WVU’s 31-24 win over Coastal Carolina looked one way for a full half and then turned into something far more uneasy after that. The Mountaineers sprinted to a 24-0 lead, controlled the action early and seemed to have the game in hand. Then the second half arrived, and the cushion started to disappear.
Michael Hawkins Jr. was one of the clearest bright spots. He finished 11 of 14 passing and added a rushing touchdown, and that level of efficiency stands out.
The frustration wasn’t with Hawkins himself so much as with how little the offense leaned on him once Coastal Carolina started crowding the box and daring WVU to throw. The run game got the attention, even when the defense was inviting the ball into the air.
The backs had their moment too, and it came early. Cook’s 72-yard run on the opening drive set up a touchdown on the very next play, and that burst was the defining play for the group.
After that, though, the ground game never really kept the same edge. Part of that was the way the staff kept forcing the run instead of widening the field, which made the second-half issues feel even more avoidable.
The receivers did their job when the passing game was called upon. The 49-yard touchdown was the cleanest example of that, and the group delivered when the ball came their way. The bigger issue showed up on the perimeter in the run game, where the blocking on the edge wasn’t consistent enough and helped stall things later.
Up front, the offensive line had a split personality. The first half was strong: lanes opened, Hawkins was protected, and the offense looked balanced.
The second half was a different story. The run game lost steam, movement at the line of scrimmage dried up, and the offense hit multiple three-and-outs in a row.
That drop-off traced back heavily to the line.
Defensively, the front seven had a huge opening half but couldn’t sustain it. The line finished with five sacks and three forced fumbles, which is excellent production.
But Coastal Carolina’s quarterback repeatedly escaped the pocket, especially on third down in the second half, and the lack of gap discipline hurt WVU badly. A unit that was dominant early slid all the way down from that standard once the game got loose.
The linebackers were solid against the run, but there was no real answer for the mobile quarterback. Once the defensive line started selling out to get home, someone needed to be assigned to contain him, and that never consistently happened.
The secondary was put in a tough spot because of it. A lot of the damage came after broken plays and scrambles rather than clean coverage busts, which is why this group doesn’t get tagged with a worse grade.
Still, the repeated third-down losses were there, and they mattered.
Special teams brought a lot more stability. Cassidy was perfect on extra points and hit a 38-yard field goal, which was clean work.
The punt unit had a massive 74-yard boot that completely flipped the field, but a couple of shanks also gave Coastal Carolina better starting position than WVU wanted. That mix landed the group at B+.
The coaching grade took the biggest hit. The issue on offense was plain: when the defense was loading the box and Hawkins was already 11 of 14, the answer should have been to throw more.
Instead, WVU kept pounding the run and watched three straight second-half drives go three-and-out. On defense, the fixes were equally clear - tighten the gap assignments and put a linebacker or a fast defensive back on spy duty when the front is going all-out for sacks.
In the end, the win counts, but the performance doesn’t get a pass. The first half looked like a team ready to roll.
The second half looked like a team that let a beatable opponent hang around too long. That’s why the overall feel settles at a C+ and why there’s plenty for this staff to clean up before next week.
In Other News...
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WVU is leaning harder into the business side of college athletics, and Wren Bakers latest restructuring puts Don Robinson in charge of a key slice of that effort. Robinson will serve as the liaison to Learfields Mountaineer Sports Properties while also helping lead the push to bring concerts and other events to Hope Coliseum and Milan Puskar Stadium, part of a broader plan to create new revenue streams for the athletics department.
The ambition is there, but so are the hurdles. Hope Coliseum still needs major work, including no air conditioning, and both venues have loading limitations that make it tougher to stage larger productions. WVU wants those issues addressed well enough to host bigger shows by 2028, turning two familiar campus sites into something more than game-day buildings, even if the path to get there is going to take some real upgrades. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rod Is Trying To Shield WVU From Portal Chaos
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The timing matters because the new eligibility rules have reduced the number of free transfers available, giving programs a chance to be more aggressive about locking players in for their full college careers. West Virginia has not disclosed which players are involved or what those deals look like, but the direction is clear. Rodriguez is trying to get ahead of portal chaos before it starts, and for a program that has seen how quickly a roster can change, that matters just as much as anything happening on Saturdays. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Fans Have A Real Dilemma After Hawkins Sparked Mixed Feelings
The first half against Coastal Carolina gave West Virginia plenty to feel good about, with the Mountaineers jumping out fast and looking like a team ready to put the game away early. The overall vibe around the program changed quickly after the break, though, as the performance loosened enough to leave fans sorting through both the promise and the frustration that came with it.
Michael Hawkins Jr. was a big part of why the night still carried excitement, and his showing only sharpened the debate about what West Virginia might have in him going forward. For a fan base trying to balance momentum with a few too many warning signs, the bigger question now is how much of what they saw can travel into the next stretch of games. [Read more 🡒]