3 problematic Mountaineers players for Texas football

Dante Stills, DL

In my opinion, the best player along the West Virginia defensive front (if not the entire defense altogether) is fifth-year senior and the 6-foot-4 and 280-pound defensive lineman Dante Stills. As a player that feels like he’s been around forever in Morgantown, Stills is on pace to easily has his fifth season with at least 200 defensive snaps.

It goes without saying that Stills is a proven commodity for the Mountaineers. He’s ranked among the five highest-graded West Virginia defensive players in each of the last three seasons. Stills also leads West Virginia in defensive grade this season and ranks second in run defense grade.

West Virginia likes to slide Stills around to different spots along the defensive line depending on the need for the particular situation. He can line up as a defensive end and get pressure on the quarterback. He leads West Virginia in pass-rush win rate and has a team-leading three sacks under his belt this season.

Stills is also a real force to be reckoned with in run defense. He’s got five run stops and four run stuffs this season at an average depth of tackle of less than one yard in front of the line of scrimmage. That leads the conference among defensive linemen so far this season. Despite the fact that he weighs less than 290 pounds, Stills can still wreak havoc along the interior of the line.

It’s also worth noting that Still has forced a fumble in run defense.

I would imagine that West Virginia is going to continue to slide Stills around depending on the play. If Texas has an overreliance on the ground game, West Virginia can use Stills to either stuff the middle of the line or set the edge. He can also get after the quarterback, which will put pressure on multiple areas of the Texas offensive line.