Top 5 questions: WVU seeks some important answers this spring

1. Quarterbacks/Passing Attack — West Virginia’s passing attack had both highs and lows last season. It produced for more than 250 passing yards in five games, but its numbers diminished in the second half of the 2022 campaign. In all, WVU averaged 227.5 yards per game through the air last season, which placed it ninth in the 10-team Big 12 Conference. Its 6.42 yards per attempt was last in the league, and its 59.76 completion percentage was ninth.

The Mountaineers are going to be breaking in a lot of new components in that pass game this coming year, as last year’s main starter at quarterback, J.T. Daniels, has transferred to Rice, and their top four receivers are also gone — Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Sam James in pursuit of pro dreams, while Kaden Prather (Maryland) and Reese Smith (Liberty) have transferred.

The top two candidates to replace Daniels as the starting quarterback each have seen game action in the past, though one more than another.

Garrett Greene (5-11, 200 lbs., Jr.) even started a couple of games at the end of last season. His top competition for the starting job this year will come from Nicco Marchiol (6-1, 225 lbs., RFr.), who saw action in two games in ’22, including subbing in for the injured Greene in the regular-season finale at Oklahoma State, where he helped WVU upset the Cowboys.

Both Greene and Marchiol are much more athletic than the QBs of recent vintage at West Virginia. Greene is a runner (613 career rushing yards) who can also throw (493 passing yards while completing 43 of 78 passes last year). Meanwhile, Marchiol is more a passer who also has good mobility.

Because the two have slightly different skill sets, it would benefit the Mountaineers if they could figure out this spring who was going to QB1 in the fall, thus allowing them to mold their offensive system around that presumptive starter’s attributes.

It’s even possible that both Greene and Marchiol could be used in some sort of rotation next fall, but whoever is behind center, they are going to be throwing to a lot of new receivers this year. Senior Cortez Braham arrived at West Virginia from junior college last summer and wound up fifth on the team in receptions with 14 for 147 yards. Junior Jeremiah Aaron made the same juco-to-WVU move last summer, and he finished 2022 with 12 catches for 124 yards. They are West Virginia’s top two returnees in terms of receptions.

Two incoming transfers also figure to factor in this year, as Devin Carter had 118 receptions for 1,906 yards in his career at N.C. State, and Ja’Shaun Poke hauled in 81 passes for 1,033 yards in his time at Kent State. Both enrolled at WVU this past January, thus allowing them to participate in spring drills at their new school.

Add in a number of other returning receivers — Jarel Williams, Graeson Malashevich, Preston Fox, Taran Fitzpatrick, C.J. Cole, Hudson Clement and Tyler Evans — who have seen limited offensive game action in the past but are looking to earn more time in the WR rotation this year, and West Virginia will have a lot to work on at the position this spring. That means the quarterbacks and receivers must build the necessary rapport, and that group must also find the big pass plays that were lacking in much of ’22.

The Mountaineers also must get more production from their tight ends in terms of pass receptions, as they totaled just 16 catches from that position last year. Returnee Treylan Davis and LSU transfer Kole Taylor need to develop into dependable weapons at tight end. If they do, that would be a huge benefit for West Virginia’s inexperienced quarterbacks.

The nice thing for WVU is that most of its key pieces for its pass game are available for spring drills, unlike last year when Daniels, Braham and Aaron didn’t arrive at West Virginia until the summer. Other than incoming freshmen receivers Rodney Gallagher and Traylon Ray, and possibly another transfer, all the main pass-game ingredients will get the benefit of working together for 15 practice sessions this March and April.

2. Defensive Secondary — If finding the proper pieces and developing chemistry in the passing attack is the biggest key for the Mountaineers this spring, shoring up the secondary is a very close second.

WVU gave up 24 pass plays of at least 30 yards last season — in comparison, West Virginia had only 13 such explosive pass plays of its own in 2022 — and the Mountaineer defense must greatly decrease that number this coming season.

In all, WVU allowed 262.7 passing yards per game in 2022, which was next-to-last in the Big 12. It was also the most passing yards West Virginia’s defense has given up in a decade and the third most in the past 40 years.

The Mountaineers have plenty of returning experience at safety in Aubrey Burks (11 starts in 2022), Marcis Floyd (11 starts in ’22), Malachi Ruffin (five starts in ’22) and Davis Mallinger (four starts in ’22), but they have to quickly rebuild the cornerback positions. It’s an important spring to evaluate and develop top corner candidates Montre Miller, Andrew Wilson-Lamp and Jacolby Spells. Hopefully, they prove this spring that they are capable of handling the workload, but if not, WVU must dive back into the transfer portal in search of additional corners who have the ability to provide immediate help.

3. Defensive Front — West Virginia’s three-man defensive line was solid last year, finishing fourth in the Big 12 in rushing yards allowed (149.6 ypg) and second in sacks (2.17 per game).

But that unit has lost three key pieces in starting defensive tackle Dante Stills, who was a first-team All-Big 12 selection, starting nose guard Jordan Jefferson, who transferred to LSU, and backup defensive end Taijh Alston, who transferred to Colorado.

Junior defensive end Sean Martin is the only returning d-lineman who started games last year (he had eight starts, 34 tackles and four sacks).

Martin will be counted on to be the cornerstone of West Virginia’s defensive front in ’23, but he’s going to need help, and this spring will be key in developing that DL two-deep. Returnees Jalen Thornton, Mike Lockhart, Edward Vesterinen, Asani Redwood, Brayden Dudley, Zeiqui Lawton and Hammond Russell will compete for spots in WVU’s defensive line rotation. They’re joined by transfers Davoan Hawkins (from Tennessee State) and Fatorma Mulbah (from Penn State), both of whom enrolled at WVU in January and will be participating in spring drills.

That gives West Virginia 10 scholarship defensive linemen on its roster this spring, and the Mountaineers need to mold those pieces into a cohesive unit prior to the start of the 2023 season.

4. Coaching Changes – West Virginia doesn’t have a huge number of new assistant coaches on this year’s staff, but there are some significant changes.

Change is normal in today’s college football coaching world, not only at WVU but for most everywhere else. When Neal Brown took over as the Mountaineers’ head coach, he brought with him an entirely new staff of 10 assistants. The next year he had to replace four assistants, and in the three years since, he’s had a turnover of two assistant coaches per year, including this year with Blaine Stewart (tight ends) and Bilal Marshall (wide receivers) entering and Graham Harrell (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) and Tony Washington (wide receivers) exiting for new jobs at Purdue and Liberty respectively.

There was also some juggling within the coaching responsibilities. To replace Harrell, running back coach Chad Scott has taken over as WVU’s offensive coordinator and Sean Reagan, who oversaw the Mountaineer tight ends last year, will now be in charge of quarterbacks.

While West Virginia’s entire defensive staff returns with no changes, on the offensive side, line coach Matt Moore is the only one who has the exact same role this year as last.

Maybe the most significant change is at offensive coordinator, where the Mountaineers are going to have their fourth O.C. in Brown’s five seasons at the helm – Brown was in reality the offensive coordinator in 2019 & ’20, though Moore and Scott also shared the title of co-offensive coordinators; Gerad Parker took over as offensive coordinator in 2021 and was the team’s primary playcaller much of that season; and then last year Harrell was in charge. Now Scott becomes WVU’s O.C., though Brown figures to have a much larger role with the offense than he did last year, and he very well may resume the playcalling duties, like he did in ’19 and ’20. This is obviously a make-or-break season for Brown at West Virginia, and it’s certainly understandable that he wants to be very hands-on when it comes to determining his fate.

The change of position coaches will impact the individual players, but the biggest impact for the offense as a whole will come if Brown/Scott make significant changes in the scheme. With both having been at WVU for five years, it’s doubtful that they will try to install an entirely new offensive system, though emphasizing different areas to take advantage of the Mountaineers’ strengths is definitely expected. With an experienced offensive line, talent and depth at running back and mobility at quarterback, West Virginia is expected to lean more on its ground game than it has at any other time in the Neal Brown era, when it didn’t have those three luxuries. Getting the 2023 offense comfortable with any changes is a major key to the spring.

5. Running Game – The Mountaineers’ running attack in 2023 isn’t so much a question; it is perceived to be a strength. And it has to live up to that billing because on an offense that features questions at quarterback and receiver, this year’s squad is going to rely heavily on its ground attack. If West Virginia can run the ball effectively week in and week out, it has a chance to be solid this year. But if that aspect is not a consistent strength, it’s hard to envision how WVU can be successful as a team. The ground game is that important in ’23.

The Mountaineer rushing attack was at times very good last season, though it wasn’t consistent. It averaged 171.5 yards per game on the ground, which was the seventh-best mark in the Big 12. Seventh in the league with an average of 171.5 may not seem like anything to crow about, but for West Virginia, it was a significant improvement over any other rushing performances in the Neal Brown era – 73.2 ypg for 10th in 2019, 135.1 ypg for eighth in 2020 and 121.5 ypg for 10th in 2021.

Rushing mattered greatly for the Mountaineers last year, as they were 5-0 when gaining at least 200 yards on the ground and 0-7 when falling below that mark. They averaged 240.8 yards per game in their five victories, and in their seven losses, they averaged 122.2 rushing yards per game and were held below 80 rushing yards three times.

The highs, like 250 rushing yards in the regular-season finale upset at Oklahoma State, the 203 against Oklahoma, the 217 vs. Baylor and the 218 at Virginia Tech, were all noteworthy performances that resulted in important wins, but on the other end, this time around WVU can’t afford efforts like the 61-yarder at Texas, the 73-yarder at Texas Tech and 76-yarder at Iowa State. West Virginia’s ground game must be more consistent this coming year if it is going to enjoy more victories than defeats.

The Mountaineers return more career starts in their offensive line than they’ve enjoyed in decades. Between center Zach Frazier (34 career starts), guards Doug Nester (41 career starts) and Tomas Rimac (five career starts, all in the second half of last season), and tackles Wyatt Milum (20 career starts), Ja’Quay Hubbard (11 career starts) and Brandon Yates (21 career starts), WVU has a total of 132 career starts for its returning 2023 offensive line. This group played like an experienced offensive line at times last year (opening the way for 4.62 yards per carry), but it has to perform at a consistent level this season. Finding that consistency and developing better o-line depth will be an important part of the spring for coach Matt Moore’s unit.

This year’s Mountaineer offensive line has a nice contingent of proven runners behind it in junior Tony Mathis (562 rushing yards last year and 943 in his career), sophomore C.J. Donaldson (526 rushing yards in seven games last year before being sidelined by injury), junior Justin Johnson (430 rushing yards last year and 520 in his career) and sophomore Jaylen Anderson (275 rushing yards in six games last year, including 155 in a victory at Oklahoma State). Add in fleet-footed quarterback Garrett Greene (613 career rushing yards with 276 last year, including 119 in a win over Oklahoma) and a mobile QB in Nicco Marchiol (32 rushing yards on six carries at OK State last season), plus two intriguing true freshmen running backs in Jahiem White, who enrolled at WVU in January and thus will be available for spring drills, and D.J. Oliver, who won’t arrive in West Virginia until the summer, and the Mountaineers would seem to have all the ingredients necessary for a very strong running attack.

This year’s ground game needs to live up to that billing game in and game out if WVU is going to have success in the win column.