Countdown to Kickoff - Houston
October 12, 2023 12:08 PM | Football
| Tale of the Tape |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Points Per Game | 27.4 | 26.4 |
| Points Against | 29.8 | 19.0 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game | 132.8 | 191.8 |
| Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game | 163.6 | 114.8 |
| Passing Yards Per Game | 281.2 | 155.6 |
| Passing Yards Allowed Per Game | 242.2 | 220.6 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 414.0 | 347.4 |
| Total Yards Allowed Per Game | 405.8 | 335.4 |
| First Downs For | 111 | 98 |
| First Downs Against | 110 | 90 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 3/0 | 4/3 |
| Interceptions/Return Yards | 6/72 | 5/95 |
| Net Punting | 41.7 | 40.9 |
| Field Goal/Attempts | 4/8 | 4/5 |
| Time of Possession | 30:54 | 32:53 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 35/76 | 21/65 |
| 3rd Down Conversion Defense | 27/66 | 20/72 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 2/12 | 9/18 |
| 4th Down Conversion Defense | 7/8 | 7/14 |
| Sacks By/Yards Lost | 9/47 | 12/77 |
It's the first time since WVU played Bobby Bowden in the 2010 Gator Bowl that it's happened. Bowden also faced the Mountaineers in the 1982 and 2004 Gator Bowls.
The other times it occurred were when Clarence Spears coached Maryland in 1943 and 1944, Toledo in 1937 and Wisconsin in 1933, and when Sol Metzger led archrival Washington & Jefferson to a 7-0 victory in 1917.
Bowden won all three times he faced his old team; Spears went 1-2-1 and Metzger was 1-0.
"If this game happened sooner, the buildup would have been a little bigger," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said earlier this week. "When Dana comes back here for the first time, I think it will be a little bit bigger deal. Time heals a lot of things."
Holgorsen, 29-23 in his fifth season at Houston, was asked Monday what it's going to be like facing his old employer.
"It's a question I'm going to get all week, obviously," he said "This is the first-ever meeting between West Virginia and Houston and at the end of the day, I've been in this situation a lot where you leave a place, and you play them and all that. So, the best way I've figured out how to approach it is turn the phone off and go to work.
"This is for the fans. The fans get into that. I mean, I enjoyed my time at West Virginia, there's no question. A lot of really, really good people there and I know a lot of them are coming," he added. "It should make for any exciting game, but at the end of the day, it's about me doing my job and getting my team ready to play."
It's also unique for West Virginia in that the Mountaineers are facing the first of four Big 12 newcomers this year, requiring some additional preliminary preparation to get familiar with them.
"We're both coming off open weeks, and we've got to continue to get better; that's the focus," Brown said. "It's a challenge in this league any time you go on the road. We've got our hands full, and it's a program we've got a lot of respect for."
Holgorsen is well known for his offenses at Oklahoma State, West Virginia and now Houston, and he's one of the best game planners and play callers around. He has an uncanny knack of figuring out what his team does well and taking advantage of it.
Houston's leading receiver Sam Brown is a name familiar to Mountaineer football fans. Neal Brown recruited him out of Savannah, Georgia, and he spent two years in the program before transferring to Houston where he has really blossomed. He leads the Cougars with 34 catches for 518 yards and a touchdown.
Other former Mountaineers on this year's Houston roster include tight end Mike O'Laughlin (four catches for 26 yards), running back Tony Mathis Jr. (23 rushes for 111 yards) and defensive back Noah Guzman (seven tackles and one pass breakup).
Holgorsen has several former West Virginia guys on his staff, including defensive coordinator Doug Belk, special teams coordinator Mark Scott and wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr.
His strength staff includes Darl Bauer and Kevin McCadem, and his player personnel staff includes Ryan Dorchester and Casey Smithson. Former wide receiver T.J. Simmons is involved in the program as well as an offensive graduate assistant coach.
Defensively, Brown compares Houston's front favorably to Texas Tech's, which has given the Mountaineers issues in recent years.
"West Virginia is going to shorten the game," Holgorsen predicted. "They're going to control the clock. They're one of the nation's leaders in time of possession, and they try to limit possessions; that's how they play."
Here is tonight's Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – The Mountaineers rank TENTH nationally in punt return defense allowing just 0.14 yards on seven returns.
9 – West Virginia quarterbacks rank NINTH nationally in interception avoidance by throwing just two picks in 113 attempts so far this year.
8 – WVU has scored EIGHT of its 17 touchdowns this year on first down. Five have been scored on second down, three on third down and one on fourth down.
7 – West Virginia this week ranks SEVENTH nationally with an average of just 3.6 penalties per game.
6 – The Mountaineers have SIX players with at least 25 games of starting experience in college football. They are Devin Carter and Doug Nester (46), Anthony Wilson (41), Zach Frazier (39), Brandon Yates (26) and Wyatt Milum (25).
5 – West Virginia's offensive line has surrendered FIVE fewer yards per game to tackles for losses than last year at the same point in the season.
4 – Houston's Dana Holgorsen becomes the FOURTH former West Virginia coach the Mountaineers have faced on the gridiron. The others are Bobby Bowden, Clarence Spears and Sol Metzger.
3 – Running back CJ Donaldson Jr. has scored a touchdown in THREE straight games, making it the first time he's accomplished that feat since his first THREE games as a Mountaineer in 2022.
2 – WVU blocked TWO field goals in its most recent game against TCU, the first time that's happened in a game since 2002.
1 – West Virginia is meeting Houston for the FIRST time in school history. The Cougars become the Mountaineers' 178th different opponent.
Houston is promoting tonight's game a "Black Out." The contest will be televised nationally on FS1 (Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday mobile apps starts today at 4 p.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show.
Regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning begins at 6 p.m. Be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
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