MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Riding a two-game win streak to start Big 12 play, West Virginia’s football team has a different feel to it ahead of welcoming 11th-ranked Iowa State to Milan Puskar Stadium for Saturday’s 8 p.m. matchup that will air on FOX.
The Mountaineers will also have a different look Saturday as they don black uniforms in what’s been dubbed a Coal Rush matchup allowing them to pay homage to the state’s rich coal tradition and honor miners.
“Another big game. That’s kind of life in the Big 12. You win one and you’re on to the next one,” West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said. “This is a special one. We’re wearing the coal rush uniforms and paying homage to the West Virginia mining industry. It’s an important game for our state. Our guys are looking forward to wearing that and all the stuff that goes with it.”
West Virginia mined ⛏️@GoMartStores pic.twitter.com/Jqffcmi0cs
— WVU Sports (@WVUSports) October 10, 2024
WVU (3-2, 2-0) hopes to duplicate the effort from its best performance this season in last week’s 38-14 win at Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers put forth their best defensive showing and rushed for 389 yards while taking control of the contest early en route to a comfortably victory.
The Cyclones (5-0, 2-0) are 5-0 for the first time in 44 years and fifth time in program history. They enter Saturday one of five remaining teams unbeaten in Big 12 play thanks in large part to a stellar defense that’s carried over its success from non-league play.
Iowa State has allowed 50 points all season and 21 in two conference games, which includes a shutout in a win at Houston.
The Cyclones’ 3-3-5 alignment has been tough for opponents to solve, and with 11 turnovers forced, including a Big 12-leading eight interceptions, Iowa State has a plus-7 turnover margin to rank No. 7 nationally.
Defensive backs Jeremiah Cooper, Jontez Williams and Darien Porter have two interceptions apiece, while defensive lineman J.R. Singleton has accounted for three of the team’s nine sacks.
“Statistically, it speaks for themselves,” Brown said. “I don’t need to talk a whole bunch. You look at the stat sheet and it tells you what you need to know about them defensively. They mix up coverages and they’ve done a nice job recruiting bodies that are long on their defensive line. That kind of makes the defense go because they eat up gaps.”
The Cyclones are allowing the fifth fewest passing yards of any team with 133.6 the average to this point. Iowa State’s rush defense, however, ranks in the middle of the conference allowing 138 yards on average, and it’s sure to be tested by a Mountaineer team that strives to establish the run and did that and then some a week ago.
“Our run game is an 11 approach because we do so many things on the perimeter and do so many things in the read game,” Brown said. “It’s an all 11 approach. We blocked better on the perimeter and versus man coverage, we did a better job of running them off and getting them out of there.”
Tailbacks CJ Donaldson (361 yards, 5 TD) and Jahiem White (352 yards, 4 TD) complement each other well and quarterback Garrett Greene has rushed for 295 yards and three scores. Greene has 173 yards on the ground through two Big 12 games.
Greene has also thrown for 1,061 yards while completing 72-of-126 passes with seven touchdowns and four interceptions.
“A little bit of our identity of who we like to be at times has some similarities and that’s probably the uniqueness about this game,” Iowa State head coach Campbell said of the Mountaineers and Cyclones. “Two teams that have a similar approach to how they want to play football. A lot of credit to what that group is doing with a senior quarterback, two outstanding rushers and a really good offensive line and tight ends as well.”
WVU defensive lineman T.J. Jackson leads the team with 3.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss, while linebacker Josiah Trotter’s 34 tackles are tops on the team. Trotter, a redshirt freshman, recorded his first career interception last game for what was the Mountaineers’ second pick of the contest and third this season.
While West Virginia’s defense enters fresh off its best showing this season, the Mountaineers were vulnerable on that side of the ball for much of non-conference play and had great difficulty limiting opposing passing attacks through the first three games. Simplifying coverages and a more consistent pass rush have helped WVU hold each of its first two Big 12 opponents to less than 200 yards through the air, but that will be a difficult challenge against ISU quarterback Rocco Becht, son of former West Virginia and NFL tight end Anthony Becht.
With Anthony Becht set to be honored for his induction into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, Rocco will try to maintain his strong play over the first of his redshirt sophomore season. The signal-caller has played efficient football, completing 87-of-132 passes for 1,173 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
“Sometimes when you have success, you can lose some of that humility and character. Rocco has been nothing short of exceptional and challenging himself to continue to grow and be his best but always lifting his teammates up along with him,” Campbell said. ”I’m really grateful to coach a young man like that and really grateful to lead a football program with a young man like that, because when the ball is in your hands, you have a lot of leadership on your plate. He’s done a great job so far for us.”
Wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel have been the primary beneficiaries of Becht’s strong play, and the 6-foot-4 Higgins has 33 catches for 403 yards with five touchdowns. Noel’s 451 receiving yards are a team high and have come on 24 receptions, two of which are TDs.
The Cyclones have a quality rushing attack of their own and tailbacks Jaylon Jackson (295 yards, 2 TD), Abu Sama III (242 yards, 1 TD) and Carson Hansen (211 yards, 2 TD) have all been instrumental to the success on the ground.
“You can only do what your quarterback allows you to do and they do a bunch of different things,” Brown said. “He does a really good job manipulating safeties with his eyes. He has good touch on the ball. He’s a sneaky runner. He’s a good athlete and he extends plays.”