Game Preview: West Virginia football at BYU

West Virginia will travel to BYU for a Friday night Big 12 Conference matchup, and WVSports.com breaks down some of the key items of the matchup in our preview.

Kickoff: 10:30 PM ET.
Series: WVU 2-0
Last Meeting: 2023: WVU 37 BYU 7
Television Information: ESPN, Anish Shrouff (PBP), Andre Ware (analyst), Paul Carcaterra (sideline reporter)

Odds: BYU -18.5 — U/0 47.5 (BetMGM)

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Head Coaches Information:

West Virginia		BYU
Rich Rodriguez		Kalani Sitake
Record at West Virginia:	62-29	Record at BYU:	76-43
Overall Record:	192-133-2	Overall Record:	76-43
2025 Record:	2-3	2025 Record:	4-0

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Numbers of Note:

–The 2025 season marks West Virginia’s 133rd season of football. The Mountaineers are the winningest program in the Big 12 Conference and No. 15 in college football.

–West Virginia Football Coach Rich Rodriguez has 192 career victories, ranking No. 5 among active FBS coaches.

–WVU is 10-5-1 in games played on Oct. 3, including 3-5 on the road. The last time WVU played on that date was against Baylor in 2020 in Morgantown (W/27-21 2OT)

–West Virginia is 2-0 all-time against BYU.

–West Virginia has surpassed at least 140 rushing yards in 37 of the last 43 games (since 2022)

–The Mountaineers are tied for No. 1 nationally in red zone offense and No. 22 in rushing offense

–WVU is 104-17 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.

–On first down, the Mountaineers have run 150 plays and gained 884 yards for a 5.9 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 120 plays for 686 yards and a 5.7 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 70 plays for 373 yards and a 5.3 average gain. West Virginia has run 15 plays on fourth down for 35 yards and a 2.3 average.

–WVU’s touchdowns have come seven times on first down (6 rush/1 pass), five times on second down (3 rush/2 pass), two times on third down (2 rush/0 pass) and zero times on fourth down (0 rush/0 pass).

–Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2025 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 355 plays, 228 on the ground and 127 through the air.

–The rushing game has totaled 1,081 yards, an average of 4.7 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns. The passing attack has totaled 897 yards, three touchdowns and an average of 11.5 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 1,978 yards of total offense, 14 touchdowns, an average of 5.6 yards per play and an average of 22.0 points per game.

–Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 56 first downs by the run and 32 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 216.2 yards per game on the ground, 179.4 yards per game passing and 395.6 yards per game of total offense.

–West Virginia has gone to a bowl game in 20 of the last 23 years.

–The Mountaineers added 79 new players to the roster in 2025, including 39 on offense, 37 on defense and three on special teams.

–The 2025 roster consists of 124 players from 23 different states, Washington D.C. and three foreign countries: Australia (1), Finland (1) and Liberia (1).

–The FOX broadcast of the WVU-BYU football game on Sept. 27 marks the 341th national television game for WVU. All-time, the Mountaineers are 177-162-1 in nationally televised games.

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BYU

The Cougars are led by head coach Kalani Sitake who is now in his tenth season and has them positioned at 4-0 and 1-0 in the Big 12 Conference following a win on the road over Colorado. The offense is led by true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier who has thrown for 697 yards and six touchdowns without an interception while rushing for 163 yards and four more scores.

In the backfield, LJ Martin leads the way with 400 yards and a score for an offense that is ninth in the country in running the football and 22nd overall in scoring offense.

Bachmeier has three primary targets in the passing game in wide receiver Chase Roberts (16-234-3), tight end Carsen Ryan (12-192-2) and wide receiver Parker Kingston (14-105) but this is a team that primarily wants to run the football when it has the ball.

The Cougars defense has been very strong through four games, permitting just 226.8 yards and 9.3 points per contest, both of those marks rank in the top ten nationally. BYU is allowing just over 76 yards per game on the ground and only 150.5 through the air. The strength of the unit has been the linebackers.

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National Statistical Rankings

Statistic	West Virginia	BYU
Scoring Offense	98 (22.0)	22 (38.5)
Scoring Defense	90 (26.6)	4 (9.3)
Rushing Offense	22 (216.2)	9 (251.3)
Rushing Defense	82 (153.0)	8 (76.3)
Passing Offense	106 (179.4)	103 (184.5)
Total Offense	67 (395.6)	46 (435.8)
Pass Defense	69 (211.2)	14 (150.5)
Total Defense	76 (364.2)	7 (226.8)
Third Down Conversions	131 (27.1)	55 (42.9)
Opponent Third Down	43 (34.2)	7 (24.0)
Penalties	104 (34)	47 (25)

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Coaching Staff Assignments:

Zac Alley (AHC-DC-LB/Field)
Travis Trickett (Senior Offensive Assistant/Press Box)
Jack Bicknell Jr. (OL/Field)
Jeff Casteel (Bandits/Field)
Logan Bradley (IR/Field)
Gabe Franklin (S/Field)
Ryan Garrett (WR/Field)
William Green (DL/Field)
Pat Kirkland (STC-Defensive Assistant/Field)
Michael Nysewander (TE/Field)
Larry Porter (RB/Field)
Rhett Rodriguez (QB/Press Box)
Rod West (CB/Field)
Derek Dressler (Assistant OL/Press Box)
Henry Weinreich (Nickels-Sams/Field)
Pat White (Assistant QB/Field)
Jake Casteel (Asst. Defensive Coach/Press Box)
Ryan Nehlen (Asstant WR/Press Box)
Andrew Warwick (Assistant Defensive Coach/Press Box)

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Depth Chart:

OFFENSE:

QB:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
8	Nicco Marchiol	6-2	226	r-Jr.
-or-
13	Jaylen Henderson	6-3	223	r-Sr.
-or-
6	Max Brown	6-2	223	r-Jr.
-or-
15	Scotty Fox	6-2	213	Fr.
-or-
14	Khalil Wilkins	6-3	204	r-Fr.

RB:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
27	Clay Ash	5-9	196	So.
-or-
23	Cyncir Bowers	5-10	191	So.
-or-
2	Tye Edwards	6-2	225	r-Sr.
-or-
20	Diore Hubbard	5-11	190	r-Fr.

WR X:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
4	Cam Vaughn	6-2	185	r-So.
11	Justin Smith-Brown	5-11	190	r-Sr.
-or-
16	Jeff Weimer	6-1	209	r-Sr.

WR Y:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
24	Rodney Gallagher	5-10	180	Jr.
-or-
3	Oran Singleton	5-9	159	Sr.
-or-
7	Jarod Bowie	5-9	162	Sr.

WR Z:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
29	Preston Fox	5-10	181	r-Sr.
86	Cyrus Traugh	6-0	188	r-So.
-or-
88	Jordan McCants	5-11	178	r-Jr.

TE:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
80	80 Grayson Barnes	6-4	222	Sr.
-or-
81	Jacob Barrick	6-3	231	Sr.

LT:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
52	Nick Krahe	6-6	305	r-So.
79	Mickel Clay	6-4	300	Sr.

LG:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
54	Walter Young Bear	6-3	306	r-Sr.
57	Donovan Haslam	6-3	341	r-Jr.

C:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
67	Landen Livingston	6-4	294	r-Jr.
55	Carson Lee	6-2	327	r-Sr.

RG:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
56	Kimo Makane’ole	6-4	300	r-Sr.
59	Josh Aisosa	6-3	321	r-So.

RT:

No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Class
74	Ty’Kieast Crawford	6-5	305	r-Sr.
65	Malik Agbo	6-4	280	r-Jr.

DEFENSE:

DE:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
1	Eddie Kelly	6-5	286	Sr.
91	Devin Grant	6-2	267	r-Sr.

DT:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
96	Edward Vesterinen	6-3	284	r-Sr.
92	Asani Redwood	6-3	294	r-Jr.

NG:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
99	Hammond Russell	6-3	308	r-Sr.
69	Nate Gabriel	6-3	315	So.

BANDIT:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
10	Braden Siders	6-2	243	r-Sr.
18	Curtis Jones	6-4	231	So.

MIKE:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
35	Reid Carrico	6-2	229	r-Sr.
32	Ben Bogle	6-1	225	r-Jr.
-or-
33	Ashton Woods	6-3	226	r-Fr.

WILL:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
30	Chase Wilson	6-1	230	r-Sr.
15	Ben Cutter	6-0	225	Jr.

NICKEL:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
5	Fred Perry	5-9	206	Sr.
34	Chris Fileppo	6-2	211	Fr.

FS:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
14	Kekoura Tarnue	6-0	199	Sr.
7	Israel Boyce	5-11	192	So.
-or-
13	Derek Carter	5-10	181	r-Sr.

BS:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
24	Darrian Lewis	5-9	198	r-Sr.
8	Justin Harrington	6-3	217	r-Sr.
-or-
4	Jordan Walker	6-0	194	r-Sr.

LCB:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
3	Michael Coats	5-11	183	Sr.
6	Jordan Scruggs	5-10	172	r-Sr.

RCB:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
23	Jason Chambers	5-11	193	Sr.
16	Ty Crutcher	5-8	176	Sr.

SPECIAL TEAMS:

K:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
25	Kade Hensley	5-10	190	r-Sr.
99	Ethan Head	6-1	185	So.

KO:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
99	Ethan Head	6-1	185	So.
48	Nate Flower	6-2	184	r-So.

H:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
41	Oliver Straw	6-2	215	Sr.
42	RJ Kocan	5-10	233	r-Jr.

P:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
41	Oliver Straw	6-2	215	Sr.
47	Aidan Stire	6-0	198	Fr.

LS:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
38	Macguire Moss	6-1	225	r-Jr.
53	Kaden Seller	6-2	256	r-Fr.

KR/PR:

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class
29	Preston Fox	5-10	188	r-Sr.
24	Rodney Gallagher	5-10	180	Jr.

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