West Virginia’s Win vs. JMU: By The Numbers

29:06: The Mountaineers time of possession. This was the first time the Mountaineers won a game where they lost the time of possession since their 42-41 win at Texas Longhorns. The Mountaineers only had the ball for 13:52 in the first half, with their longest drive lasting 4:09. The West Virginia Mountaineers controlled the clock in the second half with two different drives lasting over 4 minutes.

1.4: Average yard per rush. The Mountaineers rushed 34 times for only 24 yards. The Dukes sold out to stop the rush and kept everything in front of them. The longest rush was 5 yards, both by Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway. Brown stated after the game that the run blocking was bad among all participants.

2: The number of touchdown passes thrown by quarterback Austin Kendall in his first start in three years. Kendall threw a 28 yard pass to George Campbell and a 22 yard pass to Tevin Bush, both in the second half.

3.6: The average yards per rush allowed by the Mountaineers defense. Despite the Dukes coming into the game with the stated goal of leading FCS in rushing, James Madison did not break 4 yards per carry. The Dukes rushed for 172 yards but it took 48 carries. Quarterback Ben Dinucci had a 22 yard scramble and Soloman Vanhorse had a 10-yard scamper, but for the most part the defensive line held its own.

3:0: The Takeaway-Giveaway margin for the Mountaineers and the single biggest reason that despite all the stats say this should have been a loss that WVU was able to win. The Mountaineers recovered a muffed punt after their first possession. Austin Kendall and the offense only gained one first down following the three turnovers but in the second half, Austin floated a pass to Tevin Bush for a touchdown that gave the Mountaineers a 10-point lead which was too much for the Dukes.