Expect to see new faces on WVU's offensive line as the season goes on.
WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez has changed his tune quickly on his offensive lineman in the past week – last Tuesday, he said if the coaching staff thought there were options ready to play that weren't already starting that "they'd already be rotating in." By Saturday night, after a 48-14 loss to Utah where eight different offensive lineman saw 14 or more snaps, Rodriguez said that his staff was still searching for the "right combination" on the offensive line.
Now, during this week's press conference on Tuesday, Rich Rodriguez was discussion the offensive line, and highlighted a number of players who saw significant action for the first time against Utah and indicated there might be more in-game reps coming for those players soon. In particular, he highlighted that Malik Agbo and Dononvan Haslam, who have previously served as the backup right tackle and backup right guard, will "play more" as the season moves forward.
"I've been impressed with what [Agbo] has done so far. He's going to play more, Donovan Haslam is going to play more as well, as Donovan is a big presence in there. And there may be a couple other guys that get shots too," Rodriguez said.
Rich Rodriguez said Malik Agbo and Donovan Haslam are going to play more moving forward. #HailWV
— Joe Smith (@joesmithwrites) September 30, 2025
Rodriguez was also asked about Carson Lee, who started at center in place of Landen Livingston, who started the first four games but was unavailable last week following a high ankle bruise that took him out of the Kansas game. He also praised Lee's efforts against the Utes, and highlighted that he can play at both center and both guard positions – indicating that even once LIvingston returns, Lee could easily see playing time at other positions along the line as well.
"His snaps were good, he was composed out there. And he's a guy that can play all three positions, both guards and center as well," Rodriguez said.
This comes as welcome news to fans and media members that have highlighted the poor play of WVU's starting right guard Kimo Makane'ole, starting right tackle Ty'Kieast Crawford, and starting left guard Walter Young Bear, a trio of transfers who have failed to live up to expectation so far. It's nice to see Rodriguez make the adjustment as he realizes his original evaluations might not have been spot-on.