MORGANTOWN - What the numbers will tell you is what West Virginia's coaches do not want you to believe about their star defensive end.
But for the numerically inclined, here they are:
Noble Nwachukwu in 2015: 47 tackles, 13 ½ tackles for a loss, 8 ½ sacks.
Noble Nwachukwu in 2016: 32 tackles, 6 ½ tackles for a loss, 3 sacks.
"I think a lot of time people get caught up in the stats," defensive line coach Bruce Tall said, "but when you're battling like he is and when you watch the film and study him, I guarantee you he's one of the top players around."
Barring something outrageous - which is not entirely out of Nwachukwu's considerable capability - he will not reach his estimable stat sums from last season, but do not let numbers define the fifth-year senior, who plays his final home game in Saturday's 3:30 p.m. Fox Sports 1 game against Baylor (6-5, 3-5 Big 12) at Mountaineer Field.
Take his seemingly understated performance at home against TCU last month. Three tackles, two tackles for a loss and a sack in the 34-10 win.
"He had a special day that day," Tall said. "He definitely played well. He plays with energy all the time, but he was at a different level that day."
The day that ended with Nwachukwu singing "Country Roads" on the field began with the total opposite emotion. Where there was joy, there was despair before it.
Emmanuel Nwachukwu, Noble's father, died the morning of the game. He woke up to a text message from his mother, and Isabel told him Emmanuel had passed away from complications related to diabetes.
"I talked to him that Thursday," Nwachukwu said. "He was trying to make it to the game, actually. We were just talking. He told me he loved me, told me to keep doing good. He always checked up on me. We talked all the time."
Nwachukwu's parents had seen their son play before, but only on the road. They're from Wylie, Texas, not even an hour northeast of Dallas, and traveled to some Big 12 games in the Lone Star State, easier trips than the one required to see him play a home game.
Isabel, though, will see her son play at Mountaineer Field for the first time Saturday, and she'll be with Noble when he's one of the 21 seniors WVU (9-2, 6-2) honors in a pregame ceremony.
"It's been tough for me and my family, but we've been hanging in there," Nwachukwu said Tuesday, the first time he's talked to reporters since losing his father. "It's never easy. I've had to step up and take my role as the man of the house now, but it has been hard. A lot goes on."
Nwachukwu is famously reserved among his teammates, a model for performance and improvement that is achieved by deeds and not by words. True to his reputation, he did not tell his teammates about his father before they played TCU. He told his coaches so that they knew what was happening, but who among them knew what to do?
"There was never a question about whether he would play. It was, 'What's best for you?'" Tall said. "I'd never ask a young man to play in that situation. He never thought twice about not playing."
Nwachuwu, who this week was named one of the team's four permanent 2016 captains, didn't want to disappoint his teammates, so he started, like had the 31 times before and the four times since. Tackling a running back behind the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, sacking the quarterback in the fourth, things finally felt right, albeit briefly.
"It was very hard to focus on the game leading up to the game," he said. "When I got to the game, I was focused, but for the whole day, it was impossible to think about football. I was playing with a heavy heart out there. I left it all on the field, really."
In the estimation of his coaches, Nwachukwu had played perhaps his best game. He'd later be named the team's defensive player of the week.
"I was broken up," Tall said. "I had a hard time keeping my composure. He's just a special young man."
For that, Nwachukwu would like to think he takes after his father. Emmanuel and Isabel both immigrated from Nigeria, and Emmanuel was someone Noble looked at and admired as an example for how to treat people, for how to treat life. Emmanuel loved his friends and his family. He wanted the people closest to him to succeed and he made sure they had all they needed along the way.
"He was a hard worker," Noble said. "He wasn't from here. He taught us what it meant to be a hard worker moving here from Africa and going to college and raising a family. He was just a great guy."
Nwachukwu left the team the morning after the TCU game and went home to be with his family and for the funeral. His teammates finally learned what had happened in a team meeting Sunday afternoon. The text messages and phone calls vowing to help and support Nwachukwu and his family followed. He returned in time to practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and then he started on the road against Oklahoma State.
Nwachukwu made a career-high seven tackles and had one tackle for a loss.
"He's worked real hard and he's a leader by example," Tall said. "He's a relatively quiet young man but he goes really hard out there. When you monitor his work, it's off the charts. He does everything you want him to do."