MORGANTOWN - West Virginia's defense flipped this upside down at Texas Tech last week, but that success served to support the point: College football is about offense. It's a game with an overflow of statistics, but one of them matters more than all the others.
"If you aren't scoring," receivers coach Tyron Carrier said, "you won't survive in this league."
Points per game rules. That's why WVU coach Dana Holgorsen wanted to see his team find its way from 34 points per game last year to 42 points per game this year. It helped his confidence that he believed he had an offense that could make a leap the size of a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
The 12th-ranked Mountaineers do have a strong offense, ranking No. 7 out of 128 teams in yards per game, and they're one of six teams to average 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. They're behind schedule in points per game, and their 32.8 average ranks No. 46, but that figures to get better as the season goes on for two reasons.
The Mountaineers stay on the field and they steer clear of the spots that might take them off the field.
They're No. 25 in third-down conversion percentage (47.14), but they also avoid third downs, which has been their problem in the past. They see 13.8 third downs per game. That's good enough for an above-average No. 36 nationally, but they've never seen fewer per game in Holgorsen's first five seasons.
Third downs are 50-50 plays. You get it or you don't. The possession goes on toward the end zone or it ends shy of the goal because of a field goal or a punt.
WVU prevents a lot of those dilemmas with 36 first downs on 182 first-down snaps and 53 first downs on 134 second-down snaps.
"I would prefer never to be in third down," Holgorsen said, "it's just not very realistic."
He's managed that reality, though. On first down, WVU averages 6.7 yards. On second down, the offense averages 7.0 yards. Add that up and it's a first down. Avoid those third downs and drives continue on into the red zone.
"It's been very helpful," center Tyler Orlosky said. "Being able to score fast and score on first and second down helps us a lot. I think for as good as we are on third down, it's better to stay out of third down. It goes back to us being a balanced offense running and passing the ball and taking away those third-down situations."
Being so hard to predict and harder to stop on first and second down has kept WVU out of an area where it has sometimes struggled under Holgorsen. Beginning in 2011, his first season, the offenses have finished Nos. 61, 39, 114, 46, and 67. His offense has never converted more than 43.72 percent of the time in a season, and that was in 2012.
A year ago, WVU was under 40 percent, and that was the second time that had happened to Holgorsen.
"Whatever the third-down situation is, we have to have a plan to be able to go out and execute it," he said. "I think we have done a better job of that this year than we have in years past. If we're playing good offense and we're averaging [6.8] yards per play, which is higher than it has been since I've been here, you're not going to be in as many third downs."
It's going to be a challenge Saturday, when the Mountaineers (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) play host to TCU (4-2, 1-1). The Horned Frogs have been in the top five in third-down conversion defense five times since 2008 - and they led the nation in 2010 - and they've adjusted since joining the Big 12, where offenses are just better than they were in the Mountain West. They've been in the top seven three times since 2012.
This season, they're facing 18 third downs per game, the second-highest average in the country. But TCU also allows 7.8 conversions per game, which is No. 121 out of 128 teams.
"Critical downs are really important," quarterback Skyler Howard said. "That that one momentum swing when you convert a third down and keep your offense on the field can help you win a game."