West Virginia’s first road game of the season was quite the frustrating watch for Mountaineer fans. WVU lost to Ohio by a final score of 17-10. Not much went right at all for West Virginia after taking a 7-0 lead on a Jahiem White 32-yard touchdown run on the offense’s second possession. It was quite literally all downhill from that point forward. The West Virginia offense struggled tremendously at every position group on the field. In the disappointing loss, there were four primary reasons as to how the nightmare loss came to be for the Mountaineers, and it all starts with the offense.
1. The Battle in the Trenches
One of our five things to watch for in the Ohio matchup was the play of the WVU offensive line. Additionally, the ability for the Mountaineers to establish the run was one of our keys to victory. The offensive line struggled all afternoon, and West Virginia could not do anything in the rushing attack.
West Virginia gained 72 yards on the ground on 28 attempts. That is a 2.6 average yards per carry. Keep in mind, Jahiem White had a 32-yard touchdown run, and Rodney Gallagher converted a 16-yard end-around play that nearly resulted in a tackle for loss. If you take away those two plays, West Virginia had 24 yards on 26 attempts. The battle in the trenches was clearly won by the Ohio defense.
2. Jahiem White Injury
Jahiem White went down in the first half on one of the dirtier tackles you will ever see, one that was penalized for a horse collar and a face mask. After being helped off the field with a lower-body injury, White would have to be carted off the field and into the locker room. The extent of White’s injury has yet to be reported. As the numbers above indicate, after White’s injury, West Virginia simply could not run the football. In what seemed to puzzle Mountaineer fans, Clay Ash saw the bulk of the remaining action at running back. Neither Ash nor the offensive line was good enough in the loss.
3. Quarterback Play
Once again, it was Nicco Marchiol getting the start for the Mountaineers. He finished the afternoon going 15-for-26 through the air, earning 178 yards, and throwing one interception. Jaylen Henderson was inserted into the game in the third quarter for a couple of possessions and went 0-for-2 on pass attempts.
Rich Rodriguez indicated postgame that putting Henderson in at quarterback was to try to create a “spark” for the offense. This was done to no avail, as Marchiol returned but continued to struggle as well. On the day, Marchiol threw a couple of nice deep balls to Cam Vaughn and Jaden Bray, but he was rather inaccurate and made some questionable decisions otherwise. The Nicco Marchiol that looked very comfortable running the offense against Robert Morris in Week 1 was not the same Marchiol that we saw at quarterback in Athens.
About midway through the 4th quarter, Marchiol found Vaughn on a deep ball inside the Ohio 5-yard line that was ruled incomplete on the field, and was upheld upon review. In what could’ve led to the Mountaineers having an opportunity to tie the game at 17, many on X were upset about the call.
Cam Vaughn is something special. That's 100% a catch.
— Gold And Blue Zone (@GoldAndBlueZone) September 6, 2025
4. Inability to Capitalize on Turnovers
If the first three points were not frustrating enough, this one ought to do it! Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro threw three interceptions in the second half, all of which gave the Mountaineers great field position while trailing by only a touchdown. Here is a summary of what the WVU offense did with these opportunities:
1. With 9:26 remaining in the third quarter, West Virginia takes over at the Ohio 49-yard line. They go
three-and-out with zero yards gained.
2. With 1:49 remaining in the third quarter, West Virginia takes over at the WVU 41-yard line. They go three-and-out with seven yards gained.
3. With 13:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, West Virginia takes over at the Ohio 49-yard line. They go three-and-out, losing 14 yards on the drive.
These were golden opportunities that were squandered by the WVU offense against Ohio. During the preseason, Zac Alley laid out his standard of wanting his team to force three or more turnovers each practice, because you typically win a game if you can make that happen against an opponent. Apparently, Alley hadn't accounted for such a poor offensive showing when developing that standard.