WVU football has not been able to piece together much of an offensive push this season, and is struggling to move the ball at all most of the time. It's clear to anyone with a set of eyes just how dismal the Mountaineers' offense has been this season, but let's take a look at a few stats that really drive the point home.
Third-Down Conversions
The Mountaineers currently rank 131st out of 136 FBS teams in terms of third-down conversion rate – WVU is 19-70 on third down this season, good for a conversion rate of just 27.14%. When teams can hold West Virginia back to the point that a third down is forced, there is a pretty solid chance that will be the end of the drive for the Mountaineers. For WVU, they're unlikely to find much success on offense until they can fix their ability to convert on third down.
Passing Offense, Passing Efficiency
We'll lump these two stats together, because they revolve around the same issue, that being WVU's passing game. The Mountaineers have played five different quarterbacks at various points this year, and no one has had luck moving the ball through the air. WVU is 108th out of 136 FBS teams in passing offense with just 179.4 passing yards per game, and 106th out of 136 teams in passing efficiency (also known as passer rating) with a rating of just 122.24 – and if the Mountaineers want to win games, they are going to have to find away to be decent, if not dangerous, in the passing game.
Leading Rusher and Passer
The Mountaineers are still led in passing individually by Nicco Marchiol, who had 720 passing yards before his season was ended due to an injury – and that ranks as just the 97th most individual passing yards in the FBS this season. Meanwhile, backup quarterback Jaylen Henderson is the leading rusher for the team with 146 rushing yards, which is just 263rd amongst all FBS rushers this season. If neither of those seems promising numbers for players leading the team in either category, you'd be correct. And WVU will need to find players who can put up better numbers consistently if they want to get things right.