As is the ritual for West Virginia coaches, every coach who has been on the sideline since West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012 has lost to the Kansas Jayhawks, and Rich Rodriguez’s team is now in the annals of history with the worst loss to the Jayhawks in school history. The team looked slow, looked hungover, and looked out of sorts against a Jayhawks team that looked fast, hungry, and competent — which is certainly not the way you want to start conference play. Let’s dive deep and talk about
it.
Nicco Marchiol
For better or worse, Nicco Marchiol is the face of the West Virginia Mountaineers as a player. Playing the most visible position for the team and one of the few players with significant time as a Mountaineer, the redshirt junior has been here for four years and has seen significant game time, appearing in 23 games over those four years. He has attempted 220 passes and rushed an additional 123 times, so he has been given opportunities to make plays. Let’s be clear that Nicco is a problem but isn’t the problem, yet his problem exacerbates and highlights the problems around him.
The system Nicco is currently being asked to play in requires a quarterback who can make plays when nothing else is open, and there lies the biggest issue with Nicco. It isn’t his fault he doesn’t possess 4.3 speed, but his lack of speed highlights the problems on the offensive line, at running back, at receiver, and on offense in general. Nicco is asked to make plays but is under duress all the time. Defenses aren’t scared he is going to beat them and have figured out the offensive line is terrible. Therefore, they can rush hard and not worry he will find holes to expose the defensive weakness.
I feel bad for the kid, who stayed after a coaching change and to his credit has said and done all of the right things, has been taken out of games only to be put back in, and is the reason West Virginia is 2-2 and not 1-3, leading a comeback against Pittsburgh last week. Nicco would thrive under a different system, but this system is not for him, and his lack of skills within this system are highlighted week in and week out. It’s likely time for a change where Nicco doesn’t see a majority of the snaps at quarterback, but beware of that request. Nicco is the best passer on the team, and it’s been highlighted time and time again when other quarterbacks come in. So if a quarterback change is made, be prepared for not a lot of passing, because no one else on the team is a passer.
Offensive Line
As I said, Nicco isn’t the problem. THE problem is the offensive line, and maybe they aren’t the problem but the manifestation of a problem caused by a situation. The offensive line is new and being asked to learn a new system with new schemes while working together. Offensive line is a place that requires time together, continuity, and patience — none of which are available to the Mountaineers right now. The line is struggling in both run and pass protection, giving none of the quarterbacks time to make reads or opening holes for running backs.
Your right guard, Kimo Makane’ole, had a 19.8 pass-blocking grade on PFF against the Jayhawks and graded 0.0 on true pass sets, allowing 2 hits and 2 pressures. Carson Lee, who replaced Kimo, did not fare much better, with a 22.6 pass-blocking grade. Crawford and Young-Bear were bad, and Landen Livingston was almost serviceable. One player on the line, Nick Krahe, was good. One out of five is going to get you days like yesterday.
On the run-blocking side, Crawford and Kimo were the two lowest-graded players, and Young-Bear and Krahe were bad enough to be in the bottom six. When a line can’t pass block and can’t run block, what is the offense supposed to do? The offensive struggles of this team can be traced to the line, and the only fix is time. It takes time to gel, time to learn and understand the system being taught, and time to develop. We all hate that word, but the truth is the line determines the play. As long as the line is struggling to do the basic tenets of the job, the offense is going to struggle. It might get better as the year goes on, but it is going to take seasons before the line is good enough to be where we need it to be. The hope is can you get young guys to stay and learn and grow so they can make a difference?
Lack of Speed
Yesterday, for maybe the first time this season, my thought was “Gosh we look like we have cement boots.” Kansas looked faster across the board, closing gaps quickly and cutting off angles with ease. Run plays never developed as linebackers quickly diagnosed and filled run gaps. Defensive ends, linebackers, and corners stretched plays out and never let our backs turn a corner. Receivers rarely appeared to get separation.
It is a stark contrast to the teams we saw from 2002–2018, where West Virginia seemed to have elite speed at a few positions. That speed helped mask deficiencies and gave playmakers the chance to turn a simple catch into a first down, a long run into a touchdown, or to gain positive yards when none seemed possible.
Clay Ash isn’t and should not be starting at tailback. He has 28 carries for 74 yards and a paltry 2.4 yards-per-carry average. Nicco Marchiol has 40 carries (though many of those may be sacks given the way college football attributes sacks as carries and rushes) for 57 yards and a 1.4 yards-per-carry average. Those are your two leading rushers in terms of carries, accounting for 37% of the team’s total through four games.
There does appear to be some speed on the team — quarterback Jaylen Henderson, Khalil Watkins, and receiver Cam Vaughn — but none of those players have gotten enough chances to showcase what they can do. Rodney Gallagher doesn’t appear to get the ball much, and Cam Vaughn only seems to run go routes. Crazy as it sounds, we aren’t seeing many screens or misdirection plays that would get the defense flowing one way while the offense goes the other.
Defense and the Uptempo
I like uptempo offenses and I think it’s the right call, because a slow, methodical, turtle-paced offense may “save” your defense, but asking your defense to win every game only burns those guys out. Yet, the current pace of the offense — going three-and-out and not giving the defense even one minute of game time to rest — is starting to catch up.
A three-minute drive that results in points and takes 5–6 minutes of real time to complete, starting the opponent at their 25, is much more sustainable than asking the defense to be on the field for three minutes, get a stop, and then go back out there again 60 seconds later.
I understand what the team wants to do, and I get that this is their style. Yet, it may be required that the team slow down from hyperdrive and work to snap the ball within 15–20 seconds of the play clock rather than 8–10 seconds. You don’t have to huddle, and you don’t have to substitute, but you do have to start finding ways to take 6–8 plays to complete a drive rather than three.
The defense only gave up 400 yards yesterday and allowed Jayden Daniels to throw for 138, though one was a 41-yard touchdown on fourth down and another was a 31-yard touchdown. Much like the Pittsburgh game, a majority of the yards came on broken plays, which is going to be the hallmark of this defense. The yards and points they give up will come on big plays due to the nature of the defense. They have the ability to make plays and make life difficult for opposing teams, yet asking them to be the wall on every drive is unsustainable.
Moving Forward
Yesterday was a low point — likely not the lowest of this season — as it’s already clear this year isn’t headed for a bowl game or a good year. It was a question I had coming into the season and one that seems to be the biggest black spot on the team: Rich’s teams struggle in their first year.
Can this year be salvaged into six wins? I’m not sure. The schedule does not get easier with Utah, BYU, TCU, and Texas Tech still ahead. The schedule alternates home and away, so the team doesn’t have a two- or three-week stretch where they can stay home, regroup, and get their bearings. They are on the road every other week.
It’s probably time for a quarterback change, giving Henderson and maybe Watkins chances in the game to see what they can do for more than a few series. Henderson showed his speed can be a weapon, and Watkins at least made some efforts to get positive yards on his chances.
More so, the scheme needs to evolve, giving playmakers a chance to get in space and use their speed to create plays rather than relying on chunk plays in the passing game.
At running back, Clay Ash isn’t the answer, and hopefully Tye Edwards is back next week. His absence in the game was felt, and continually giving the ball to a player who just does not appear capable of making plays behind the line of scrimmage is detrimental.
I believe there are still wins left on the schedule, but it won’t be easy. If the team continues to be this bad in so many spots, the defense is going to crumble under the weight of being asked to carry the entire team.
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