--This is pretty much exactly what you wanted to see in a season opener against an overmatched FCS team. It wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t expect it to be still the Mountaineers controlled this thing pretty much from start to finish outside a few hiccups. West Virginia rolled up the most points (56), yards (624) and first downs (31) of the Neal Brown era without really pushing the issue at all in the second half and the defense played well for the most part. The Mountaineers allowed 135 yards and 10 points on two drives, but 62 yards on the other 11 drives and forced a total of seven three and outs. The Mountaineers also held the Colonels to 1-11 on third down. It’s hard to say how much we can take away from this performance because of how much better West Virginia was but the Mountaineers did their job and were able to play a lot of people in the process including a bunch of new faces. We’ll find out a lot more Sept. 26 on where this team stands but today was a solid debut.
--All of that was on top of one-game suspensions for T.J. Banks (TE/r-So.), Chase Behrndt (OL/r-Sr.), Zach Davis (OL/r-Sr.), Zack Dobson (WR/Jr.), Isaiah Esdale (WR/r-Jr.), JP Hadley (LS/r-So.), Mike O’Lauglin (TE/r-So.), T.J. Simmons (WR/r-Sr.), Tairiq Stewart (OL/Jr.), Junior Uzebu (OL/r-So.) and David Vincent-Okloli (CB/Fr.). So, not a terrible day at the office by any means.
--The defense finished with four sacks and nine tackles for loss.
--West Virginia had exactly two 30-yard runs all of last season. Junior Leddie Brown opened the year with a 38-yard run, which would have been the longest last year. He followed that up with a 36-yard run in the second quarter and his 123 yards total was the first 100-yard rusher for the Mountaineers since Kennedy McKoy rushed for 148 yards against Oklahoma State in 2018. It wasn’t just Brown either, as redshirt junior Alec Sinkfield looked very impressive with 123 yards and two touchdowns himself. It’s the first pair of 100-yard rushers since Justin Crawford and Kennedy McKoy did it against Kansas in 2017. It’s hard to judge against the level of opponent, but any progress is progress in the run game and it looked a lot better today than at almost any point last season.
--West Virginia had 10 rushes over 10+ yards, after having only 25 all of last season. The five rushing touchdowns is only two short of what the Mountaineers managed all of last year. The four touchdowns are the most since the Oklahoma game in 2018.
--Junior quarterback Jarret Doege quietly had a very impressive first half completing 19-25 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. He looked in complete control of the offense and while the timing was expectedly off at times and there were a few drops, he cemented his role as the starter.
--Over the course of the game, 10 different wide receivers acaugh
--Freshman Sam Brown physically doesn’t look like he just enrolled in college. He has size and is still figuring things out but hauled in 4 passes for 43 yards. Redshirt sophomore Bryce Ford-Wheaton looks like a different player with much more confidence. He dropped two passes, but still finished with 4 for 67 and a score. He could have a big year opposite of Sam James.
--Freshman Zach Frazier is the first true freshman to start for West Virginia the opening game … in at least the last 40-years, but he definitely didn’t look like a freshman. We knew Frazier wasn’t a typical freshman with his wrestling background but he looked the part and really did his job well throughout the course of the game. Do we have a position battle?
--Senior linebacker Tony Fields seemed to always be around the ball. He got beat early down the seam, but was active and very athletic. He piled up 10 tackles and reminded me a lot of David Long in his pursuit and how he just seems to find the football.
--Another that caught my eye today was senior safety Alonzo Addae. He had the incredible interception obviously, but he also was impressive being around the ball and being physical. Not only on defense, but on special teams. I think he has a chance to be a very solid piece there.
--I’ll have the full list later but a lot of true freshmen in this one. Brown and Frazier, Akheem Mesidor got a sack as did Taurus Simmons. Reese Smith, Garrett Greene, Charles Finley, Jordan White, Lanell Carr and Jairo Faverus. Just a lot of new faces that got on the field and did some productive things.
--West Virginia averaged 9.5 yards per play in the first two quarters and the 42 first-half points were the most since the Mountaineers scored 49 against East Carolina in the 2017 season. The 17 first-half first downs were more than the Mountaineers had in the season finale last year in beating TCU (13).
--West Virginia scored on seven of its eight red zone attempts, all of which were touchdowns. The one failure was a missed field goal once Brown had already taken his foot off the gas. Still, those opportunities have to be converted when the games inevitably get closer.
--The Mountaineers converted 8-13 attempts on third down, a big reason for that was keeping it manageable with only 4.6 yards needed to go. The Mountaineers only threw the ball five times on third down, showcasing their ability to keep things within distance. West Virginia in comparison averaged eight yards on first down putting them in position to do a lot of things.
--One issue that isn’t entirely surprising but doesn’t make you feel any better about it was penalties with 8 flags for 85 yards, some of which negated some big plays in this game. That has to improve.
--Special teams had its good and bad. At times the unit impressed, including a perfectly placed punt down at the one-yard line as well as some good coverage on kicks but overall it was inconsistent. I expected that coming into the game due to the lack of work there at full speed but it still doesn’t make it feel any better. The Mountaineers can’t afford to leave points on the field either by missing kicks.
--Two teams in the Big 12 have already lost today at home. It wasn’t perfect, I’m not trying to pretend it was at all but it was a win. West Virginia is now 1-0 on the season and gets a week off before arguably what should be one of their toughest games all season. This young team is going to have to grow up fast if it wants to win in Stillwater, but you walked away from this one feeling better than when you came in.
--All of that was on top of one-game suspensions for T.J. Banks (TE/r-So.), Chase Behrndt (OL/r-Sr.), Zach Davis (OL/r-Sr.), Zack Dobson (WR/Jr.), Isaiah Esdale (WR/r-Jr.), JP Hadley (LS/r-So.), Mike O’Lauglin (TE/r-So.), T.J. Simmons (WR/r-Sr.), Tairiq Stewart (OL/Jr.), Junior Uzebu (OL/r-So.) and David Vincent-Okloli (CB/Fr.). So, not a terrible day at the office by any means.
--The defense finished with four sacks and nine tackles for loss.
--West Virginia had exactly two 30-yard runs all of last season. Junior Leddie Brown opened the year with a 38-yard run, which would have been the longest last year. He followed that up with a 36-yard run in the second quarter and his 123 yards total was the first 100-yard rusher for the Mountaineers since Kennedy McKoy rushed for 148 yards against Oklahoma State in 2018. It wasn’t just Brown either, as redshirt junior Alec Sinkfield looked very impressive with 123 yards and two touchdowns himself. It’s the first pair of 100-yard rushers since Justin Crawford and Kennedy McKoy did it against Kansas in 2017. It’s hard to judge against the level of opponent, but any progress is progress in the run game and it looked a lot better today than at almost any point last season.
--West Virginia had 10 rushes over 10+ yards, after having only 25 all of last season. The five rushing touchdowns is only two short of what the Mountaineers managed all of last year. The four touchdowns are the most since the Oklahoma game in 2018.
--Junior quarterback Jarret Doege quietly had a very impressive first half completing 19-25 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. He looked in complete control of the offense and while the timing was expectedly off at times and there were a few drops, he cemented his role as the starter.
--Over the course of the game, 10 different wide receivers acaugh
--Freshman Sam Brown physically doesn’t look like he just enrolled in college. He has size and is still figuring things out but hauled in 4 passes for 43 yards. Redshirt sophomore Bryce Ford-Wheaton looks like a different player with much more confidence. He dropped two passes, but still finished with 4 for 67 and a score. He could have a big year opposite of Sam James.
--Freshman Zach Frazier is the first true freshman to start for West Virginia the opening game … in at least the last 40-years, but he definitely didn’t look like a freshman. We knew Frazier wasn’t a typical freshman with his wrestling background but he looked the part and really did his job well throughout the course of the game. Do we have a position battle?
--Senior linebacker Tony Fields seemed to always be around the ball. He got beat early down the seam, but was active and very athletic. He piled up 10 tackles and reminded me a lot of David Long in his pursuit and how he just seems to find the football.
--Another that caught my eye today was senior safety Alonzo Addae. He had the incredible interception obviously, but he also was impressive being around the ball and being physical. Not only on defense, but on special teams. I think he has a chance to be a very solid piece there.
--I’ll have the full list later but a lot of true freshmen in this one. Brown and Frazier, Akheem Mesidor got a sack as did Taurus Simmons. Reese Smith, Garrett Greene, Charles Finley, Jordan White, Lanell Carr and Jairo Faverus. Just a lot of new faces that got on the field and did some productive things.
--West Virginia averaged 9.5 yards per play in the first two quarters and the 42 first-half points were the most since the Mountaineers scored 49 against East Carolina in the 2017 season. The 17 first-half first downs were more than the Mountaineers had in the season finale last year in beating TCU (13).
--West Virginia scored on seven of its eight red zone attempts, all of which were touchdowns. The one failure was a missed field goal once Brown had already taken his foot off the gas. Still, those opportunities have to be converted when the games inevitably get closer.
--The Mountaineers converted 8-13 attempts on third down, a big reason for that was keeping it manageable with only 4.6 yards needed to go. The Mountaineers only threw the ball five times on third down, showcasing their ability to keep things within distance. West Virginia in comparison averaged eight yards on first down putting them in position to do a lot of things.
--One issue that isn’t entirely surprising but doesn’t make you feel any better about it was penalties with 8 flags for 85 yards, some of which negated some big plays in this game. That has to improve.
--Special teams had its good and bad. At times the unit impressed, including a perfectly placed punt down at the one-yard line as well as some good coverage on kicks but overall it was inconsistent. I expected that coming into the game due to the lack of work there at full speed but it still doesn’t make it feel any better. The Mountaineers can’t afford to leave points on the field either by missing kicks.
--Two teams in the Big 12 have already lost today at home. It wasn’t perfect, I’m not trying to pretend it was at all but it was a win. West Virginia is now 1-0 on the season and gets a week off before arguably what should be one of their toughest games all season. This young team is going to have to grow up fast if it wants to win in Stillwater, but you walked away from this one feeling better than when you came in.
