By: Clark Johnson | WV Sports Chat
Morgantown, WV – Despite the excitement for the return of Rich Rodriguez, the 2025 season left a lot to be desired for the WVU Football program. The team struggled mightily on both offense and defense, with the offensive line being the major weakness. However, despite all of the shortcomings, the Mountaineers were able to somewhat salvage the season late in November.
Out of the many young players that saw the field for West Virginia in 2025, one stood out in the biggest moment above the rest. That player was quarterback Scotty Fox Jr.
Following injuries that decimated the quarterback room, Fox started the final six games of the season. As a true freshman, the Ohio native had his fair share of struggles. Outings against UCF and Texas Tech even had fans questioning if he could be the quarterback of the future. It was on November 15th, though, that Fox truly proved that he belonged on college football’s brightest stage.
The Mountaineers traveled to the desert to take on the defending Big 12 champion, the Arizona State Sun Devils. In a game that many predicted West Virginia would lose in a blowout fashion, it was the play of Fox that nearly gave the program their second upset win in three weeks.
Putting up monster stats in Tempe, Fox connected on 61% of his passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns. After falling behind 22-10 at half, he helped rally the Mountaineers to a 23-22 lead late in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, the team was unable to close the game out, losing 25-23.
Fox tossed his only interception on the final drive of the game, killing all hopes of the upset bid. A disheartening moment for fans and Fox, especially, the late interception did not take away from the absolutely stellar performance of the young signal-caller. Instead, it showed that he was still a young player with much room for growth – which should be encouraging for fans.
With a true freshman quarterback on the road against the defending conference champion, winning the game never seemed like a plausible outcome. However, Fox turned that narrative on his head. Playing well enough for the team to win, it proved that Fox is not only ready for the big stage, but that he belongs on it.
Fox will be going into the 2026 season with another offseason under his belt. Should he be able to improve on his late-season heroics – and I believe that he will – the Mountaineers will be set at quarterback for the foreseeable future.
You can believe that Michael Hawkins was brought in through the portal to be the answer. However, fans can rest assure that Fox is not backing down, and will be a major factor in the quarterback race.
(Photo by WVU Athletics)
