West Virginia’s first availability report for the TCU game gives both sidelines plenty to watch, and the list already points to a few important names who may be headed toward missing Saturday.
For the Mountaineers, the report includes RB Andre Devine, WR Armoni Weaver-Bomar, DL Darius Wiley, N/S Emory Snyder and S Da'Mare Williams. One encouraging note for WVU: defensive lineman Nate Gabriel is not on the report after getting banged up last week.
The bigger concern on the defensive front is Corey McIntyre Jr. He does not appear to be trending toward playing, and that would be a significant blow if he is ultimately out.
McIntyre has been one of the steadier pieces on the defense this season, and K.J. Henson would be the likely candidate to step into his starting spot.
There is also a possible lift on the back end, with Nick Taylor expected to return after missing the last two games. Taylor brings physicality to the secondary and is valuable both against the run and in coverage.
If he is back, WVU will have a decision to make at the other corner spot between Andrew Powdrell and Chams Diagne. Powdrell moved to corner last week and put together what was arguably his best outing of the season.
TCU’s report carries some potentially meaningful absences of its own. Listed are WR Fletcher Fierro, WR Keegan Cunningham, WR Cooper Reid, OL Devan Robison, CB Devondre McGee, RB Jeremy Payne, TE Kari Ashley, EDGE Zach Chapman and K Kyle Lemmermann.
Ashley stands out as the most important name on that list. The tight end has been the Frogs’ second-leading receiver, with 29 catches for 392 yards, and he also leads the team with four touchdown receptions. If he sits, that would take a real bite out of the passing game.
Payne is another key question mark, and his availability matters even more because he has been the only back TCU has really leaned on this season. The Frogs already have third-string back Landon Walker listed as doubtful, so if Payne can’t go, the workload would likely fall to Jon Denmann, who has only 29 carries for 90 yards on the year. That would leave TCU in a tough spot in a ground game that has struggled to get anything going.
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Week 8 in the Big 12 brings another chance to sort out the quarterback picture, and the conferences top tier still feels crowded with proven performers and rising names. The latest ranking takes into account recent game work, how each passer has shaped his teams results, and the defensive tests coming up on the schedule, with familiar names like Michael Hawkins Jr. and Conner Weigman still in the conversation alongside BYUs Bear Bachmeier.
For West Virginia, it is the kind of weekly quarterback snapshot that matters because the league rarely gives anyone much breathing room. Baylor, Oklahoma and the rest of the Big 12 are all presenting different problems on defense, so where Bachmeier lands now is as much about consistency and matchup difficulty as it is about raw production, and the next round of games could shuffle the order again before long. [Read more 🡒]
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For WVU, the bigger storyline is on the floor, where Keonte Greybear and Aliou Dioum are expected to log meaningful minutes and give fans an early read on how the rotation might take shape. Exhibition games rarely settle much on their own, but this one should at least offer a glimpse at who is ready to seize a role before the games start counting for real. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Faces Its Biggest Letdown Test Yet At TCU
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Now comes the harder part: handling success without letting it soften the edge. TCU brings a defense that can make life difficult, even as West Virginias offense has stayed among the nations better groups, while the Mountaineers own defense has not offered the same kind of consistency. It is the sort of matchup that can expose whether a team is merely winning games or truly learning how to stack them. [Read more 🡒]