By: Justin Walker | WV Sports Chat
Bye Week Did Not Help
West Virginia was coming off a bye week going into Saturday’s contest at UCF. Meanwhile, the Knights were coming off a hard fought loss to rival Cincinnati. Unfortunately for Mountaineer fans, the extra week to prepare did not seem to help. As a matter of fact, it appeared the team may have regressed in some areas. The offensive line continued to struggle and WVU was not able to get much going in the run game, especially with their running backs. The Mountaineers managed just 131 total yards rushing and averaged only 2.7 yards per carry.
The passing offense was even worse. WVU was unable to do anything in the downfield passing game. The two young Mountaineer quarterbacks threw the ball a combined 27 times, yet only had 79 yards through the air. They completed only 11 of those 27 attempts and averaged only 2.8 yards per attempt. Wide receiver Cam Vaughn also attempted a pass. It was also incomplete.
The same struggles that plagued the Mountaineer defense before the bye week continued to plague them on Saturday. In his Monday night coaches show, Coach Rich Rodriguez even mentioned mental mistakes made by the defense he had not seen yet this season.
Zac Alley’s defense gave up a total of 578 yards to the Knights offense. Of those, 323 were through the air as pass coverage continued to be an issue for the Mountaineer secondary.
Poor tackling and a lack of pressure on the quarterback were also contributing factors in the ugly loss.
Quarterback Carousel Continued
True freshman Scotty Fox got his first career start against UCF as Rich Rodriguez trotted out the fourth starting quarterback of the season for the Mountaineers. Fox lasted two series before he was pulled for Khalil Wilkins. The redshirt freshman, Wilkins, had started the previous game against BYU and had shown some positive signs, especially in the run game. So, it was a bit of a surprise to Mountaineer fans when Rodriguez decided to start Fox against the Knights. The two quarterbacks rotated throughout the game until Wilkins went out with an injury in the second half. Wilkins was 5 of 10 passing for 32 yards and Fox was 6 of 17 for 47 yards. Wilkins was the team’s leading rusher with 48 yards on 15 carries. Seniors Nicco Marchiol and Jaylen Henderson were both out of the game with injuries. Marchiol is officially out for the season.
Injuries Continued to Pile Up
Several key Mountaineer players have already been ruled out for the season due to injuries. Some of those include quarterback Nicco Marchiol, running back Jahiem White, and wide receiver Jaden Bray. However, other key players were ruled out for the UCF game, including quarterback Jaylen Henderson and nose tackle, Hammond Russell IV. Arguably the most disappointing news involved running back Tye Edwards. The 6-foot-2 inch senior burst onto the scene in the win over Pitt with a 141-yard performance. Unfortunately, that injury will keep him out the rest of the season.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
