Rich Rodriguez says what everyone's thinking about Mike Hawkins Jr. after huge win

The West Virginia Mountaineers marched into Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night to take on No. 25 Virginia in a marquee non-conference match-up. By the end of the evening, Rich Rodriguez and his team were celebrating one of the biggest wins of Week 3.

And that victory couldn't have been achieved without starting quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr., who was the standout star for the Mountaineers in the game. Hawkins Jr. set the tone early by hurdling a Virginia defender on a touchdown scamper to put West Virginia's first points of the game on the board after Virginia jumped to a 7-0 lead: and he didn't stop there.

Hawkins would end up scoring all five touchdowns for West Virginia in the 38-27 win, going 10-of-17 passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns through the air while adding 123 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, which is a career-high in rushing yardage for him. Now, the Mountaineers can claim a win over a ranked, non-conference Power 4 opponent to begin the season, and are off to their first 3-0 start since the 2016 season.

Rich Rodriguez believes Mike Hawkins Jr. has his best football ahead of him for West Virginia

After the game, Rodriguez hadsome high levels of praisefor his starting quarterback, who had one of the best dual-threat performances by an FBS quarterback this season.

"Mike's a dynamic player, and I think he's only going to get better. It's only his third game in the system," Rodriguez said. "He's electric, and I think he showed today he has a whole lot of good football in front of him."

Hawkins Jr. became the first quarterback since Pat White – a player he says he looks up to – in 2008 to have two passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a game for West Virginia, and spoke about why he's such a good fit for Rodriguez's offense after the game.

"Ever since I got here, I poured into the program and Rich Rod's offense, and he really communicated how diverse it was,"Hawkins Jr. said. "In the run game, and getting the run game going, and the passing game. When you get both of those going, it's a deadly scheme."

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