United Bank Playbook - NC State Preview
September 11, 2019 12:18 PM | Football
| Tale of the Tape |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Points Per Game | 37.5 | 13.5 |
| Points Against | 3.0 | 25.5 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game | 250.0 | 32.0 |
| Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game | 24.5 | 202.0 |
| Passing Yards Per Game | 272.5 | 200.5 |
| Passing Yards Allowed Per Game | 163.0 | 153.0 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 522.5 | 223.5 |
| Total Yards Allowed Per Game | 187.5 | 355.0 |
| First Downs For | 55 | 26 |
| First Downs Against | 24 | 44 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 2/0 | 0/0 |
| Interceptions/Return Ave. | 1/0.0 | 1/7.0 |
| Net Punting | 35.8 | 36.8 |
| Field Goal/Attempts | 4/4 | 2/4 |
| Time of Possession | 33:49 | 30:54 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 10/26 | 13/34 |
| 3rd Down Conversion Defense | 7/28 | 12/29 |
| Sacks By/Yards Lost | 6/41 | 6/43 |
| Red Zone Scoring | 11/11 | 0/1 |
West Virginia is coming off a 38-7 loss at Missouri last Saturday and for the second consecutive week the Mountaineer ground game was non-existent. After two weeks West Virginia has the second-worst rushing offense in college football, averaging just 32 yards per game.
Ironically, dead last this week in rushing is Texas State, which is coached by last year's offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.
Brown said West Virginia's issues running the ball are across the board.
"We've not blocked well. We've not run the ball hard and we've not been physical on the edge, so that's all involved in the run game," Brown said.
Consequently, Brown said some other guys are getting closer looks this week in practice. That's not ideal when a team is trying to get its timing down before facing a quality opponent, but it's more important to get the right guys on the field before worrying about timing and cohesiveness.
Redshirt freshman Briason Mays is going to get a closer look at center, junior college transfer John Hughes and James Gmiter are going to get some more reps at guard and Brown is also going to take a look at some other running backs.
Sophomore Alec Sinkfield, who was also working some at slot receiver during fall camp, was the most effective of the three running backs who played last Saturday at Missouri and Brown indicated he deserves more carries.
Sophomore Leddie Brown, who was out for the first two games of the season, also returned to the field on Tuesday and should be available to play this weekend. Brown is a 212-pounder who could provide some much-needed physicality West Virginia's offense has been sorely lacking.
"He's rusty," the coach said of Brown. "He hasn't done much football in about four weeks, but he's slowly been getting back to it."
Brown detailed even more changes.
He said youngsters Winston Wright and Ali Jennings will also get some work at wide receiver to try and provide a boost to that unit. With the exception of a couple of touchdown catches by George Campbell and Tevin Bush's 41-yard third-quarter reception against James Madison, the pass game has produced little in the way of explosive downfield plays.
A couple of those could make things a lot easier for the entire offense.
"This coaching stuff is not always rocket science," Brown pointed out. "Until we win some one-on-ones it's going to be hard. I mean that in the run game more so than in the pass game."
Defensively, Brown indicated freshman Jordan Jefferson is going to get more reps at nose working with junior Darius Stills. The Mountaineers will also have to do some things schematically to cover up for the loss of junior defensive end Taijh Alston, who underwent season-ending surgery after suffering a torn patella tendon in his knee during last Saturday's loss at Missouri.
With Alston, the Mountaineers were able to play multiple defensive ends in the James Madison game, but Brown said that likely won't be possible now.
Confronting West Virginia this Saturday is a solid NC State team that has not allowed a touchdown on defense, hasn't committed a turnover on offense and runs the ball about as much as it throws it.That's what you get from a Dave Doeren-coached team that has won nine games in each of the last two seasons and has the second most wins in the ACC behind national champion Clemson during that span of time.
Matthew McKay has Kelly Bryant size at quarterback and is coming off a 200-yard passing performance last Saturday against Western Carolina.
Freshman Zonovan "Bam" Knight ran for 119 yards against the Catamounts and is one of four running backs who will see action on Saturday.
Fourteen different players have caught passes so far this year led by Emeka Emezie's nine catches for 102 yards.
Emezie (6-foot-3, 210 pounds), Devin Carter (6-feet-4, 212 pounds), Jasiah Provillon (6-feet-3, 208 pounds) and Max Fisher (6-feet-2, 202 pounds) boast impressive size in the receiver corps, while State also utilizes three tight ends in Dylan Autenrieth, Cary Angeline and Dylan Parham, Angeline being the biggest at 6-feet-7 and weighing 250 pounds.
Defensively, the Wolfpack recently changed from a four-down to a three-down front and will present another great challenge for the Mountaineer offensive line.
Missouri's Jordan Elliott completely controlled the line of scrimmage last Saturday and NC State has a couple of defensive linemen capable of doing the same in Larrell Murchinson and James Smith-Williams.
"They've had a great run of defensive linemen and going into the season they've really promoted (Smith-Williams) as the next guy, and I can see that," Brown said. "Both of those guys are high-end defensive linemen."
Former West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson joined the Wolfpack coaching staff last winter as co-defensive coordinator working with the safeties. Longtime defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable still calls the defenses, but you can already see some Gibson influence in what they're now doing.
"He has some influence defensively just because they switched to a three-down front, and he has experience in a three-down front," Brown said.
Gibson has been involved with some version of the 3-3 stack since the early 2000s when West Virginia made the switch to the stack under Rich Rodriguez.
"Every three-down team has some stack principles depending upon which formation you are in, whether you are in a two-by-two or a three-by-one set," Brown explained.
Gibson's true impact on the game is taking place right now because he is familiar with West Virginia's personnel having recruited many of the guys still on the roster.
"He knows our personnel," Brown admitted. "Hopefully a lot of these guys improved. Now some of our personnel we're playing he hasn't necessarily worked with, but I think Tony's a real good coach. He's done a really good job recruiting.
"I think this game will mean something to him, but once the ball is snapped I'm not sure it will have a great deal of effect on either side," Brown said.
Saturday's game has been designated a Gold Rush with fans encouraged to wear the gold to match the team's all-gold look.
It's also Hall of Fame weekend with nine outstanding contributors being inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday morning inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility prior to the game.
The 2019 class includes Meg Bulger (women's basketball), Steve Dunlap (football), Greg Jones (wrestling), Vertus Jones (wrestling), Darryl Prue (men's basketball), Lisa Stoia (women's soccer), John Thornton (football), Dr. Stefan Thynell (rifle) and Pete White (men's basketball/track & field).
FS1 (Eric Collins and Ben Lever) will televise the game nationally. Kickoff is set for noon.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College will have complete wrap-around radio coverage starting at 8:30 a.m. with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show, featuring Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning, leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi and Dwight Wallace beginning at 11 a.m.
NC State will be making its first appearance in Morgantown since 1979 when the Wolfpack defeated West Virginia 38-14 during the final year at the old stadium.
The only other meeting since then took place in the Champs Sports Bowl when NC State defeated West Virginia 23-7.
A scheduled meeting last year in Raleigh was canceled because of Hurricane Florence.
Players Mentioned
DL
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
OL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
OL
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ FootballRich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
