West Virginia football lives up to hype in win over Tennessee
By Phil Poling
2. West Virginia’s defense is much-improved
Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson and the Mountaineers were after Tennessee from the first play of the game. USC-transfer, Kenny Bigelow, spent much of the first half in the Vols’ backfield wreaking havoc. If he wasn’t making the tackle, he was blowing up the play and creating easy opportunities for his teammates.
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Flanking Bigelow along the front were combinations of Reese Donahue, Darius Stills, and Dante Stills. Linebackers stuffing open gaps surely helped, with Dylan Tonkery, Charlie Benton, and David Long each contributing in a major way.
The WVU secondary is still a work in progress, but if the front-seven can continue to play at a high level, it’ll give the secondary a chance to catch up. They only surrendered 300 total yards, though, which is the lowest since playing TCU in 2016.
Linebackers Benton and Long did suffer injuries, the latter returning to finish the game, the former missing the entire second half. The ‘Eers will hope to get these two healthy, as they’re already thin at the linebacker position.