Cam Cook’s workload in the opener was impossible to miss, and it leaves West Virginia with a fresh Week 2 question: was 30 carries a solution, or a sign of more to come?
The number itself isn’t automatically a red flag. If the conversation is about whether Cook should have been capped at 25 touches and Amari Latimer picked up the last five, that’s a fair thought.
But the bigger picture from Saturday is that WVU clearly didn’t feel it had the luxury of sitting Cook down. The staff trusted him, and Cook had clearly done enough before the season to earn that kind of role.
That said, a heavy load like that is not usually something you want to stack week after week, especially this early. It would not be a surprise if the approach shifts some going forward. If anything, the opener may have nudged WVU toward being a little more careful with him.
The encouraging part for the Mountaineers is that they can afford to spread things out a bit more this weekend. If Cook enters the Virginia game with 48 carries and 250 rushing yards through two weeks, that would be perfectly acceptable.
Cook has only topped that workload once before in his career. Last year at Sam Houston, he carried 31 times for 218 yards and two touchdowns in a two-point win.
The next week, on a short turnaround at home against Delaware, he ran 18 times for 117 yards and three scores. Jacksonville State then had the following week off, and Cook finished that season with carry totals of 27, 25, 25 and 19 in his last four games.
In Other News...
West Virginia Just Lost A Young Piece Fans Were Counting On
Rich Rodriguez used the seasons second Coaches Show to revisit West Virginias loss to Coastal Carolina, and the list of concerns was familiar: discipline, defensive breakdowns and an offense that never quite settled in. He also touched on Cam Cooks workload and the play up front, two areas the staff has been trying to steady as the season moves along.
The bigger setback came with an update on Darius Wiley, whose severe leg injury will keep him out for the rest of the year. Wiley is scheduled for surgery, a tough blow for a young player fans had been hoping would become part of the solution as the Mountaineers try to sort out the details around them. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rodriguez Sent WVU A Message After That Sloppy Finish
West Virginias season opener looked encouraging for a half, then turned messy in the kind of second-half stretch that can change the tone of a whole week. The Mountaineers had control early, but Coastal Carolina chipped away after halftime and exposed the sort of lapses Rich Rodriguez has little patience for, especially this early in the season when habits are still being formed.
Rodriguez did not wait around to let the film speak for itself. He held an immediate staff meeting after the game to address discipline and performance issues, stressing that mistakes have to be corrected quickly and standards have to stay consistent from one snap to the next. For a program trying to establish an identity under a head coach who clearly wants sharper execution, the disappointing finish was a reminder that the fixes cant wait. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Suddenly Has A Defensive Front Problem It Cant Ignore
West Virginias defensive front took a hit it cant simply scheme around, with Darius Wiley now out for the season after suffering a severe lower-body injury, according to Rich Rodriguez. Its a tough blow because Wiley had already made his presence felt in the opener, giving the Mountaineers a useful interior piece at a spot where depth can disappear quickly.
Jeremiah Johnson and Tobi Haastrup are expected to see more snaps as WVU tries to absorb the loss and keep the rotation afloat. For a defense built to hold up against the run and stay sturdy up front, the challenge now is less about replacing one player than finding a reliable combination fast enough to keep the unit from feeling Wileys absence every week. [Read more 🡒]