West Virginia didn’t have to grind for this one. The Mountaineers rolled past UT Martin 52-7 to move to 2-0, and the offense kept humming while the defense left plenty to clean up.
The first half ended with a shutout on the scoreboard, but the performance underneath the surface was messy. West Virginia managed just one forced three-and-out and still allowed 246 total yards before halftime.
UT Martin found plenty of room to work, stacking up seven plays of at least 10 yards and two more that went beyond 24. After contain issues last week, this time the trouble came from misfitting gaps, missed tackles, and too much space for Skyhawk receivers to operate.
Through two games and eight quarters, there are already signs that the defense could be dealing with bigger problems, even against weaker competition.
Things were cleaner after the break, but not spotless. Several players were still having trouble getting lined up and understanding where they were supposed to be.
A lot of the attention is going to land on Zac Alley, and some of that blame belongs there. But the issues are not all on him.
West Virginia invested heavily in NIL to shore up the offense and did not do nearly as much on the defensive side. That shows up in the depth, but also in the starting group, which still has serious issues.
If this defense doesn’t take a major step forward, the burden will keep falling on the offense to score in bunches every week.
On the other side of the ball, Epps keeps looking like the kind of target West Virginia can build around. Jaden Bray has been quiet through two games, and with Prince Strachan out, Epps has become Mike Hawkins Jr.’s main option.
He burned UT Martin for touchdowns of 53 and 59 yards in the first half, simply outrunning defenders. That’s not just an FCS effect, either.
Epps looks like a playmaker who can score from anywhere on the field.
He’s been productive in a hurry through his first two games as a Mountaineer. Epps is 16/21 for 287 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks.
On the ground, he’s added 199 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. He’s looked smooth in both starts, and that level of play should travel when West Virginia steps up in competition.
The next test will tell more about where this team really stands. West Virginia didn’t dominate the trenches against UT Martin, and the opener against Coastal Carolina featured only pockets of control there. Virginia’s front seven is waiting next week, and the Mountaineers will need more time and more reps to keep sharpening things up.
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 🡒]