MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia's football team will make its farthest trip to this point this season on Friday, as the Mountaineers travel to Provo, Utah.
It'll be the first time the Mountaineers have played in Provo. WVU and BYU will go toe-to-toe Friday night at 10:30 p.m.
The Mountaineers and Cougars have met two other times, with the last meeting coming in 2023 in Morgantown, which was the first season BYU was in the Big 12 Conference. The other was in 2016. WVU is 2-0 all-time against the Cougars.
WVU will not only deal with the traveling across the United States, but the Mountaineers will deal with the proverbial 12th man at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The Cougars rarely lose at home, as they are 27-6 at Edwards Stadium since 2020.
West Virginia's contest will be the first Friday game for the Mountaineers since 2019 against TCU. WVU is 5-3 in Friday games since 2010.
"We have guys on the staff that's always working a week ahead anyway," WVU coach Rich Rodriguez said. "It's already being prepared for. I've had plenty of non-Saturday games. I've had Wednesdays and Thursdays with a five-day window before. This is not that big a deal."
West Virginia will start its third quarterback on Friday, as Nicco Marchiol and Jaylen Henderson are both listed as out on the Big 12 injury report.
Marchiol missed last week's contest against Utah due to a foot injury, allowing Henderson to get his first start as a Mountaineer.
Rodriguez said in his weekly press conference that Henderson was "banged-up." That now opens the door for either Khalil Wilkins or Scotty Fox Jr. to get the start Friday. No public announcement about the starter has been made.
Wilkins started the second half in place of Henderson against the Utes. The redshirt freshman posted 102 yards of offense, completing 3 of 6 passes for 63 yards.
He also led WVU on its only two scoring drives in the game.
Rodriguez thinks it will take time for Wilkins to grow and mature as a quarterback.
"It's getting more reps and [accustomed]. Sometimes you rush a little bit, and you aim it instead of throwing," Rodriguez said. "But, Khalil can make all the throws. Obviously, he's a dynamic runner. Scotty got some reps. We're looking and searching for everything we can to help us. Khalil has got some big, explosive type of ability. His upside is that his future looks really good."
Rodriguez's only matchup against BYU came in 2016, when the Grant Town native was coaching the Arizona Wildcats. That was BYU coach Kalani Sitake's first season. Sitake's Cougars got the upper hand, 18-16.
Sitake doesn't want to take the Mountaineers for granted, despite WVU having eight players listed as out on the Big 12's weekly availability report.
"West Virginia is a really good team [with] a lot of talent," Sitake said. "They've been struck down with a lot of injuries. That hurts any team. We've been part of that happening to us in the program. I do know that they have an amazing head coach that has proven [himself]. I admire [Rodriguez], and I've been around him and have competed against him quite a bit. He'll have his guys ready. We're looking forward to getting their best shot."
Sitake is aware of the quarterback carousel WVU has had this season, especially over the last three weeks.
The Cougars have prepared as though all of the Mountaineer's quarterbacks will see the field.
Now, it's a little different heading into Friday's game, as Marchiol and Henderson are out while Max Brown is listed as questionable.
"I guess we have to prepare for all of them," Sitake said. "They've used a bunch of quarterbacks. They all have stats. It's not easy. We have to prepare for all of them. If you look at all the quarterbacks, they're all athletic. They can run and throw. They know the system. It's gonna be difficult."
BYU will be back at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday for its first contest since its meeting against Stanford on Sept. 6.
The Cougars have rarely lost at home since 2020, going 27-6 during that stretch.
BYU won its two home games this season by a combined 96-3, including a 69-0 home opening win over Portland State in Week 1.
"I'm excited to be back home and play in front of our fans here at LaVell Edwards Stadium," Sitake said. "It's gonna be a lot of fun.
"We have to be ready to make sure that we defend our home ground and lean on our home crowd to give us an advantage, hopefully."
West Virginia's offense will face another stiff defense, as BYU sits fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 9.3 points per game.
BYU' held Colorado to 21 points in its Big 12 opener last week.
The Cougars are tied for seventh in the league in sacks (10), tackles for loss (27) and forced fumbles (three).
However, BYU's strongest feature on defense is third-down defense. The Cougars have allowed their opponents to convert 24% on third down, which is first in the Big 12.
West Virginia's offense has struggled on third down, ranking last in the conference, only converting on 27.1% on third down.
"They're really athletic," Rodriguez said of the Cougars. "They've got some big, strong guys up front. They're as athletic at linebacker as I've seen all year. Really impressed with them. [They] play hard and are coached well. They understand their system. They have some length and some different stuff defensively."
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