MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Rachel Libert, a creative/digital student volunteer for Mountaineer football, gets us prepped for Thursday night’s game against Virginia Tech in today’s Football Wednesday, presented by the West Virginia Lottery.
Here are some of the vitals Rachel highlights in today’s game preview:
* The 2022 campaign marks West Virginia’s 130th season of football. The Mountaineers are tied for the 15th-winningest program in college football
* The 2022 year also marks the 43rd season of competition for West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium. WVU has a 190-73-4 (.719) all-time mark at the facility, which opened in 1980
* WVU is 9-6 in games played on Sept. 22, including 0-1 in games played on the road. The first time that WVU played on Sept. 22, was in 1928 when the Mountaineers lost to Davis & Elkins, 7-0. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2018 vs. Kansas State at home (W 35-6). WVU has played Virginia Tech twice on Sept. 22, and is 1-1, winning 24-10 in Morgantown in 1973, and losing 34-6 in Blacksburg in 1994
* West Virginia is 120-44-8 against schools from the Commonwealth of Virginia, including 39-35-2 against schools that play at the Power 5 level
* The Virginia Tech game marks WVU’s second rivalry game this season, playing in the Battle for the Black Diamond Trophy. WVU opened its season on Sept. 1, at Pitt in the Backyard Brawl
* WVU is facing its second Power 5 non-conference opponent this season. The Mountaineers are just one of 10 Power 5 conference members to play two Power 5 non-conference games and one of only two (Duke) teams to play both on the road
* Virginia Tech and Maryland are currently tied for the fourth-longest series (53 games) in WVU history. After Thursday night’s game, the Hokies become the fourth-longest series in WVU history at 54 games. Pitt is the longest series at 105 games, Syracuse is No. 2 at 60 and Penn State is No 3 with 59.
* The Mountaineers are 37-33-3 in games played on Thursdays, 13-13 in games played on Thursday nights and 11-9 in games played on ESPN on Thursday night. WVU has won 10 of the last 15 games played on ESPN on Thursday night and 11 of the last 17 games played on Thursday night.
* WVU is 95-14 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle
* West Virginia had four quarterbacks lead touchdown scoring drives against Towson
* Among Power 5 teams, WVU is tied for No. 1 nationally and in the Big 12 Conference in plays from scrimmage of 50-plus yard (4)
* CJ Donaldson is No. 3 nationally in rushing touchdowns (6), and Bryce Ford-Wheaton is ranked No. 9 in receiving touchdowns (4)
* Donaldson is No. 5 nationally in scoring (12.0), and total touchdowns (6), and Ford-Wheaton is No. 33 (4) in total touchdowns
* According to PFF College, Ford-Wheaton is No. 1 nationally among Power 5 receivers in number of contested catches (8)
* Ford-Wheaton is No. 10 nationally in receptions per game (8.0) and No. 20 in receiving yards per game (98.7)
* Casey Legg is tied for No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage (100.0 – 4/4) and No. 30 in field goals per game (1.33)
Thursday’s game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN (Matt Barrie, Louis Riddick and Harry Lyles Jr.).
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 4:30 p.m. leading into regular network coverage at 6:30 with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile apps WVU Gameday and the Varsity Network.