West Virginia picked up their first win of the season on Saturday night against the Albany Great Danes by a final score of 49-14. Here you will find 3 takeaways from the win, including two reasons to be optimistic and one cause for concern.
1. Garrett Greene will be just fine
Greene admittedly struggled against Penn State in the season opener. While he did not receive much help from his teammates in Week 1, he did not play well enough for WVU to remain competitive against Penn State. In week 2, Garrett Greene was sharp, efficient, and heavily involved, including lead-blocking in the running game.
Garrett Greene vs Albany:
Passing -- 17-23, 236 yards, 3 TD
Rushing -- 7 carries, 68 yards, 1 TD
If West Virginia wants to compete for a Big 12 title, Garrett Greene will have to be special. Mountaineer fans are happy to see Greene bounce back in this tune-up game ahead of the Backyard Brawl next Saturday.
2. Josiah Trotter and T.J. Jackson have been the most impactful WVU defensive players
Folks, the Josiah Trotter hype is real. The freshman linebacker contributed 10 tackles against Penn State and picked up 3 more (including a TFL) against Albany. Trotter is an impact player and seems to have a knack for being around the football on every play.
T.J. Jackson, a transfer from Troy, is a defensive player WVU had high hopes for heading into this season and his Mountaineer career has gotten off to an impressive start. It is easy to see why Jackson was the highest-graded defensive tackle transfer according to Pro Football Focus.
Jackson had one sack and two tackles for loss against Albany.
3. West Virginia’s issues in the secondary need to get fixed in a hurry
Sure, Albany is a talented FCS team with a good quarterback who transferred from Wisconsin in Myles Burkett. However, allowing over 300 yards passing against this level of competition is a cause for concern. The way that the Mountaineer defense allowed big chunk plays en route to accumulating those 306 yards is an even greater cause for concern.
Burkett completed 18 passes to 9 different receivers. for the Great Danes. West Virginia allowed the following big gains through the air:
- 49-yard completion
- 41-yard completion
- 33-yard completion
- 23-yard completion
- 23-yard completion
- 20-yard completion
6 different wideouts had one reception of 20 yards or more. West Virginia’s secondary has more questions than answers right now. In what was a “tune-up” game in many ways, WVU should feel confident in several areas heading into next weekend, but their defensive secondary is not one of them.