A few observations on WVU. Cross posting here since this seems to be the game preview thread:
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With no Texas Football this weekend, I watched the last couple of WVU games. Posting observations here in the interests of conserving thread count and because this isn't a full-fledged write up.
West Virginia is going to be severely outmanned on both sides of the LOS. They did not trust the OL enough to run inside much against NC State or Kansas. The vast majority of runs were outside the tackles - mostly stretch and jet sweep. The little inside stuff they ran was either draws from a pass look and a few counter plays. This is a big problem for the Mountaineers since the Texas DL will be the stoutest front they've seen and it's not close. Kendall is only a moderate running threat and can't hurt a defense much if they account for him. He's accurate in the short passing game but may not have a lot of time in the pocket unless they can establish a running threat.
On defense, West Virginia has a similar problem. They've had trouble stopping the run and gave up a lot of 5+ yard plays so a good running game should be able to grind them down. They're are basically playing 4-3 personnel up front with a couple of 290 lb DTs, a 250 lb DE and 240 lb stand up hybrid. Both LBs are 220-230 and their nickel is about 200. WVU relies on quickness to offset lack of size but they are facing an OL that is very good at locating smaller defenders in space.
I do like what Neal Brown is doing in coverage. He is playing a lot of zone beind 3-4 men rushing. He's got them dropping deep quickly, reading the QB and coming up aggressively to make the hit on the receivers. It's a good strategy for the smaller, quicker guys he's likely to be able to recruit and it was very effective against NC State - producing 8 PBUs. Much less so against Kansas and I think that was because KU had both a greater running threat and a QB capable of delivering the ball early instead of waiting until the receivers were clearly open, thus giving more time for the DBs to react. With the mismatch on both sides of the line it shouldn't matter much to Texas this year. It's definitely something to watch for the future as this looks like another scheme that can give pass-heavy teams fits once it matures.