West Virginia made the kind of season-opening statement that looks comfortable on the scoreboard and a lot messier in the middle. The Mountaineers built a 24-0 halftime cushion at Milan Puskar Stadium and then survived a furious Coastal Carolina push to escape with a 31-24 win.
The first half belonged to the ground game, and Cam Cook was the hammer. The Jacksonville State transfer ripped off 142 rushing yards and scored twice, while Oklahoma transfer quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. added 103 yards on the ground to help West Virginia pile up 281 rushing yards on 61 carries. Hawkins also did damage through the air, finishing 11 of 14 for 132 yards and a touchdown.
West Virginia wasted no time setting the tone. On the first play from scrimmage, Cook burst 72 yards down the near sideline to the Coastal Carolina 3, and he punched in the game’s first touchdown just 47 seconds into 2026. The Mountaineers scored on four of their first six possessions, with Hawkins hitting Armoni Weaver-Bomar on a 49-yard touchdown pass and Jack Cassidy adding a 38-yard field goal before Cook finished off a 17-play, 86-yard drive late in the second quarter.
That control showed up everywhere. WVU went 8 of 10 on third down, and the defense held Coastal Carolina to just 114 yards and 4.6 yards per play across 26 first-half snaps.
Then the game flipped.
Coastal Carolina opened the third quarter with a 99-yard march for its first points, helped by three defensive penalties, including one on third down with the Chanticleers backed up near their own goal line. Deuce Bailey connected with Robby Washington for 16 yards and Colton Hinton for 13 before finding Clayton Coppock Jr. on a 34-yard touchdown. From there, West Virginia’s offense stalled out, managing only two three-and-outs in the third quarter while Coastal piled up a 128-23 edge in yardage and ran 21 plays to WVU’s six.
The fourth quarter brought more trouble and one major scare. Just nine seconds into the period, Nate Gabriel sacked Bailey and Ezekiel Durham-Campbell recovered the fumble, but junior defensive end Darius Wiley was injured badly in the scramble. Medical staff brought out a cart to take the Elizabethtown, Kentucky, resident off the field.
Coastal kept pressing after a Cook fumble gave the ball back, and the Chanticleers used the short field to cut the lead. Bailey hit Washington for 58 yards, then found Hinton for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 24-14. West Virginia answered with a longer possession that chewed nearly five minutes, but Hawkins was sacked for an 11-yard loss at the Coastal 27 and Hansen had to punt again.
The Mountaineers finally got some breathing room with 5:58 left. After Isaiah Patterson’s sack on third down forced a punt, West Virginia took over at the Coastal 35.
Three Cook runs set up Cassidy for a 47-yard field goal, and even though he drilled it, Coastal was flagged twice on the sequence, including Roman Travis for roughing Cassidy. That gave WVU new life at the 14, and Hawkins capped the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run for a 31-14 lead.
Coastal wasn’t done. Bailey responded with touchdown throws of 27 yards to Hinton and 37 yards to Coppock to slice it to 31-24 with just over a minute left. The Chanticleers tried an onside kick, but it went out of bounds, and West Virginia had the ball at the 41.
The Mountaineers couldn’t fully drain the clock, but they did force Coastal to burn all three timeouts. After Hansen’s punt and a touchback, Coastal got one more chance when Patterson was hit with a roughing-the-passer penalty.
Bailey then hit Tristian Gardner for 17 yards and Jaden Allen-Hendrix for 33 to reach the WVU 20 with 32 seconds left. Ryan Beard chose to kick a 32-yard field goal, and Nico Cavanillas made it to pull Coastal within a touchdown again.
The next onside kick also bounced out of bounds, and West Virginia finally ran out the clock.
Bailey finished 21 of 37 for 373 yards and three touchdowns, while Coppock led all receivers with 83 yards on four catches. Coastal Carolina was held to 52 rushing yards on 27 attempts.
In Other News...
WVU Added A New DB But One Key Question Still Looms
West Virginia added another defensive back to its future plans this week when former Georgia defender JaCorey Thomas committed to join the program beginning in the 2026 season. Thomas got a look with the Carolina Panthers at rookie minicamp after going undrafted, but he did not sign an NFL contract, leaving his next stop pointed toward Morgantown instead.
For the Mountaineers, the move adds more depth to a position group that never stops needing it, even if Thomass exact timetable on the field is still unsettled. His arrival does not push anyone out of the current rotation, and the remaining question is when, not whether, he will actually suit up once he gets to campus. [Read more 🡒]
WVUs Defensive Breakthrough Came With One Immediate Concern
West Virginia opened the season with the kind of defensive performance Zac Alley had been chasing, squeezing Coastal Carolina on the ground and sending constant heat at the quarterback. The Mountaineers produced 39 pressures, their most in Alleys 13 games, a notable jump for a defensive line that entered the year with plenty of inexperience and still managed to look disruptive from the start.
The problem for West Virginia is that the breakthrough came with a major health scare attached. Darius Wiley went down with a lower-body injury during the game and had to be carted off the field, leaving the Mountaineers waiting for an update on his condition. For a defense that finally flashed the activity and edge it wanted, the next question is whether it can keep that momentum if Wiley is forced to miss time. [Read more 🡒]
WVUs Schedule Just Got More Interesting After Week One
Week Zero did not do West Virginia many favors on the schedule front, and the early returns across the Mountaineers upcoming opponents already have a different feel to them. The roundup of recent game performances showed how much can change in a hurry, with several future foes opening their seasons by setting the tone for what should be a more revealing stretch once the schedule gets rolling.
Oklahoma State and Cincinnati in particular now sit on opposite ends of the early conversation, which matters for a West Virginia team trying to judge where the real trouble spots might be. The Cowboys opener raised immediate questions about their polish, while Cincinnatis debut suggested a much higher ceiling at quarterback than some may have expected. For the Mountaineers, the bigger picture is still forming, but the first week at least gave a few upcoming matchups a little more edge. [Read more 🡒]