The struggling West Virginia Mountaineers will visit the Houston Cougars on Saturday. Houston comes into the matchup with a 7-1 (4-1) record and as the 22nd-ranked team in the latest AP Poll. West Virginia, however, is yet to pick up their first win in Big 12 play and are 2-6 (0-5). Though they showed signs of promise and a breakthrough at home against TCU, they ultimately fell shy of a win in the 23-17 loss. From the perspective of the Mountaineers, one storyline stands above the rest in the upcoming matchup.
Will Scotty Fox Jr. take another step in his progression?
True freshman Scotty Fox Jr. has started the last two games for the Mountaineers. In the blowout loss to UCF, he split time with Khalil Wilkins, and Fox Jr. converted on just 6-of-17 pass attempts. At home against TCU last weekend, Fox Jr. was the only quarterback to take a snap for the Mountaineers, marking the first game all season in which only one quarterback played for WVU. Uncoincidentally, it was the best single-game performance of any West Virginia quarterback through the team’s eight games. The young quarterback set a school record for passing yards by a true freshman with 301 yards. He threw two touchdowns and converted on 28-of-41 pass attempts in the six-point loss.
TCU was committed to stopping the run and did just that as they held the Mountaineers to 41 yards. It was almost as if the Horned Frogs' game plan was to force the young quarterback to beat them, and he almost did. Fox Jr. was impressive in just his second career start.
“It looked like he was calm, more confident in the pocket, and trying to control the game around him rather than trying to speed up and go faster," WVU starting tight end and college football veteran Grayson Barnes said on Tuesday.
Barnes, who caught a touchdown pass from Fox in the first half, also acknowledged the notable confidence growth that the true freshman seemed to display over the course of the game.
For West Virginia fans, this will be the first time, perhaps all season, in which there is not a question as to who will be the starting quarterback when the Mountaineers meet the Cougars this weekend. While statistically Fox Jr. may not make the kind of jump that we saw from start one to start two, keep an eye on his progression in terms of comfort, leading the offense, making correct reads, and progressing through his options when he drops back to pass.
Undoubtedly, Houston's defense presents significant challenges. They are giving up just 18.6 points per game, ranking them fifth in the Big 12 in that department. In each of their last two games (wins over Arizona and Arizona State), Houston’s defense has gotten after the quarterback. The Cougars have four sacks in each of the last two games. Eddie Walls III had a breakout game with three sacks and three TFLs last week against Arizona State. Keep an eye on him this Saturday afternoon.
Additionally, since there lone loss to Texas Tech, Houston's defense is allowing just 85 rushing yards per game to opposing offenses over the last three weeks. If Houston's defensive front has similar success against West Virginia on Saturday, a lot may be riding on Scotty Fox Jr.’s shoulders if this offense wants to put points on the board.