The West Virginia Mountaineers are 1-0 after Week 1, but not all West Virginia fanswere happy with how the team got there.
The Mountaineers managed a 31-24 win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday to open their season, but that win was a bit too close for comfort for many. But a win is still a win: and they're hard to get, as Rich Rodriguez noted after the win. Let's take a look at some of the PFF grades from the win, and the deeper insight it can give us on the victory.
West Virginia's offensive line is much improved
The Mountaineers significantly overhauled their offensive line this offseason, bringing in several high-level transfers and reuniting with former offensive line coach Rick Trickett, who brings national championship experience back to Morgantown. And those moves clearly paid off.
The offensive line got some significant push at the line of scrimmage and moved the defensive line, something that was missing much of last season – and the grades reflect that. Last year's opener against an FCS opponent saw the starting five WVU offensive lineman post an average PFF blocking grade of 57.7 – this year against an FBS opponent in the opener, that jumped to a 62.5 PFF blocking grade.
Last year's opener saw the highest-graded starting offensive lineman, Ty'Kieast Crawford, earn a 62.6 PFF blocking grade. This year, Amare Grayson led the way with a 78.8 grade. And four offensive linemen – Grayson, Kick Krahe, Wes King, and Kevin Brown – all graded higher than Crawford did in last year's opener. Krahe was the sixth-highest graded left guard in Week 1, and Grayson is the 14th-highest graded offensive guard of the season.
The defensive front seven could be the strong point of the defense
The Mountaineers allowed less than 100 yards in the run game, and despite the secondary's struggles, the pass rush looked good, And the grades for the defensive line and linebackers demonstrate that.
Defensive lineman Nate Gabriel was the top-graded defensive player with a 79.3 PFF defensive grade. Six West Virginia defenders earned defensive grades of 70.0 or above, with the top five graded athletes playing in the front seven – defensive end Zeke Durham Campbell (75.8), edge rusher Harper Holloman (75.2), linebacker Ben Cutter (73.8), and KJ Henson (72.0).
Holloman and Gabriel also had PFF pass rush grades of over 70.0, as well as defensive end David Afogho. And Cutter, Campbell, and Holloman – along with linebacker Isaiah Patterson and defensive lineman Darius Wiley – and had PFF run defense grades over 70.0.
Nick Taylor played an exceptional game despite overall pass defense struggles
West Virginia'spass defense got shreddedby Deuce Bailey, but starting cornerback Nick Taylor played exceptionally well.
Taylor played 41 snaps in coverage on Saturday – he was targeted just three times, allowed zero receptions, and was awarded a 70.3 PFF coverage grade on the afternoon. And it wasn't just the pass game which he defended wel. He took 53 defensive snaps in total, and earned an overall PFF defensive grade of 71.8 and a PFF tackling grade of 78.2, with no missed tackles during the game.
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