Rivals.com has teamed with Pro Football Focus and as part of that we can provide incredibly detailed statistics on the West Virginia football team.
In today’s article, we use the PFF grades to show you how the true freshmen Mountaineers performed to date as well as statistics for each.
Following the article is an explanation from PFF on how the grading scale works:
Game 1: Penn State: Total Snaps 11 | Grade of 57.6
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 0 | Grade of N/A
Game 3: Pittsburgh: Total Snaps 2 | Grade of 57.7
Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 23 | Grade of 61.3
Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 16 | Grade of 46.5
Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 68 | Grade of 65.1
Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 61 | Grade of 57.3
Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 40 | Grade of 50.9
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 34 | Grade of 59.0
Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 50 | Grade of 67.3
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 45 | Grade of 65.6
Game 12: Baylor: Total Snaps 49 | Grade of 60.5
Ray emerged in fall camp with his level of play and was able to earn a role in the rotation from the start of the season at wide receiver. That took a significant leap after the bye week where he was routinely seeing a lot of snaps at the position. The Florida native didn’t even arrive on campus until late June but finished the 15 catches for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the air, while completing a 21-yard pass. The sky is the limit here as Ray continues to develop in the off-season.
Game 1: Penn State: Total Snaps 1 | Grade of 60.0
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 33 | Grade of 50.7
Game 3: Pittsburgh: Total Snaps 9 | Grade of 53.5
Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 8 | Grade of 54.9
Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 27 | Grade of 49.6
Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 18 | Grade of 55.3
Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 11 | Grade of 54.9
Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 14 | Grade of 72.3
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 44 | Grade of 65.2
Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 13 | Grade of 55.8
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 12 | Grade of 68.1
Game 12: Baylor: Total Snaps 49 | Grade of 55.5
Gallagher started to carve out more of a role for West Virginia as the season progressed as he was used in an athlete role on the offensive side of the ball. He saw action in all 12 regular season games and finished with 10 catches for 74 yards receiving along with 15 carries for 87 yards rushing. The focus this off-season is going to be on developing his overall route running and improving his strength but there’s a lot to be excited about.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 24 | Grade of 78.2Game 3: Pittsburgh: Total Snaps 4 | Grade of 60.0Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 65.1Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 18 | Grade of 64.2Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 18 | Grade of 63.2Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 3 | Grade of 60.4Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 20 | Grade of 85.4Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 31 | Grade of 80.7Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 28 | Grade of 62.0Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 44 | Grade of 89.9Game 12: Baylor: Total Snaps 41 | Grade of 77.0
White had the biggest impact of any of the true freshmen as he finished the regular season rushing for 708 yards and 3 touchdowns, while grabbing 3 passes for 110 more yards and 2 scores. The Pennsylvania product brought an explosive element to the offense and averaged a total of 8.2 yards per carry while taking over the starting running back role down the stretch run of the season. The arrow is pointing up.
Related: A look at the recruiting areas for the West Virginia assistants
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 28 | Grade of 53.7
Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 9 | Grade of 65.5
Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 47 | Grade of 66.3
Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 48 | Grade of 43.7
Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 66 | Grade of 59.4
Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 45 | Grade of 85.4
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 40 | Grade of 70.1
Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 60 | Grade of 54.3
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 48 | Grade of 43.2
Game 12: Baylor: Total Snaps 38 | Grade of 48.1
After playing on special teams in the opener, Cutter was thrust into a much larger role than expected after the TCU game when starter Tray Lathan was lost for the season due to a lower leg injury. The true freshman learned on the job at times, but finished with 51 tackles and a pair of sacks. The tackle mark was good for fourth on the team.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 13 | Grade of 60.5
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 39.8
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 4 | Grade of 65.9
Neal Brown said that McIntyre, a legacy and the son of Corey, was going to see the field in his first season and he kept his word. He was used primarily in a reserve role and saw action in three games in order to preserve his redshirt. He had 3 tackles.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 15 | Grade of 56.3
Oliver saw his opportunity to see the field late against Duquesne and turned that into 38 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. A big, physical running back Oliver made his impact on special teams in his first year but the Mountaineers elected to redshirt.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 24 | Grade of 74.1
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 15 | Grade of 49.3
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 64.4
Williams is a massive offensive tackle prospect that could have a major role in the future for West Virginia but the Mountaineers were able to preserve his redshirt.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 2 | Grade of 60.2
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 1 | Grade of 59.6
Heard was expected to see more time on the field but West Virginia was able to redshirt him as others emerged at the bandit position. The coaching staff believes that he has a very bright future as he continues to develop.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 2 | Grade of 60.0
Nelson saw the field late in the game against Duquesne but that was it when it came to action as the Mountaineers were able to preserve his redshirt.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 3 | Grade of 70.1
Fisher was able to redshirt after seeing just limited action in his first year which was completely expected as he continues to develop his body.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 63.5
Jackson played six snaps in his defensive debut for the Mountaineers against Duquesne and while there is plenty of belief that his future is a bright one in Morgantown but he spent this year developing.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 3 | Grade of 60.0
Jackson played a total of just three snaps against Duquesne but the converted running back who is now playing cornerback garnered some attention in fall camp. Jackson redshirted in year one and now will have his full compliment of eligibility.
On every play, a PFF analyst will grade each player on a scale of -2 to +2 according to what he did on the play.
At one end of the scale you have a catastrophic game-ending interception or pick-six from a quarterback, and at the other a perfect deep bomb into a tight window in a critical game situation, with the middle of that scale being 0-graded, or ‘expected’ plays that are neither positive nor negative.
Each game is also graded by a second PFF analyst independent of the first, and those grades are compared by a third, Senior Analyst, who rules on any differences between the two. These grades are verified by the Pro Coach Network, a group of former and current NFL coaches with over 700 combined years of NFL coaching experience, to get them as accurate as they can be.
From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation; this ranges from where a player lined up to the dropback depth of the quarterback or the length of time he had the ball in his hand and everything in between. They are finally converted to a 0-100 scale and appear in our Player Grades Tool.
Season-level grades aren’t simply an average of every game-grade a player compiles over a season, but rather factor in the duration at which a player performed at that level. Achieving a grade of 90.0 in a game once is impressive, doing it (12) times in a row is more impressive.
It is entirely possible that a player will have a season grade higher than any individual single-game grade he achieved, because playing well for an extended period of time is harder to do than for a short period, Similarly, playing badly for a long time is a greater problem than playing badly once, so the grade can also be compounded negatively.
Each week, grades are subject to change while we run through our extensive review process including All-22 tape runs and coaching audit, so you may notice discrepancies among grades published in earlier articles compared with those in the Player Grades tool until grade lock each week.
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No. 21 West Virginia continues to rightfully battle fatigue throughout the second half of games as it regularly plays with what is in essence a seven-man rotation.
That was again the case Sunday at Colorado.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers, reserve guard Joseph Yesufu played a major part in ensuring the visitors didn’t squander a 14-point second-half lead.
Yesufu scored 13 of his 18 points after halftime, including eight over the final 4:44 to help West Virginia overcome the Buffaloes’ second-half comeback attempt in a 78-70 victory at CU Events Center.
“Joe Yesufu really gave us a good spark when we needed it the most,” first-year WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “Our offense had gotten a little stagnant and we were settling for jumpers off of some of their switching and things. Joe was able to give us that spark we needed.”
By claiming a win in the first meeting between the two teams, WVU improved to 12-3 overall, 3-1 in Big 12 play and won a second conference road game this season to match the program’s Big 12 road win total of the previous three seasons combined. Colorado (9-6, 0-4) remains one of two winless teams in league play.
The Mountaineers never trailed outside of the game’s opening basket, and they put together a strong opening half to lead 40-29 through 20 minutes — West Virginia’s third double-figure halftime advantage in four Big 12 contests.
Center Eduardo Andre made all four of his field-goal attempts and scored 10 points in the opening half, while freshman wing Jonathan Powell added 10 on 4-of-7 shooting with a pair of three-pointers. Add in nine points from point guard Javon Small, and the Mountaineers’ top scoring trio combined to equal Colorado’s point total at halftime.
WVU went to halftime with five turnovers to Colorado’s 11, and the Mountaineers had all 12 points off turnovers in the game to that point.
“Creating some of those turnovers was huge for us to get a little separation in the first half,” DeVries said.
When Small hit three threes over a stretch of 1:15 early into the second half, it gave the visitors their largest lead of the contest at 49-35.
Yesufu added a triple moments later for a 52-39 advantage, but CU increased its aggressiveness offensively and was to within seven at 54-47 when Dangot Bak made two free throws with 13:22 remaining.
That was a theme throughout the second half as the Buffaloes made 24-of-28 foul shots after not producing a point from the free-throw line on two attempts in the first half.
Bak’s two free throws came early into a stretch of 12 straight Colorado points scored from the charity stripe. It ended with Trevor Baskin making the second of two attempts with 8:20 to play, at which point the Mountaineer lead was 57-55.
“Defensively, we put ourselves in some tough positions with some reaching fouls and not staying disciplined and allowed Colorado to get to the line and deservedly so,” DeVries said. “We have to learn how to still be able to be physical, but also be discipline in the way we’re doing that. That game shifted pretty quickly in the second half and Colorado did a nice job with some adjustments.”
Andre and Sencire Harris accounted for dunks on consecutive WVU possessions, and Harris scored from close range again with 5:41 left for a 63-59 advantage.
After Baskin scored on a second-chance opportunity with 2:28 left to bring the Buffaloes to within 66-63, Yesufu scored on a drive to the basket.
With WVU’s lead again back to three on its next possession, Yesufu produced the game’s most important basket, scoring with his left hand on a drive that amounted to a conventional three-point play and a 71-65 advantage with 1:23 remaining.
That was the end of eight straight WVU points produced by Yesufu, who entered averaging 4.1 and had scored more than seven once over his first appearances in a Mountaineer uniform.
“They were doing a nice job on Javon in the second half, so we wanted to put the ball in Joe’s hands a little bit more,” DeVries said. “He has great speed and at that point in the game, that’s what we needed was somebody that could get downhill and be able to get to the rim a little bit more.”
Small made 3-of-4 free throws to help the visitors up their lead to nine, and the Buffaloes never got the deficit inside of six over the final minute.
Yesufu made 6-of-9 shots in his season-high scoring output.
Small led all players with 26 points and seven assists.
Andre added 12 points and shot 5 for 5 before fouling out, while Powell finished with 10 after a scoreless second half.
WVU was without Tucker DeVries for a seventh straight game and freshman KJ Tenner for a second straight contest.
“We’re a little shorthanded, so we do get fatigued sometimes in the second half,” DeVries said. “[Colorado head coach Tad Boyle] did a really good job. He played a lot of guys and they had fresh bodies that kept coming at us. We just don’t have the amount of bodies we need to sub and we got in a little foul trouble on top of it. We got worn out a little bit, but we had just enough. Joe, being a little more fresh than the other guys, was able to kind of will us to the last finish line.”
Julian Hammond III led Colorado with 23 points and was 8 for 8 on free throws.
Assane Diop added 13 points and was 6 for 6 from the free-throw line.
Colorado out-rebounded the Mountaineers 35-30, but scored only two points off seven WVU turnovers. The Mountaineers also had a 32-26 edge in paint points.
The Buffaloes made only 8-of-23 field-goal attempts after halftime and finished 20 of 48 for the game.
“It was critical that we didn’t let them get a lot of space,” DeVries said. “They have multiple guys that when they get some room have the ability to get it off and they shoot it at a high percentage. We wanted to try to get into some of those ball screens and actions as much as we could to try to make it difficult. The counter to it is that’s where a lot of our fouls started coming. We have to figure out a way to be able to do both.”
No. 21 West Virginia and Colorado face off in Boulder on Sunday at 3:0 p.m. EST. The Mountaineers are 2-1 in Big 12 play, while the Buffaloes are 0-3 in league play.
Computer models such as BartTorvik, BPI, and KenPom predict the matchup between both teams.
BPI — ESPN BPI gives West Virginia a 59.3 percent chance to win on Sunday. The Mountaineers are expected to win by 2.4 points. The Mountaineers are No. 44 in the BPI rankings while Colorado is No. 86.
BartTorvik — BartTorvik gives the Mountaineers a 65 percent chance to win the game. The projected final score is 67-63 in favor of West Virginia. WVU is No. 25 in the T-Rankings, and Colorado is No. 84.
KenPom — KenPom gives West Virginia a slight edge at a 51 percent chance to win the game. The projected final score is 67-66 in favor of the Mountaineers. WVU is ranked No. 47 by KenPom, while Colorado is ranked No. 81.
Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday and the game will be televised on ESPN+.
West Virginia has added another commitment from Wyoming defensive end transfer Braden Siders.
Siders, 6-foot-3, 252-pounds, spent four years with the Cowboys although he redshirted in his first with the football program. Over the past three seasons Siders appeared in 33 games and started a total of 26 of those.
The Colorado native is coming off a season where he recorded 21 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks but appeared in only a total of eight games. In 2022, Siders had 44 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks.
Over the course of his three years on the field, Siders has 91 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 14 sacks.
Siders entered the transfer portal Dec. 6 and reported offers from UAB, Louisiana-Monroe, Tulsa, James Madison and Bowling Green.
Siders becomes the first defensive lineman to commit to West Virginia from the transfer portal and has one year of eligibility remaining in his career.
WVSports.com will have more with Siders in the near future.
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