AMES - West Virginia’s second Rich Rodriguez era has settled into the grind of Big 12 play, and Saturday’s 11 a.m. trip to Iowa State brings another test for a Mountaineers team coming off a 41-24 home loss to No. 19 Oklahoma State.
The Mountaineers are 3-1 overall and 0-1 in league play after the Cowboys rolled up more than 600 yards of offense last week. Iowa State, meanwhile, is 2-2 and also 0-1 after a 31-17 home loss to No.
13 Utah, a game that exposed the Cyclones’ defense for the first time this season. Even so, that side of the ball remains one of the better units in the Big 12, while the offense sits last in the league at 345.3 yards per game.
There’s also a road trip to No. 10 BYU waiting next Friday.
Against that backdrop, here are five West Virginia players to keep an eye on Saturday:
Michael Hawkins has become the engine of a Mountaineers offense that ranks fourth nationally in rushing yards per game at 294.8. The former four-star recruit from Oklahoma has paired speed and elusiveness with real production, averaging 5.9 yards per carry and leading the team with nine rushing touchdowns through four games.
The 6-1, 200-pound third-year player has also thrown the ball well overall, but last week against Oklahoma State was a rougher night. He completed 10 passes in 22 attempts, threw his first interception and took a step back after opening the season with five touchdown passes.
In his first true road test of the year, how Iowa State handles Hawkins could decide whether turnovers show up.
DJ Epps gives West Virginia the kind of vertical threat that can change a game in one snap. The Troy transfer is only 5-11 and 188 pounds, but his 27.4 yards per catch average tells the story.
Epps had just two catches for 39 yards in the loss to Oklahoma State, but his role is about explosion, not volume. He already has three 100-yard receiving games since his rise took off last season, and two weeks ago against then-No.
25 Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Classic, he caught two touchdown passes, both from beyond 20 yards.
Cam Cook has brought a heavy load and plenty of production to the backfield. After going over 1,000 rushing yards in just eight games last season at Jacksonville State, the twice-transferred 5-9, 203-pound back has kept rolling with 510 yards and three touchdowns on the ground through four games.
He’s averaging 5.2 yards per carry and set a West Virginia career high with 193 rushing yards on 29 carries last week against Oklahoma State. Cook has been asked to carry the ball 29 times or more in three of the Mountaineers’ four games, and his pairing with Hawkins gives West Virginia a difficult two-man problem for any defense.
Isaiah Patterson has been the most consistent presence on the Mountaineers’ defense so far. The 6-2, 235-pound linebacker from Tacoma, Wash., has a team-high 30 tackles and delivered a career-best 12 last week against Oklahoma State. He also recorded his first full career sack in the season-opening rout of Coastal Carolina after spending one season each at UCLA and UNLV before arriving in Morgantown.
Ashton Woods adds a different kind of edge. The 6-3, 228-pound linebacker from Marietta, Ga., missed part of last season because of injury, but he’s made his presence felt this year with a team-leading two sacks. Woods has also forced a fumble and picked off a pass, giving West Virginia another disruptive piece on defense.
In Other News...
Iowa States Loss Exposed A Bigger Problem Than One Bad Half
Iowa States 31-17 loss to Utah did more than hand the Cyclones a setback on the scoreboard. It put a spotlight on a stretch of football that looked out of sync in almost every phase, with the run game stalling, the passing attack lacking consistency and the defense getting pushed around early before settling in a bit after halftime.
The second-half response at least suggested there was some fight left in the group, but the bigger concern is how much had to go wrong before the Cyclones found their footing. Third-down struggles, missed tackles and quarterback Jaylen Raynors accuracy and decision-making all stood out as issues that cant be chalked up to one bad half, and they leave Iowa State with real work to do before the next opportunity to reset. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Is Still Missing The One Thing That Changes Everything
Oklahoma State looked a lot more like the team it hoped to be after shaking off an early setback and handling West Virginia 41-24, with quarterback Drew Mestemaker throwing for 389 yards and three touchdowns. The result mattered beyond Stillwater, too, because it left West Virginia already trying to regroup at the start of Big 12 play while the rest of the league continued to sort itself out, including Iowa States place in the early-season picture.
For the Cyclones, the larger concern is the same one that hovers over a handful of contenders in the conference: the difference between looking capable and looking complete. Iowa State has had enough good stretches, and enough individual bright spots, to stay in the conversation with teams like Utah, Cincinnati and Kansas State, but the Big 12 tends to expose any missing piece fast. Until that one thing shows up consistently, the margin for error stays thin. [Read more 🡒]
Tamin Lipsey Changes Everything For Iowa State At The Perfect Time
Iowa State got the kind of offseason boost every program hopes for when Tamin Lipsey was granted a legal fifth year of eligibility and will be back in the Cyclones backcourt. His return matters even more because the team is already dealing with an injury to guard Killyan Toure, making experienced perimeter play a priority as the roster takes shape.
Lipsey brings more than familiarity. Last season, he averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, production that touches nearly every part of the floor and gives Iowa State a steadying presence on both ends. For a team trying to absorb one setback while keeping its upside intact, getting him back changes the outlook in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]