After starting the season 3-1, West Virginia football dropped four straight games in October. What could happen for the Mountaineers in November?
After dropping their fourth consecutive game on Halloween night in Waco, Texas, on ESPN, Neal Brown and the WVU football team will go back to the drawing board and try to figure some things out. Is Austin Kendall the best quarterback to lead this team? Will the rushing attack ever get rolling this season? Can the defense hold up the rest of the year with an offense so putrid?
Kendall’s been up-and-down his first season as a Mountaineer, posting a 61.7 completion percentage while throwing 12 touchdowns. But he’s also thrown eight interceptions on the year, two in the 38-7 loss to Missouri and four in the 42-31 loss to Texas. While he hasn’t pushed the ‘Eers over the top, could anyone else on the roster do better?
The rushing attack hasn’t provided much of anything in the form of production for the offense with just 681 yards on the ground this season — an average of 85 yards per game. We’ve seen this stable of backs produce before, too — Leddie Brown, Kennedy McKoy, and Martell Pettaway — but things just haven’t clicked in 2019. The offensive line’s dealt with plenty of shuffling, though, but the offense as a whole just doesn’t have any rhythm.
The defense, however, has kept the Mountaineers in just about every game this season. Led by junior defensive tackle Darius Stills, WVU’s been solid in the trenches but have still allowed 31.4 points per game. Without much help from the offense, though, the defense can only do so much, often wearing down late in games. This is absolutely a defense you can win eight or nine football games with, but not without some help from the other side of the ball.
While recruiting is going to be important for Brown and his staff, he’s already playing a number of freshmen that will likely be contributors for a long time. They’re not just playing because they’re needed, though — these kids are good. Tykee Smith is a budding star, while Kerry Martin, Jr. could grow alongside him like we saw with Karl Joseph and K.J. Dillon a few years ago. The foundation is being laid, though. Now it’s up to Brown & Co. to start setting up the walls.
Darius Stills is going to be an interesting case moving forward, too. Will he be bold enough to test the NFL Draft waters after such a successful individual season? Or will he come back for his senior year and give Mountaineer Nation one last dominant campaign?