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2018 West Virginia

8–⁠4 (6–⁠3 Big 12), coached by Dana Holgorsen, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 2018, game by game: won vs. Tennessee 40–14; won vs. Youngstown State 52–17; won vs. Kansas State 35–6; won at No. 25 Texas Tech 42–34; won vs. Kansas 38–22; lost at Iowa State 14–30; won vs. Baylor 58–14; won at No. 15 Texas 42–41; won vs. TCU 47–10; lost at Oklahoma State 41–45; lost vs. No. 6 Oklahoma 56–59; lost vs. No. 17 Syracuse 18–34+44−16Won 40–14 vs. Tennessee+26TennesseeWon 52–17 vs. Youngstown State+35Youngstown StateWon 35–6 vs. Kansas State+29Kansas StateWon 42–34 at No. 25 Texas Tech+8No. 25 Texas TechWon 38–22 vs. Kansas+16KansasLost 14–30 at Iowa State-16Iowa StateWon 58–14 vs. Baylor+44BaylorWon 42–41 at No. 15 Texas+1No. 15 TexasWon 47–10 vs. TCU+37TCULost 41–45 at Oklahoma State-4Oklahoma StateLost 56–59 vs. No. 6 Oklahoma-3No. 6 OklahomaLost 18–34 vs. No. 17 Syracuse-16No. 17 Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsTennesseeW 40–⁠1459%
Sep 8vsYoungstown StateW 52–⁠1779%
Sep 22vsKansas StateW 35–⁠658%
Sep 29at25Texas TechW 42–⁠3446%
Oct 6vsKansasW 38–⁠2285%
Oct 13atIowa StateL 14–⁠3051%
Oct 25vsBaylorW 58–⁠1474%
Nov 3at15TexasW 42–⁠4139%
Nov 10vsTCUW 47–⁠1066%
Nov 17atOklahoma StateL 41–⁠4554%
Nov 23vs6OklahomaL 56–⁠5936%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs17SyracuseCamping World BowlL 18–⁠3450%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Syracuse 34–⁠18 in the Camping World Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big 12.

In program history: The 35th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 17
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 12
  6. Wk 6: 9
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Wk 9: 13
  10. Wk 10: 12
  11. Wk 11: 7
  12. Wk 12: 7
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 15
  15. Wk 15: 15
  16. Final: 20

Heisman voteWill Grier, fourth

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big 12
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 6
Points
483–⁠326
Coach
Dana Holgorsen
Elo
1591 +65 this season
SP+ rating
13.2 No. 24 of 130; offense No. 9, defense No. 76, special teams No. 18
SRS
14.8 No. 13 of 130 in FBS
Returning
66% of last season’s EPA, No. 60 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 35 roster talent No. 36 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Jake Spavital
Defensive coordinator
Tony Gibson
Offense
Air raid
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense10th of 130
  • Defense69th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted9th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted55th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2447%1.3610th of 130
Defense0.1146%1.1769th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.21 off
0.08 def		47% off
44% def		—9th off
55th 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
Offense4.0own 3215% allowed
Defense4.0own 2821% caused

CORE rating 4.4, 37th of 130 (offense 6.7, defense 2.3).

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 yardsWill Grier QB3,864 yds
Passing touchdownsWill Grier QB37 TD
Rushing yardsKennedy McKoy RB802 yds
Rushing touchdownsKennedy McKoy RB8 TD
Receiving yardsGary Jennings WR917 yds
Receiving touchdownsDavid Sills V WR13 TD
TacklesDavid Long Jr. LB99 tkl
SacksDavid Long Jr. LB6 sacks
InterceptionsKenny Robinson S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Dante Stills SDE★★★★No. 124
Kwantel Raines S★★★★No. 199
T.J. Banks ATH★★★No. 468
Leddie Brown ATH★★★No. 553
Junior Uzebu OT★★★No. 574

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

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.872
Receivers53.00.863
Offensive line33.00.868
Defensive line43.30.869
Linebackers13.00.835
Defensive backs23.50.885
Athletes and specialists23.00.878
Whole class183.10.868

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 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 3Will Grier QBCarolina Panthers
Rd 3Yodny Cajuste OTNew England Patriots
Rd 4Gary Jennings Jr. WRSeattle Seahawks
Rd 4Trevon Wesco TENew York Jets
Rd 6David Long Jr. OLBTennessee Titans

Roster 109

The 2018 roster

109 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 63 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big 12

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma8–⁠112–⁠24
Texas7–⁠210–⁠49
West Virginia6–⁠38–⁠420
Iowa State6–⁠38–⁠5
TCU4–⁠57–⁠6
Baylor4–⁠57–⁠6
Oklahoma State3–⁠67–⁠6
Texas Tech3–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas State3–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas1–⁠83–⁠9

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