An in-state native who suited up for WVU football during his freshman season never had too much of a chance to make an impact for the Mountaineers, but has seemed to find his stride after moving down to the Division 2 level this season.
Princeton, W.Va native Dom Collins redshirted for the Mountaineers during the 2024 season and was with the program through 2025 spring practices before deciding to simultaneously take a bit of a step down to a lower level of competition and get a little bit closer to home, transferring to D2 program Concord (WV). Now, through Week 4 of the college season, he leads all of Division 2 in receiving yards per game, and is also among the Top 10 players in the country in total receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Th Mountain Lions have played three games so far this year, and Collins has managed an impressive 145.7 receiving yards per game to lead the nation – for those who don't want to do the math, that's good for a total of 437 receiving yards, which puts him fourth nationally in that category. The only players ahead of him have played on additional game, and he's ahead of several players in the top ten in total receiving yards that have played more games than he has. He also has five receiving touchdowns, which has him tied for sixth nationally in that category as well.
If Collins, a redshirt freshman with three additional seasons of eligibility remaining, can continue to develop at this pace, he might eventually find himself back at the Division 1 level. Given that he was among the post-spring clear out that saw many players leave due to the fact that new roster limits were expected to be put in place over the summer, fans might even hold out hope that he in-state native can return to head coach Rich Rodriguez and the Mountaineers in the future when there's a bit more room in the rotation for him.