By: James Gravley | WV Sports Chat
Rich Rodriguez will officially be on the Mountaineers football sidelines this weekend against Robert Morris. There should be no doubt that the Mountaineers win this game, but as we all know, the game is not played on paper.
What we do know is that WVU is favored to win this game even with Rodriguez running out multiple “ORs” on the quarterback depth chart.
WV Sports Chat caught up with Adam Borst, who covers Pitt, RMU along with covering the Steelers. You can follow him on X.
Below is the Q&A:
James: Who is the one player on RMU on both sides of the ball, the WVU should focus on the most?
Adam: Based on what I know of the way that HC Bernard Clark likes to see his teams play coupled with my limited knowledge on the transfers, I would say UMass transfer RB Donta Whack and Wake Forest LB Eldrick Robinson.
Robert Morris rushed for 1,487 yards as a team last season but lost last year’s top three running backs. Whack has good size as he stands at 6-foot, 205-pounds. I would expect him to be one of the main contributors on offense this season.
Robert Morris lost two 100+ tackle linebackers this offseason. Robinson played sparingly at Wake over the past three seasons but did earn All-Sun Belt Third-Team honors back in 2021 at Georgia Southern.
James: What are the three keys to RMU’s success against WVU?
Adam: I do not think there are even three based on the scale of the opponent. The one thing that they have going for them is the fact that the Mountaineers are also going through massive roster turnover (and a new head coach) so if they could take advantage of that, especially with multiple WVU quarterbacks likely playing, they could stick around much longer than originally thought.
James: RMU pulls off the upset against WVU if they do what?
Adam: If Robert Morris pulls off the upset, I think it would be more of what West Virginia did wrong rather than what the Colonials did right.
James: It’s the first game of the season so both sides will have jitters and nerves, in order for RMU to avoid those, what must they do?
Adam: Remember that regardless of the final score, a game against a quality FBS opponent like West Virginia will only help them figure some things out and better themselves going forward.
James: What is your score prediction?
Adam: I think Robert Morris sticks around for a bit longer than people think because it will take West Virginia some time to figure some things out but ultimately the Mountaineers pull away in the end. WVU wins 34-13.
West Virginia and Robert Morris kickoff at 2:00 pm on Saturday with it being streamed on ESPN+. According to ESPN’s FPI rankings, West Virginia is favored to win this game by 98.7%.
