West Virginia Offensive Players to Watch vs. Texas

The Mountaineers have a new look, and much more talented offense in 2022.

Matt Galatzan | Sep 27, 2022

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In week five of the 2022 season, The Texas Longhorns will welcome the West Virginia Mountaineers to Austin on Saturday, where they will look to avenge their late-season loss in 2021.

Last year's loss kept the Longhorns out of bowl eligibility, giving the team new motivations heading into a new season.

The Mountaineers largely struggled in 2021 but field some new impressive talent in 2022, as well as returning their entire starting offensive line from a year ago.

West Virginia currently holds a 6-5 advantage over the Longhorns in the all-time series between the two and is 4-2 all-time in Austin.

Last year, the Mountaineers had major struggles on offense ranking ninth in the Big 12 in scoring offense, 10th in rushing offense, and eighth in total offense.

The Mountaineers did rank fourth in the conference in passing offense and will be welcoming in arguably the most physically talented passer in school history next fall.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the Mountaineers' offensive players to watch in Week 5

Be sure to stick with Longhornscountry.com as we preview the matchup between the Longhorns and Mountaineers throughout the week.

QB JT Daniels

As the new man under center in 2022, the Mountaineers' offense has lived and died by the success of Georgia transfer JT Daniels. Once the starting quarterback for last year's national champion Bulldogs, Daniels never found his stride in Athens.

However, the talent is undeniable, and he is off to a solid start in Morgantown.

So far this season, 87 of 134 passes for 956 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions.

WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton

The Mountaineers leading returning receiver from a year ago, Bryce Ford-Wheaton will be key in the Daniels' success in his first year in Morgantown. He will also now be the main focus of the passing game after the transfer of Winston Wright Jr. to Florida State.

Last season, Ford-Wheaton had 42 catches for 575 yards and three scores. So far in 2022, he leads the team with 27 catches for 319 yards and four touchdowns.

RBs Tony Mathis Jr. and CJ Donaldson

Replacing a 1,000-yard rusher is never an easy task, but it is one Tony Mathis Jr. is in the process of undertaking.

Now the feature back in the offense, Mathis Jr. replaces Leddie Brown, who last year rushed for 1,065 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Mathis Jr. on the other hand had 72 carries for just 312 yards, with no touchdowns. If the Mountaineers are going to be a contender, those numbers will have to go up.

So far in 2022, Mathis has 58 carries for 38 yards and two touchdowns.

However, Mathis has not been the Mountaineers' most effective rusher to this point.

Instead, it has been freshman CJ Donaldson leading the way with 380 yards and six scores on just six fewer carries than Mathis.

Either way, both are playmakers and need to be at the forefront of the Longhorns gameplan.

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Published Sep 27, 2022

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.