West Virginia finished the season 9-4 in 2023 and it is a big year for the football program for many different seasons.
So WVSports.com takes a look at just how much the Mountaineers have set to return in 2024 in regard to both snaps and production on the offensive side of the ball.
So, what do the Mountaineers have coming back?
–West Virginia will return 15 of the top 20 players from last season on offense in terms of snaps played last season. That list includes No. 2 OL Brandon Yates (794 snaps), No. 3 OL Wyatt Milum (753 snaps), No. 4 QB Garrett Greene (738 snaps), No. 5 TE Kole Taylor (704 snaps), No.6 OL Tomas Rimac (690 snaps), No. 9 WR Traylon Ray (452 snaps), No. 10 OL Ja’Quay Hubbard (432 snaps), No. 11 RB CJ Donaldson (426 snaps), No. 12 WR Preston Fox (423 snaps), No. 13 OL Nick Malone (417 snaps), No. 14 TE Treylan Davis (381 snaps), No. 15 WR Hudson Clement (370 snaps), No. 16 RB Jahiem White (275 snaps), No. 17 WR Rodney Gallagher (269 snaps) and No. 18 QB Nicco Marchiol (206 snaps).
–The Mountaineers will not have No. 1 OL Zach Frazier (806 snaps), No. 7 OL Doug Nester (663 snaps), No. 8 WR Devin Carter (498 snaps), No. 19 WR E.J. Horton (165 snaps) and No. 20 WR Cortez Braham (151 snaps).
–West Virginia will return all of the 2,674 yards that were thrown by quarterbacks will return for the 2024 season. That is a significant difference than the 20-percent the year before between redshirt junior Garrett Greene and redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol. It goes without saying that all 18 passing touchdowns will be back.
–The Mountaineers rushed for 2,976 yards this past season and the bulk of that is set to return with only Justin Johnson exiting through the transfer portal and vacating 38 carries for 150 yards and a touchdown and DJ Oliver leaving the team vacating 12 carries for 47 yards and a score. As for the rest of the running back room, 1,787 of the rushing yards will return and perhaps even more importantly 30 of the 32 rushing touchdowns on the season will be back in the backfield.
Related: Exploring the remaining areas of need for West Virginia football
–The rushing production at quarterback also was significant in 2023 with Greene rushing for 772 rushing yards and Marchiol with 133 yards. That is due back.
–The Mountaineers only had 1,981 receiving yards at the wide receiver spot but will return 1,243 of that with the only significant loss being Devin Carter (501 yards). That percentage is even better with 9 of the 12 touchdowns due back.
–Tight end will return all of the production in each category at tight end with Kole Taylor returning as the leading receiver with 35 catches for 444 yards and tied for the team lead with 4 touchdowns. Treylan Davis was used more as a blocker but brings 2 catches for 2 yards. That means all 37 catches for 446 yards and 4 scores will be back.
–The only spot that is hit with significant departures is on the offensive line as West Virginia will lose Frazier and Nester, two players who accounted for 1,469 snaps and started every game that they were healthy. But behind them, the Mountaineers bring back quite a bit with a combined 3,086 snaps combined set to return.
–You don’t replace players like Frazier and Nester easily, but the Mountaineers are coming off a season where the offensive line permitted just 10 sacks and the new group allowed just 35 pressures on the season.
