Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Football Friday - Texas Preview
September 30, 2022 02:00 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Oliver Straw, freshman punter from Melbourne, Australia, gets us prepped for Saturday night's game at Texas in today's Football Friday, presented by the West Virginia Lottery.
Here are some of the vitals Oliver highlights in today's game preview:
* WVU is 13-3-2 in games played on Oct. 1, including 4-1-2 in games played on the road. The first time that WVU played on Oct. 1, was in 1904 when the Mountaineers defeated California (Pa.), 16-0 at home. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2016 vs. Kansas State at home (W 17-16). The last time that West Virginia played on the road on Oct. 1 was against Missouri in 1994 (W 34-10)
* West Virginia is 26-22-1 against schools from the state of Texas, including 24-20 against schools that play at the Power 5 level
* WVU is 95-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle
* The Mountaineers are No. 21 nationally in third-down conversions (.492) and No. 5 in fourth-down conversions (.900)
* WVU is No. 5 nationally in first down offense (114) and No. 35 in first down defense (68)
* West Virginia is averaging 42.75 points per game, tying for No. 14 nationally
* WVU is one of five Power 5 schools to rank in the top 25 nationally in rushing offense (20) and rushing defense (25)
* West Virginia is one of nine Power 5 schools to rank in the top 25 nationally in total offense (18) and total defense (23)
* According to PFF College, Bryce Ford-Wheaton is tied for No. 1 nationally among Power 5 receivers in number of contested catches (8)
* West Virginia is the only Big 12 school to boast two running backs who rank among the top 10 rushers in the league (Donaldson - 4, Mathis - 9) in total rushing yards
* The Mountaineers have three of the top seven receivers in the Big 12 Conference in receiving yards (Ford-Wheaton - 3, Kaden Prather - 6, Sam James - 7). No other team has more than one ranked in that group
* QB JT Daniels ranks No. 31 nationally in completions per game (21.5)
* RB CJ Donaldson Jr. is No. 7 nationally in rushing yards per carry (7.31) and rushing touchdowns (6), No. 11 in total touchdowns (6) and No. 28 in rushing yards (380)
* Ford-Wheaton is one of just four players in the nation with 27 catches and four touchdowns. He is tied for No. 2 nationally in catches of 10 yards or more (12), No. 17 in receptions per game (6.8) and No. 20 in receiving touchdowns (4)
* K Casey Legg is tied for No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage (100.0 - 8/8) and No. 5 in field goals per game (2.00)
* Legg is No. 15 nationally in scoring (10.2) and Donaldson is No. 29 (9.0)
* DL Dante Stills is tied for No. 9 in the Big 12 Conference in sacks (2.5), Taijh Alston is tied for No. 1 in forced fumbles (2) and Caden Biser and Lee Kpogba are tied for No. 2 in fumbles recovered (1)
* Stills currently has 46.5 tackles for loss in his WVU career and needs one more to tie Grant Wiley for the school lead. He also is tied for No. 6 in school history with 21.5 sacks
Saturday night's game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman).
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 4:30 p.m. leading into regular network coverage at 6:30 with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile apps WVU Gameday and the Varsity Network.
Here are some of the vitals Oliver highlights in today's game preview:
* WVU is 13-3-2 in games played on Oct. 1, including 4-1-2 in games played on the road. The first time that WVU played on Oct. 1, was in 1904 when the Mountaineers defeated California (Pa.), 16-0 at home. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2016 vs. Kansas State at home (W 17-16). The last time that West Virginia played on the road on Oct. 1 was against Missouri in 1994 (W 34-10)
* West Virginia is 26-22-1 against schools from the state of Texas, including 24-20 against schools that play at the Power 5 level
* WVU is 95-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle
* The Mountaineers are No. 21 nationally in third-down conversions (.492) and No. 5 in fourth-down conversions (.900)
* WVU is No. 5 nationally in first down offense (114) and No. 35 in first down defense (68)
* West Virginia is averaging 42.75 points per game, tying for No. 14 nationally
* WVU is one of five Power 5 schools to rank in the top 25 nationally in rushing offense (20) and rushing defense (25)
* West Virginia is one of nine Power 5 schools to rank in the top 25 nationally in total offense (18) and total defense (23)
* According to PFF College, Bryce Ford-Wheaton is tied for No. 1 nationally among Power 5 receivers in number of contested catches (8)
* West Virginia is the only Big 12 school to boast two running backs who rank among the top 10 rushers in the league (Donaldson - 4, Mathis - 9) in total rushing yards
* The Mountaineers have three of the top seven receivers in the Big 12 Conference in receiving yards (Ford-Wheaton - 3, Kaden Prather - 6, Sam James - 7). No other team has more than one ranked in that group
* QB JT Daniels ranks No. 31 nationally in completions per game (21.5)
* RB CJ Donaldson Jr. is No. 7 nationally in rushing yards per carry (7.31) and rushing touchdowns (6), No. 11 in total touchdowns (6) and No. 28 in rushing yards (380)
* Ford-Wheaton is one of just four players in the nation with 27 catches and four touchdowns. He is tied for No. 2 nationally in catches of 10 yards or more (12), No. 17 in receptions per game (6.8) and No. 20 in receiving touchdowns (4)
* K Casey Legg is tied for No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage (100.0 - 8/8) and No. 5 in field goals per game (2.00)
* Legg is No. 15 nationally in scoring (10.2) and Donaldson is No. 29 (9.0)
* DL Dante Stills is tied for No. 9 in the Big 12 Conference in sacks (2.5), Taijh Alston is tied for No. 1 in forced fumbles (2) and Caden Biser and Lee Kpogba are tied for No. 2 in fumbles recovered (1)
* Stills currently has 46.5 tackles for loss in his WVU career and needs one more to tie Grant Wiley for the school lead. He also is tied for No. 6 in school history with 21.5 sacks
Saturday night's game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman).
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 4:30 p.m. leading into regular network coverage at 6:30 with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile apps WVU Gameday and the Varsity Network.
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