×

WVU answers questions

The West Virginia Mountaineers opened the 2016 football season with a solid performance in defeating Missouri 26-11 on a beautiful day Saturday at Mountaineer Field.

The biggest question mark coming in was a West Virginia defense with 8 new starters. Admittedly they were matching up against a Missouri squad which was offensively challenged, but the Tigers did run 100 plays and the Mountaineer defenders held them out of the end zone until the final two minutes against backups.

The key moments in the contest unfolded over the last few minutes of the second quarter. With WVU leading 13-3 quarterback Skylar Howard went down hard on a broken play and was on his way to the locker room. Backup William Crest then had the ball slip out of his hands on a passing attempt and suddenly Missouri was in business at the Mountaineer 7-yard line. With Howard’s condition unknown and a possible sudden turn in momentum the Tigers way there was an uneasy feeling among WVU fans. But the defense held and Missouri’s freshman kicker missed the ensuing field goal attempt to preserve the 10-point lead.

Howard returned to tough out the second half with painful bruised ribs, and the Mountaineers put the game out of reach with an impressive 7-play touchdown drive to open the third quarter.

The inability of the WVU offense to finish drives was an issue in 2015, and was evident again on Saturday. Four possessions stalled inside the Missouri 10 leading to field goals. This is an area in which the Mountaineer need to improve, as games against better quality offenses down the road will not be won with field goals.

But overall the play of the WVU offense was encouraging. Missouri gave up only 16 points per game in 2015, and was 6th in the nation in total yardage defense. Only two SEC teams scored more than 21 points against them. Yet the West Virginia offense was able to put up 494 total yards, the most yielded by Missouri since the 2014 SEC Championship game against Alabama. The Mountaineers ran the ball 48 times for 241 yards while missing two starters on the offensive line against a defensive front believed to be the strength of the Tigers point-stopping unit. A bright spot was the debut of running back Justin Crawford, who ran for 101 yards and a TD. Daikiel Shorts was the top receiver with 8 catches for 131 yards.

Special teams were also a positive. Mike Molina, filling in for suspended Josh Lambert, was 4 for 4 on field goal attempts, while punter Billy Kinney made his debut with a 45 yard average on 5 punts. The kick coverage units were solid.

THIS SATURDAY: Youngstown State certainly likes to go for the big names. Their football coach is Bo Pelini (formerly at Nebraska) and the university President is Jim Tressel. But Bo and Jim don’t quite have the talent on their football team they did at their previous venues.

That being said, the Penguins have a solid football tradition and play in the Missouri Valley, one of the better Football Championship Subdivision conferences. Although 5-6 in 2015, they had several close losses and took Pittsburgh down to the wire in a 45-37 defeat. Last Saturday saw several Power Five schools struggle against lower division opponents (Iowa State and Washington State as victims), so these games are not to be taken lightly. But the Mountaineers should be able to take care of business. WEST VIRGINIA 38 YOUNGSTOWN STATE 17.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today