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2016 West Virginia

10–⁠3 (7–⁠2 Big 12), coached by Dana Holgorsen, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 2016, game by game: won vs. Missouri 26–11; won vs. Youngstown State 38–21; won vs. BYU 35–32; won vs. Kansas State 17–16; won at Texas Tech 48–17; won vs. TCU 34–10; lost at Oklahoma State 20–37; won vs. Kansas 48–21; won at Texas 24–20; lost vs. No. 8 Oklahoma 28–56; won at Iowa State 49–19; won vs. Baylor 24–21; lost vs. Miami 14–31+31−28Won 26–11 vs. Missouri+15MissouriWon 38–21 vs. Youngstown State+17Youngstown StateWon 35–32 vs. BYU+3BYUWon 17–16 vs. Kansas State+1Kansas StateWon 48–17 at Texas Tech+31Texas TechWon 34–10 vs. TCU+24TCULost 20–37 at Oklahoma State-17Oklahoma StateWon 48–21 vs. Kansas+27KansasWon 24–20 at Texas+4TexasLost 28–56 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma-28No. 8 OklahomaWon 49–19 at Iowa State+30Iowa StateWon 24–21 vs. Baylor+3BaylorLost 14–31 vs. Miami-17Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsMissouriW 26–⁠1164%
Sep 10vsYoungstown StateW 38–⁠2183%
Sep 24vsBYUW 35–⁠3253%
Oct 1vsKansas StateW 17–⁠1668%
Oct 15atTexas TechW 48–⁠1754%
Oct 22vsTCUW 34–⁠1055%
Oct 29atOklahoma StateL 20–⁠3750%
Nov 5vsKansasW 48–⁠2191%
Nov 12atTexasW 24–⁠2056%
Nov 19vs8OklahomaL 28–⁠5648%
Nov 26atIowa StateW 49–⁠1968%
Dec 3vsBaylorW 24–⁠2173%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvsMiamiRussell Athletic BowlL 14–⁠3151%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Miami 31–⁠14 in the Russell Athletic Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big 12.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 22
  2. Wk 7: 20
  3. Wk 8: 12
  4. Wk 9: 10
  5. Wk 10: 14
  6. Wk 11: 11
  7. Wk 12: 10
  8. Wk 13: 19
  9. Wk 14: 14
  10. Wk 15: 14
  11. Final: 18
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big 12
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 10
Points
405–⁠312
Coach
Dana Holgorsen
Elo
1624 +61 this season
SP+ rating
11.3 No. 32 of 128; offense No. 31, defense No. 30, special teams No. 112
SRS
10.4 No. 25 of 128 in FBS
Returning
71% of last season’s EPA, No. 53 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 39 roster talent No. 31 in FBS
Defensive coordinator
Tony Gibson
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense43rd of 128
  • Defense36th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted47th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted28th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1445%1.2243rd of 128
Defense0.0542%1.1436th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.13 off
0.04 def		45% off
40% def		—47th off
28th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.5own 3013% allowed
Defense3.0own 2914% caused

CORE rating 7.2, 32nd of 128 (offense 3.0, defense -4.2).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsSkyler Howard QB3,328 yds
Passing touchdownsSkyler Howard QB26 TD
Rushing yardsJustin Crawford RB1,184 yds
Rushing touchdownsSkyler Howard QB10 TD
Receiving yardsShelton Gibson WR951 yds
Receiving touchdownsShelton Gibson WR8 TD
TacklesJustin Arndt LB84 tkl
SacksNoble Nwachukwu DL4 sacks
InterceptionsRasul Douglas CB8 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Brendan Ferns ILB★★★★No. 138
Steven Smothers WR★★★★No. 263
Martell Pettaway RB★★★No. 465
Kennedy McKoy RB★★★No. 630
Marcus Simms WR★★★No. 645

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.851
Running backs23.00.869
Receivers23.50.885
Offensive line33.00.836
Defensive line22.50.811
Linebackers43.30.865
Defensive backs32.70.825
Athletes and specialists23.00.814
Whole class193.00.845

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 3Rasul Douglas CBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Shelton Gibson WRPhiladelphia Eagles

Roster 126

The 2016 roster

126 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 55 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big 12

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2016 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2016 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma9–⁠011–⁠25
Oklahoma State7–⁠210–⁠311
West Virginia7–⁠210–⁠318
Kansas State6–⁠39–⁠4
TCU4–⁠56–⁠7
Baylor3–⁠67–⁠6
Texas Tech3–⁠65–⁠7
Texas3–⁠65–⁠7
Iowa State2–⁠73–⁠9
Kansas1–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.