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West Virginia elevates past Albany in 49-14 win

By Joseph Smith

West Virginia Mountaineers running back CJ Donaldson Jr. (4) celebrates with teammates after running for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the second quarter at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.
West Virginia Mountaineers running back CJ Donaldson Jr. (4) celebrates with teammates after running for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the second quarter at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. / Ben Queen-Imagn Images
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West Virginia football got its season back on track against Albany on Saturday.

After a loss in Week 1 dampened the offseason hype around the Mountaineer program, questions abounded amongst the WVU fandom. Those concerns were alleviated a bit as WVU fended off the feisty Great Danes in a 49-14 win.

“As poor as we played last week, we bounced back,” head coach Neal Brown told television reporters after the win. “I thought offensively we were really sharp, and defensively, we made enough plays. We have to continue to get better though.”

WVU got off to an explosive start on offense, taking a 21-0 lead and never looking back, exploding for 553 yards offensively. The Mountaineers saw game-changing performances from a pair of veterans in quarterback Garrett Greene and running back CJ Donaldson Jr.

Greene went 17-23 passing with 236 yards and three touchdowns while also adding one touchdown rush and 68 yards on the ground. Donaldson paced a three-headed Mountaineer rushing attach with 125 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. Jahiem White also added 100 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.

Albany didn’t go down without a fight, however, fighting from the early deficit to make the score 28-14 at halftime and finishing the game with 374 total yards, with 306 of those coming through the air.

The Mountaineers will next move on to a rivalry clash with Pitt, who earned a narrow 28-27 win against another Big 12 rival in Cincinnati on Saturday. The Panthers secured the victory with a last-second field goal to advance to the Backyard Brawl with a 2-0 record. Brown hopes the game will be the beginning of WVU’s climb back towards the national spotlight after their rough performance on national TV against Penn State.

“It starts up in Acrisure Stadium on Saturday afternoon,” Brown said. “The last time we went up there we had the game and we just didn’t finish. And so, we need to get that taste out of our mouth.”

“I’m fired up. We get to go play at their place, and it should be a fun game,” WVU quarterback Garrett Greene added.

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