Three Keys to a BYU Win Over West Virginia

The BYU offense against Colorado | BYU Photo

No. 23 BYU will be back in action on Friday night. The Cougars will host the West Virginia Mountaineers for the first time in LaVell Edwards Stadium. Here are three keys to a BYU win over WVU.

1. Keep Bear Bachmeier Clean

WVU's defensive philosophy is straightforward: get after the quarterback.

According to Cam Mellor, WVU ranks sixth nationally in blitz rate. The Mountaineers blitz 43.6% of the time. WVU's blitz packages are, for the most part, effective. WVU ranks eighth nationally in pressure rate. The Mountaineers get pressure on the quarterback 42.5% of their pass-rush attempts.

WVU will pressure BYU's true freshman quarterback and try to force him into mistakes.

If BYU's offensive line can keep Bear Bachmeier clean, this game could get out of hand.

Bachmeier could make WVU pay for blitzing too often. That's exactly what he did against ECU. Bachmeier was 11/16 for 125 yards (7.8 yards per attempt) against ECU when he wasn't blitzed. When he was blitzed, he was 7/9 for 121 yards (13.4 yards per attempt) and 1 touchdown.

Bachmeier struggled against the blitz in his first FBS game against Stanford, but he has handled the blitz fairly well in the last two games. A big reason for that is Bachmeier's processing speed. Bachmeier averages 2.35 seconds to throw the football which ranks sixth nationally.

Bear doesn't hold on to the ball long, so WVU would need their blitzes to get home quickly or else they could be exposed on the back end.

2. Sell Out on the Run

WVU has had next to no stability at the quarterback position. Starter Nicco Marchiol has been dealing with an injury and will not play. The Mountaineers started senior Jaylen Henderson against Utah and Henderson was, frankly, horrendous. He was 3/7 for 22 yards. WVU benched Henderson in favor of redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins.

Wilkins gave the WVU offense a bit of a spark. WVU also lists quarterback Max Brown as "questionable" as of Thursday evening. Brown played a few snaps against the Utes last week.

The WVU pass offense has struggled as a result of the musical chairs at quarterback. The Mountaineers average 179 passing yards per game, good enough for 106th nationally.

If any quarterback not named Max Brown starts against BYU, the Mountaineers will place all offensive emphasis on the run. Despite only scoring 14 points last week, WVU did put up 261 rushing yards last weekend. WVU could also get running back Tye Edwards back from injury. Edwards is listed as "probable" for this game. Edwards had 141 yards against Pitt and he hasn't played since.

The BYU defense, similar to the Stanford game, will need to sellout on the run. Putting this WVU offense in third-and-long situations is a recipe for success.

3. Avoid a Slow Start

Three drives into the Colorado game last week, BYU trailed 14-0. That slow start allowed Colorado to stay in the game until the very end.

BYU is the better team. There is a reason why BYU is favored by three scores. If WVU gets off to a hot start like Colorado did, they could hang in the game into the second half.

Slow starts, especially on offense, have been a problem this season. BYU can't afford slow starts against the back half of its schedule, so this is not only a key to victory, but a key to the rest of the season.