Junior tight end Mike O'Laughlin gets us prepped for Saturday evening's home opener against Kansas in today's Football Friday, presented by the West Virginia Lottery.
Here are some of the key game notes Mike highlights in today's game preview:
- The 2022 season marks West Virginia's 130th season of football. The Mountaineers are the 15th winningest program in college football
- The 2022 year marks the 43rd season of competition for West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium. WVU has a 189-72-4 (.721) all-time mark at the facility, which opened in 1980
- WVU is 7-1 in games played on Sept. 10, including 7-0 in games played at home. The first time that WVU played on Sept. 10, was in 1977 when the Mountaineers defeated Richmond, 36-0. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2016 vs. Youngstown State at home (W 38-24)
- In home openers, West Virginia is 101-20-6, including winning 18 in a row. WVU is 38-4-1 in home openers since 1980, including 21-1 since 2000
- WVU has won all six meetings against Kansas in Morgantown, outscoring the Jayhawks, 237-84, an average of 39.5 - 14
- West Virginia is 16-7 against schools from the state of Kansas, 10-1 against Kansas and 6-6 against Kansas State
- The Mountaineers are 94-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle
- West Virginia finished the Pitt game, going 5-for-5 in the red zone. WVU is currently tied for No. 1 nationally in red zone offense. WVU's best performances in the red zone in 2021 were 5-for-5 vs. Iowa State and 7-of-9 against LIU.
- WVU finished with five sacks at Pitt, marking the most in a game since having six against Virginia Tech on Sept. 18, 2021. The Mountaineers are No. 5 nationally in sacks
- The WVU defense held Pitt to 76 yards rushing, the fewest rushing yards allowed since giving up only 57 yards at Oklahoma on Sept. 25, 2021. The Mountaineers are ranked No. 27 nationally in rushing defense
- The Mountaineers finished with two punt returns for 25 yards at Pitt, averaging 12.5 yards per return. WVU ranks No. 19 nationally in punt return average
- In his WVU debut, quarterback JT Daniels, completed 23 passes, had two passing touchdowns and accounted for a game-high three touchdowns. He is ranked No. 31 nationally in completions per game, No. 33 in points responsible for per game and No. 41 in points responsible for
- Wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton finished with nine catches for a game-high 97 yards, two touchdowns, all of which were game-highs. He is ranked No. 6 nationally in receiving touchdowns, No. 9 in receptions per game, No. 20 in total TDs, No. 21 in scoring, No. 36 in total points and No. 43 in receiving yards per game
- In his collegiate debut at Pitt, running back CJ Donaldson finished with seven carries for a game-high 125 yards, one touchdown and a long of 44 yards., his first career carry. He also blocked a punt in the third quarter, which resulted in his 5-yard TD on the next play
- Defensive lineman Dante Stills had six tackles, including 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss in the Pitt game. He now has 45.5 career tackles for loss, good for No. 2 in program history, and is now just 2.0 tackles for loss away from tying Grant Wiley for the school career record (47.5). He also has 20.5 career sacks, which rank No. 6 in program history
Saturday's game will kick off at 6 p.m. and will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Courtney Lyle, Forrest Conoly and Tori Petry).
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 3 p.m. leading into regular network coverage at 5 p.m. with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Original source can be found here.
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