddle People of Oklahoma State's West End Zone packing. The Red Raiders' weapon of choice is movement -- motions and shifts that make an array of funky formations seem even funkier. They love window dressing, but their silver bullet offensively is tempo. A raw, unapologetic, warp speed approach that rips off a play every 23 seconds.
In many ways, Texas Tech's greatest ability is the defense's inability to keep pace, leading to missed assignments, blown coverages and other gaffes. Throw in the coaches' video and examples of it are everywhere. Deep corners rolled up into short zone coverage with no help overtop, linebackers directing traffic even as the ball is snapped, defensive linemen caught upright.
Thriving on the chaos its speed creates, Tech averages a national-best 93.3 snaps per game. Compare that to the snap totals during West Virginia's days in the more methodical and plodding Big East.
In 2010, for example, when Bruce Irvin and the Mountaineers finished No. 3 in the country in total defense, WVU faced an average of just 62 plays per contest. Twice that season the West Virginia defense faced a mere 51 snaps. Try and square that against Big 12 play where, for instance, the Mountaineers two years ago faced 50 snaps against the Texas Longhorns – by halftime.
In other words, putting a modern twist on Ernie Banks famous "Let's play two" line, defenses in the Big 12 Conference are sometimes asked to defend not one but nearly two games' worth of plays. That places an obvious premium on turnovers and third-down success – the things that most directly impact possessions.
In the spirit of the feverish tempo the Mountaineers will confront on Saturday, here are 93 quick-hitting bullet points – one for each snap the Red Raiders are averaging. Feel free to tap out and take a breather when the need arises. We've got plenty of fluids on the sideline.
1. Texas Tech has lost eight times under Kliff Kingsbury in which they've run more than 93 plays.
2. One of those eight losses was this year's opener against Ole Miss (47-27) when the Red Raiders ran 95 plays.
3.TTU leads the Big 12 and ranks No. 5 nationally in time of possession, gobbling up 36 minutes per game.
4. The Red Raiders haven't finished higher than No. 48 nationally in time of possession since the NCAA began tracking the stat in 2005.
5. WVU leaders – receiving yards per game: Marcus Simms 98.3, David Sills V 82.0, Gary Jennings Jr. 80.3
6. These numbers establish West Virginia as the only team in the country featuring THREE different pass catchers averaging 80 or more receiving yards per game.
7. Texas Tech's win at Oklahoma State last week was its first victory in Stillwater since 2001.
8. Bowman threw 151 passes before suffering the first interception of his college career.
9. Kirk Bohls of the Austin-American Statesman has West Virginia ranked No. 5 in his poll – higher than any other AP voter.
10. WVU's spot in the various voters' polls ranges from a high of No. 5 with Bohls to a low of No. 16 by Bill Landis of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
11. Interestingly, Landis has No. 25 Texas Tech ranked No. 20 in his poll.
12. To lift the curtain and see how others voted, visit CollegePollTracker.com
13. Texas Tech ran for 224 yards in last Saturday's win in Stillwater, paced by Demarcus Felton's career-high 130.
14. The Red Raiders achieved those rushing numbers against an OSU defense that seven days earlier held Boise State to 34 yards on the ground.
15. West Virginia is tied with Utah at No. 1 in the country in scoring defense (12.3 points per game).
16. At 389 passing yards per game, Bowman leads the nation.
17. At 372 passing yards per game, Grier ranks No. 3 in the country.
18. Averaging 52.3 points per game, Texas Tech leads the Big 12 in scoring and ranks No. 5 in the country.
19. Kliff Kingsbury credits Dana Holgorsen as being the person who got him into coaching.
20. As members of Kevin Sumlin's Houston coaching staff in 2008, Holgorsen and Kingsbury shared a two-bedroom apartment in midtown Houston.
21. Simms' 82-yard TD against Kansas State last week was the ninth-longest in WVU history and the third-longest of the Holgorsen era.
22. The two under Holgorsen longer than Simms' catch were Stedman Bailey's 87-yard scoring grab against Baylor in 2012 and Bailey's 84-yarder against UConn in 2011.
23. Texas Tech is seeking victories over top-15 opponents in back-to-back weeks for the first time since 2008.
24. The last time the Red Raiders took down ranked opponents in consecutive weeks was 2012.
25. Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal has reported that Red Raiders wide receiver T.J. Vasher is doubtful against WVU after suffering a knee sprain at Oklahoma State
26. Vasher is a long-bodied (6-foot-5) playmaker who hurt the Mountaineers last year in Morgantown with touchdown grabs of 60 and 53 yards.
27. Texas Tech leads the country in total offense with an average of 624 yards per game.
28. TTU last led the nation in total offense in 2016 (567 per game) and finished No. 2 in the country in 2015 (580 per game).
29. West Virginia leads the Big 12 in total defense (304 yards per game).
30.After converting just 33.5% of third downs in 2017 (seventh in the Big 12), Dana Holgorsen and Jake Spavital made it an offseason focus for the WVU offense. 31.Mission accomplished so far. The Mountaineers lead all Power 5 teams with a third-down success rate of 62.5% this year.
32. Texas Tech is one of only 10 FBS teams to reach the end zone on 100% of its red-zone possessions at home this year, but the only one of the 10 to be in double digits (14 TDs in 14 RZ trips).
33.Snap Counts in 2017 game: TTU 72, WVU 70 (WVU won 46-35)
34. Snap Counts in 2016 game: WVU 77, TTU 77 (WVU won 48-17)
35. Snap Counts in 2015 game: WVU 81, TTU 78 (WVU won 31-26)
36. Snap Counts in 2014 game: WVU 94, TTU 84 (WVU won 37-34)
37. Snap Counts in 2013 game: WVU 82, TTU 81 (TTU won 37-27)
38. Snap Counts in 2012 game: WVU 91, TTU 72 (TTU won 49-14)
39. Since the start of 2017, Will Grier has thrown 23 TD passes in the red zone
— 16 of which have gone to David Sills V.
40. Those 16 red-zone touchdown catches by Sills V since the start of 2017 lead all FBS pass catchers.
41. After helping the Houston Cougars force 73 turnovers in two years (2014-15), defensive coordinator David Gibbs was lured to Lubbock to help Texas Tech generate takeaways.
42. Turnovers forced by TTU in the 42 games with Gibbs: 74
43. Turnovers forced by TTU in the 42 games preceding Gibbs' arrival: 50
44.His performance against K-State pushed Simms atop the Big 12 all-purpose yardage leaderboard (149 per game).
45.Simms now ranks No. 12 nationally in that category. He finished No. 2 in this category last year.
46. The last Mountaineer to actually finish a season atop the Big 12 all-purpose yardage heap was Tavon Austin back in 2012.
47. The WVU offense is tied for No. 2 in the nation in tackles-for-loss allowed per game.
48. Percentage of third-down throws that move the sticks: #1) 66.7% - Will Grier, WVU (16/24), #2) 65.0% Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama (13/20)
49. If this was the Mountaineers' 34-13 win over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in 2009, the game would be over with this – your 49th defensive snap of the afternoon. But it's not, so forge on.
50. Via @DavidHaleESPNon Twitter: Percent of possible yards gained (i.e. if you'd scored a TD on every drive): 1. Ohio State 2. NC State 3. Oklahoma 4. WVU
51. If this was West Virginia's 2003 win over No. 3 ranked Virginia Tech your day would be complete with this 51st defensive snap. But, again, it isn't. Keep plugging along.
52.With 605 yards against Houston, Bowman became just the third freshman in NCAA history to throw for more than 600 yards in a game.
53. Bowman's total eclipsed the previous Big 12 freshman mark of 598 yards set by Mahomes against Baylor in 2014.
54.Bowman's performance against Houston marked the 18th time in FBS history and the fifth time a TTU quarterback threw for 600-plus yards.
55. If this was West Virginia's watershed 17-14 win over No. 4 Miami in 1993, this 55th snap would signal the end of the game for the Mountaineer defense. But not today. There's a lot of football left, so move it along – nothing to see here.
56. The last time WVU visited Jones AT&T Stadium, Tony Gibson's 'Dawgs' limited TTU to 17 points, snapping the Red Raiders' NCAA record streak of nine straight home games with 50-plus points scored.
57.In that 2016 win, West Virginia held the Red Raiders ground game to 1.26 yards per attempt — its lowest in a home game since 2010.
58. Texas Tech's "Masked Rider" was the nation's first mascot to ride on horseback.
59. The Rider easily predates Florida's State's Chief Osceola and Renegade as well as USC's Traveler.
60. Texas Tech ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 14 nationally in third-down defense (27. 9%).
61. If this was WVU's 21-20 upset of No. 4 Boston College in 1984, snap No. 61 would be the end of your day as a Mountaineer defender. But this isn't 1984. You're not chasing Doug Flutie, you're chasing Alan Bowman – and your day isn't nearly over yet.
62.Grier has played 13 complete games at WVU (discounting the Texas game in which he left early with an injury), posting a 10-3 record.
63. In 12 of those 13 games Grier has thrown for more than 300 yards.
64. In 8 of those 13 games he's thrown for 350 yards.
65. In 8 of those 13 games he's completed at least 70 percent of his throws.
66. In seven of those 13 games he's thrown at least 4 TD passes.
67. In five of those 13 games he's had 5 TD passes.
68. Since the start of the 2017 season, Grier has 42 completions of 30-plus yards. That's the most among FBS passers.
69. In its 63-49 win over Houston two weeks ago, Tech ran its 69th offensive play with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
70.The WVU defense ranks No. 3 nationally with an average of 10.3 tackles-for-loss per game.
71. Breakdowns of West Virginia's 31.0 TFL's by position group: Linebackers – 11, Defensive Line – 11, Defensive Backs – 9.
72. Last year's 46-35 win in Morgantown marked WVU's second-biggest comeback in Mountaineer Field history, crawling back from a 35-17 deficit.
73. In last season's matchup, Texas Tech was flagged 16 times for 159 yards, including three pass interference calls on one third-quarter TD drive by West Virginia.
74. WVU in the game drew 9 penalties for 93 yards.
75. TTU's regular kicker Clayton Hatfield didn't make the trip and the Red Raiders missed three field goals.
76. Grier was 8-10 for 109 yards passing in the fourth quarter including a pair of touchdowns.
77. After gashing the Red Raiders for more than 300 rushing yards the previous two meetings, WVU was held to 44 yards on the ground.
78. Those 44 rushing yards were the fewest by West Virginia in a regular season game since Alabama limited the Mountaineers to 28 in the 2014 opener.
79. Trailing by 18 in the third quarter last year, the Mountaineer defense tightened up, holding TTU scoreless on its final five possessions to set the stage for the comeback.
80. Texas Tech ranks last in the Big 12 and No. 110 in the country in pass defense, yielding 284 yards per game.
81. The Red Raider defense has allowed 14 scrimmage plays of 30-plus yards this season, tied for the most among Power 5 teams.
82. Grier's national rankings: pass yards per attempt – 11.8 (No. 2), completion percentage – 74.7 (No. 3), passer rating – 215.8 (No. 2) 83. Current school records in those categories – pass yards per attempt – 9.7 (Jake Kelchner, 1993), completion percentage – 71.2 (Geno Smith, 2012), passer rating – 164.0 (Kelchner, 1993)
84. Bowman will be the ninth freshman starting quarterback West Virginia has faced since Gibson took over as defensive coordinator in 2014.
85. WVU's record in the previous eight games against freshman signal callers is 6-2 (4-1 vs. true freshmen, 2-1 vs. redshirts).
86. In those eight games, WVU has held opponents to a 26.6% success rate on third down.
87. Opposing offenses in those eight games have averaged 22 points per outing.
88. Those eight previous freshman QBs have completed 54.7% of their throws against Gibby's 'Dawgs,' tossing 10 touchdowns against 11 interceptions and losing three fumbles.
89. Tevin Bush crowd surfing on the WVU sidelines following his TD catch last week against Kansas State was everything that's right with college football. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and go check it out.
90. Since the start of the 2000 season, Texas Tech has amassed more total yards (114,711) and passing yards (88,580) than any team in the country.
91.Holgorsen and Kingsbury have coached 160 combined games at their respective schools.
92.During that time, their offenses have gained a total of 79,880 yards.
93.That equates to 45.4 miles ... proving it's always faster to travel by air.
Congratulations – the final gun just sounded and 93 snaps are in the books.
I don't know where I was a year ago, but I know where I'll be on Saturday.
In the meantime, I'll see you at the 50.
Players Mentioned
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Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 15
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Mic'd Up with Coach Rich Rodriguez
Wednesday, April 15
