Five Key Takeaways from WVU’s Blowout Loss to Utah

BY JUSTIN WALKER | WV Sports Chat

Rodriguez Still Looking for a Quarterback

While Nicco Marchiol had started the first four games of the season, the offense had yet to find its footing under the redshirt junior, leading to Rich Rodriguez rotating multiple quarterbacks in each game to try to find a spark. 

With Marchiol missing the Utah game with a foot injury, Rodriguez turned to redshirt senior Jaylen Henderson to lead the offense against the Utes. After a poor first-half performance by the offense, redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins played most of the second half and led the Mountaineers on two touchdown drives. 

Now Rodriguez has a decision to make. Assuming Marchiol remains out, does he start the more experienced Henderson, who started four games for Texas A&M in 2023? Or, does he have enough faith in the younger Wilkins to make him the starter on Friday night against the BYU Cougars? There’s also true freshman Scotty Fox, who has seen significant action this year as well. It’ll be interesting to see who gets the starting nod for Friday night. 

Rich Rodriguez Looking for Help on the Offensive Line

After losing the top seven offensive linemen from last year’s team to either graduation or the transfer portal, Coach Rodriguez was forced to hit the transfer portal hard to build his offensive line for 2025. Unfortunately, that unit has failed to gel so far through five games, and their overall performance has been lacking, especially in the run game. 

For the first time this season, on Saturday, Rodriguez looked to his bench to find a spark. Redshirt senior Carson Lee filled in at center for the injured Landen Livingston. Also getting meaningful snaps in the second half were backup guards Donovan Haslam and Josh Aisosa, as well as tackle Malik Agbo. Haslam and Agbo are both redshirt juniors, while Aisosa is a redshirt freshman. None had played significant snaps until Saturday. The results for each player were mixed, but the offense as a whole did look better in the second half. 

Injuries Piling Up

With two of their top offensive players out for the year in star running back Jaheim White and wide receiver Jaden Bray, the Mountaineers could ill afford many more injuries on that side of the ball. Unfortunately, the injury bug still haunted the team on Saturday against Utah. Backup running back Tye Edwards, who ran for 141 yards in the win over Pitt, missed his second straight game with a hip injury. Fourth-string running back Cyncir Bowers was also out of the game with a concussion. That left Rich Rodriguez very few options in his running back room, so he turned to redshirt freshman Diore Hubbard, who had seen minimal action so far in 2025. Hubbard ran the ball ten times for 61 yards and a touchdown against the Utes. It’s unknown at the time of this writing whether Edwards or Bowers will be back for the game this Friday. Nicco Marchiol and starting center Landen Livingston were also out with injuries against Utah.

Tackling Continues to be an Issue

While Zac Alley’s defense had played well for most of the season so far, that success did not show up on Saturday against Utah. The Mountaineer defense gave up seven touchdowns on eight possessions and never forced a punt against the Utes. They had plenty of struggles, but the primary area of concern continued to be poor tackling. WVU’s defense missed a total of 24 tackles in the contest. This was their worst showing of the year, but it was the second time they missed at least 20 tackles this season per Pro Football Focus (missed 20 against Ohio on September 6). 

Fans Need to Be Patient

The 2025 season definitely appears to be a rebuild for WVU football. Mountaineer fans were hoping the 41-10 loss at the hands of Kansas in week 4 was an anomaly. However, after WVU suffered a 48-14 loss at home to Utah on Saturday, reality is setting in for the fans. Although Rich Rodriguez has vowed to try to win now, having an entirely new coaching staff and a roster of over 80 new players seems too much for this WVU team to overcome in the first year of the Rich Rod 2.0 era. Though easier said than done, fans would be well served to alter their expectations to meet these circumstances.