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During the course of a football season fans are accustomed to peaks and valleys. There are days when their team plays at the top of its game, and others that are the bottom of the barrel.
But to see both in the same game?
West Virginia broke from the gate early on a first play, 72-yard run by Cam Cook, resulting in an opening touchdown just 47 seconds into the game. The rest of the first half was complete dominance by the Mountaineers resulting in a 24-0 halftime lead. The WVU offense piled up 331 yards in the first half, with the newly constructed offensive line opening holes for 223 of those on the ground.
The WVU defense held Coastal Carolina to just five first downs and zero points. Mountaineer fans were pleased to see evidence of an upgrade in talent and looked forward to coasting to an easy win in the second half. The 2026 season was off to a positive beginning.
It was only due to the large halftime lead that West Virginia survived with a win. The second half play was nothing short of an embarrassment against a second tier team.
It all began with the Chanticleers trapped inside their own 1-yard line after a monster 74-yard punt. The Mountaineers needed only to force a change of possession and take advantage of good field position to put up another score and put the game on ice. But on 3rd and 8 from the Coastal Carolina 3, the Mountaineers committed a defensive holding penalty resulting in a first down.
The Chanticleers then went on a 99 yard scoring drive to finally get on the scoreboard with a 34-yard touchdown pass.
We have seen over the last two seasons a West Virginia pass defense that repeatedly gave up huge chunks of yardage on pass plays, allowing opposing offenses to score on long drives in just a few snaps. The long scoring TD by Coastal was the beginning of the roof collapsing again exposing the same issues. The Chanticleers went on to complete passes of 15, 58, 13, 37, 17 and 33 yards, allowing them to score from 71 yards in just three plays, 75 yards in five plays, and 65 yards on six plays.
Meanwhile, the WVU offense suddenly looked anemic. They did manage one second half score beginning at the Coastal 35-yard line after a short punt, aided by a roughing the kicker penalty on a field goal attempt. The Mountaineers managed only 83 yards of offense in the second half compared to 311 by the Chanticleers.
Coach Rodriguez emphasized that the game was still a win and indeed that was true. But the way this one played out gave Mountaineer fans some real concern. There are probably 9 to 10 teams remaining on the schedule better than the one just played.
THIS SATURDAY: UT Martin is this year's annual FCS opponent, which should be the only easy win on the season. West Virginia 45 UT Martin 17.