West Virginia wraps up regular season against Red Raiders – WV MetroNews

What’s been the weakest aspect of West Virginia’s team for the majority of the 2024 season figures to be tested in a major way at noon Saturday when the Mountaineers try to slow down a high-powered Texas Tech passing attack in the regular season finale for both teams from Jones AT&T Stadium.

The 14th meeting between the programs airs nationally on FS1, and the winner is assured of finishing ahead of the loser in the Big 12 Conference standings.

Both the Mountaineers (6-5, 5-3) and Red Raiders (7-4, 5-3) were eliminated from the conference championship race Friday when Colorado handled Oklahoma State.

While both teams are bowl eligible, a win would give West Virginia four victories over its last five games, a sixth Big 12 win in consecutive seasons for the first time and an unbeaten road record within the league — something the Mountaineers have yet to attain.

In this one, they’ll be out to keep up with a Tech team that leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (37.4 points per game) and surrenders a league-high 36.3 points.

“They’re one of the top teams in the country in number of snaps played. You have to be conscious of that early in the game, especially defensive line wise,” Brown said. “We’ll need to rotate early in the game and get more guys in. We’ve been playing four linebackers all year and that’s probably pretty good. Safety is where we don’t have a ton of depth.” 

For as potent as the Red Raiders are offensively, their pass defense has endured somewhat similar struggles to that of West Virginia.

The Red Raiders allow 309 yards on average through the air — the most of any Big 12 team. Due to the tempo at which Texas Tech’s offense operates, however, the Red Raiders are consistently forced to defend more plays than the average team. The 264 completions they’ve surrendered on 414 passing attempts are both tops in the Big 12.

Red Raider quarterback Behren Morton has completed 267-of-425 passes for 2,976 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Brown believes it’s important for the Mountaineers to be disruptive early, particularly with the Red Raiders’ having scored 120 first-quarter points this season under head coach Joey McGuire.

“They start fast. Since coach McGuire has been there, they start fast, but even before he was there, that’s something they did a good job with,” Brown said. “They’re unique offensively and usually give you something different, whether it’s different play concept, pass, run, screen, different motions and different adjustments. You can try to practice the tempo they play at, but it’s hard.” 

West Virginia gives up nearly 261 passing yards on average, and though its pass defense was up to the task a week ago against a run-oriented Central Florida attack, the Mountaineers have too often been plagued by coverage busts leading to explosive plays, and sometimes scores, for the opposition.

“It’s a different animal. You’re talking about one of the best pass offenses in the country,” Brown said. 

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two teams as it pertains to pass defense is the ability to generate takeaways, with the Red Raiders having intercepted 12 passes to the Mountaineers’ four. West Virginia’s figure is tied with Cincinnati for the lowest mark in the Big 12, while Tech’s bettered by only three teams in the league.

“It starts with taking care of the ball. You can’t give up possessions. That’s No. 1,” Brown said. “No. 2, we have to play our game and can’t really get concerned about what they’re doing on offense. For us, it’s about first downs. We have to continue to move the chains and get first downs and those first downs will eventually lead to touchdowns.”

WVU snapped a four-game skid against Texas Tech last season, prevailing 20-13 in Morgantown despite managing 256 yards of total offense as Nicco Marchiol spelled an injured Garrett Greene. 

Greene will almost certainly need to lead a more productive offensive outing from WVU in Lubbock if the Mountaineers are to improve to 8-6 all-time against the Red Raiders.

The senior signal-caller will make his third consecutive start since returning from an injury November 16 against Baylor, and Saturday’s affair will mark his final regular season college game.

For the season, Greene has completed 131-of-236 passes for 1,707 yard with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while rushing for 649 yards and five more scores.

Like the Mountaineers, Tech is far more successful limiting opposing run games, and the Red Raiders rank in the middle of the league with an average of 147 rushing yards allowed. However, Tech allows 4.5 yards per rush compared to WVU’s mark of 3.9.

For the Mountaineers, tailbacks Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson have rushed for 693 yards and 621, respectively. White has six rushing touchdowns and Donaldson adds nine.

On the flip side, WVU will try to limit the Big 12’s second-leading rusher in veteran Tech tailback Tahj Brooks. 

Brooks has surpassed 100 yards on the ground in all 11 outings this season and enters with 1,317 yards and 14 touchdowns.

“Their running back is an elite player,” Brown said. “Brooks has been in this league for a long time and he’s been really productive both in the run game and throw game.”

It took Brown until his fifth season and fifth try to defeat the Red Raiders, and he’s yet to win in Lubbock in either try, including a 48-10 drubbing in West Virginia’s most recent trip back in 2022.

Brown spent three seasons (2010-12) as offensive coordinator at Tech and has a strong understanding of a program that’s fielded one of the more explosive offenses on an almost annual basis for the last two decades.

“It goes back to Mike Leach. You’re talking about 20-plus years of really high-level offense,” Brown said. “There’s been some really good coaches go through there. That’s correct. This team here is balanced. Brooks is very unique. He’s averaging over 100 yards rushing, plus they get him the ball in the pass game. But that is in their DNA — the ability to throw the ball, and it’s been that way for 20-plus years. There’s been a lot of really good coaches and players, especially quarterbacks and receivers.”