West Virginia wasted no time putting UT Martin in a hole Saturday afternoon, then kept pouring it on all the way to a 52-7 win that moved the Mountaineers to 2-0 for the first time since 2018.
The game turned early when UT Martin crossed midfield on its opening possession but stalled in plus territory and turned the ball over on downs. WVU immediately cashed in.
Michael Hawkins Jr. hit DJ Epps on a 53-yard touchdown across the middle, and after the Skyhawks went three-and-out, Andrew Sordell blocked the punt to hand the Mountaineers ideal field position. Cam Cook finished that short field with a 2-yard score, and WVU was up 14-0 before the first quarter was even settled.
UT Martin tried to answer with a 48-yard run from Chris Franklin Jr., but the drive unraveled when Zeke Durham-Campbell forced a fumble on a Julian Calves keeper. From there, the Mountaineers’ offense kept leaning on the Skyhawks. Hawkins Jr. followed with a 71-yard touchdown run, untouched down the sideline, to finish a 4-play, 95-yard drive and push the lead to 21-0 with 5:27 left in the opening quarter.
The Skyhawks had a 55-yard touchdown wiped out in the second quarter because of an illegal block, even after Makhia Sherrard broke multiple tackles on the way to the end zone. West Virginia didn’t miss its next chance. DJ Epps hauled in a 59-yard catch to get the Mountaineers into the red zone, and Hawkins Jr. capped the drive with a 5-yard scoring run.
By halftime, WVU had already stacked up a 28-0 lead, helped along by sacks from Ashton Woods and Zeke Durham-Campbell late in the second quarter.
The second half looked much the same. Hawkins Jr. led a six-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 31-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Ward. Then Woods jumped in front of a Julian Calvez throw for a diving interception early in the third quarter, and two plays later Amari Latimer burst through the line for a 29-yard touchdown.
Scotty Fox took over at quarterback in the middle of the third quarter and helped the Mountaineers stretch the margin to 45. Jyron Hughley then opened the fourth quarter at quarterback and immediately directed a 10-play, 68-yard drive finished by a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kedrick Triplett.
West Virginia’s only real blemish came late. Max Brown entered at quarterback with a little more than four minutes remaining, and a botched handoff led to a UT Martin scoop-and-score. Max Anderson then took over for the final drive, but the Mountaineers simply ran out the clock from there.
In Other News...
WVUs 2-0 Start Feels Real In One Area And Risky In Another
West Virginias 2-0 start comes with the kind of early-season contrast that usually tells you plenty about where a team is headed. The Mountaineers have not opened a year this well since 2018, and the biggest reason is obvious enough: the offense looks far more dangerous, averaging 41.5 points a game. Michael Hawkins Jr. has given the unit a lift with strong work both throwing and running, and Jack Cassidy has been flawless so far, which is the sort of quiet stability teams love to have when games tighten up later in the fall.
The uneasy part is on the other side of the ball, where West Virginia has had trouble getting off the field on third downs. Even so, the defense has kept a valuable habit from last season by continuing to create turnovers, which has helped soften some of the strain when drives start to extend. For a team trying to prove this fast start is more than a good two weeks, the offense looks ready for the moment. The question is whether the defense can match it when opponents start making those long possessions count. [Read more 🡒]
WVU's Comfortable Win Revealed A Depth Advantage Fans Needed To See
West Virginias season opener against UT Martin turned into the kind of game a staff loves for reasons that go beyond the final score. Once the Mountaineers had built a comfortable lead, they started working through the roster in a hurry, getting second-, third- and even fourth-string players onto the field early in the third quarter. In all, 82 players took the field, giving a long list of young Mountaineers a first real chance to show what they can do in a live setting.
For a team that has spent camp sorting out depth across the roster, that kind of early rotation matters. It gave fans a clearer look at how much experience West Virginia can call on behind its top lineup, and it also created a long participation report worth studying by position. The bigger takeaway, though, is still sitting just beneath the surface: games like this can reveal a lot about who is ready to help now and who is still a step away, even if the full answer will take more Saturdays to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginia Finally Gets A Virginia Rematch With Something To Prove
West Virginia and Virginia are finally set to renew a series that has been dormant for 24 years, and both teams arrive unbeaten at 2-0. It gives the matchup a little extra edge beyond the regional familiarity, especially with the Mountaineers carrying some early-season momentum into a meeting that will feel a lot bigger than a routine nonconference game.
For West Virginia, this is also a chance to keep building toward a milestone start, with the program eyeing a perfect opening stretch it has not reached in a long while. The historical backdrop only adds to the appeal, since the past results between these programs have given each side a little something to remember, and the radio details make clear this is one of those old-school games that still carries enough name value to travel. [Read more 🡒]