After the comeback win in the Backyard Brawl two weeks ago, things have taken a bad turn in Morgantown. WVU football has now lost two consecutive games, being outscored by their opponents by a combined score of 89-24. After the loss on the road at Kansas to begin conference play, the Mountaineers were back at home for a rainy Saturday afternoon matchup against Utah. Coming off a blowout loss themselves, the Utes came out the aggressor and took it to WVU all game long, winning by a final score of 48-14.
Here Are 3 Things We Learned About The Mountaineers In The Loss
The Quarterback Change Did Not Solve The Issue
Entering Saturday’s matchup with Utah, there were plenty of on-field issues surrounding this team. Often, struggling football teams make a change at quarterback in hopes of jump-starting the whole team.
Starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol was ruled out with an injury, giving Jaylen Henderson a chance to start. Henderson was one of several Mountaineers quarterbacks involved in the battle for the starting position in the offseason and had seen limited action before getting the starting nod against Utah. Much like the offensive struggles last week, West Virginia struggled immensely against Utah, with Henderson getting the start.
Whatever way you slice it, going down 35-0 on your home field is abysmal and certainly indicative of poor quarterback play. While both Marchiol and Henderson have had to deal with less-than-optimal offensive line play, neither has been able to rise above the significant limitation that it presents. Henderson was just 3-of-7 passing for 22 yards against the Utes, and carried the ball 13 times only to gain 28 yards.
With the game already out of hand, redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins showed some promise. He went 3-of-6 for 63 yards passing and connected with Cam Vaughn for a 39-yard touchdown. Wilkins also picked up 39 yards on nine attempts rushing the ball.
Overall, while quarterback play has not been great, making a change at the position did not result in a better offensive performance from West Virginia. There are deeper underlying issues that this team has that go well beyond who is getting reps at quarterback.
Lack of Discipline Is Hurting This Team
Sure, we can chalk it up to having 81 new players, significant injuries, etc., but this team sure does find a way to hurt itself over the course of the game. In the first half, with West Virginia in desperate need of putting together a scoring drive, Jaylen Henderson connected with Grayson Barnes for what would have been a 69-yard touchdown. However, Barnes was called for a false start, and WVU would eventually be forced to punt.
While mental mistakes and miscommunications happen on every team in every game, there were several noticeable miscues by the players and coaches in this blowout loss. Utah’s offense was incredibly efficient through the air and on the ground, running it numerous plays in a row because they were so effective.
As exepcted, Devon Dampier was good in this one. He was an efficient 21-of-26 through the air with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. As a team, Utah ran the ball for 242 yards on 47 carries. Numerous times throughout this one, West Virginia left receivers wide open for Dampier to find for easy completions. While the defense has shown bright spots this season, the first two weeks of Big 12 play have featured opponents having their way early and often against this WVU defense, who is showing very little resistance.
"I think we were trying to do too much, we just got to stay disciplined on doing our own assignments," WVU linebacker Chase Wilson said after the game. "It's a lack of execution, not doing your job."
It Might Not Get Better This Season
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the way that West Virginia has looked to begin Big 12 Conference play could be indicative of a long, painful season. Now sitting at 2-3 (0-2), West Virginia will travel to Provo for a matchup with BYU on Friday night, October 3rd. By no means are Kansas and Utah the worst teams in the Big 12 that WVU will play, but these games have not been close, and injuries continue to pile up. Through 5 games, there are still more questions than answers surrounding this team, which is not a good sign.