West Virginia football hosted James Madison on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. These are the biggest takeaways from the season-opening win.
The West Virginia Mountaineers caught just about every possible break in the first half Saturday against the James Madison Dukes, but still went into the half trailing, 7-3. The offense accumulated only 107 total yards and gained just five first downs before halftime, while the Dukes rolled for 206 yards and 11 first downs.
The Mountaineer defense and special teams stepped up in spots, batting down passes and forcing and recovering fumbles to keep WVU afloat. They even blocked a field goal that would’ve pushed the Dukes’ lead to seven early in the second quarter. Just before strolling into the locker room at halftime, though, head coach Neal Brown simply stated, “That was just bad football.” And he was right.
West Virginia came out swinging in the second half, though, getting chunks offensively from Tevin Bush and a touchdown reception from Florida State-transfer George Campbell on a 28-yard hookup with Austin Kendall. The defense continued to improve as well, finally getting to the quarterback in the passing game and registering a handful of sacks in the second half.
There’s plenty for West Virginia to improve upon, as should be expected after just one game, but here are our biggest takeaways from West Virginia’s 20-13 win.