What I think…after losing to Ohio in Athens

I have to admit, I did not expect to be writing this article when I tried to plan out this week. This week was supposed to be about not being too caught up in 2007 and taking the season one game at a time, but the West Virginia Mountaineers did West Virginia Mountaineer things yesterday and what should have been a good test for the team turned into a loss that looks worse the more you look at it.

Is there a QB battle brewing?

Junior quarterback Nicco Marchiol looked uncomfortable yesterday in Athens, and the offense as a whole

sputtered and did not produce anything outside of two drives. In the 17-10 loss, Marchiol completed only 15 of 26 passing attempts with a long of 45 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception while taking three sacks. He attempted to run 11 times and gained 9 yards, with 8 coming on one carry. The rushing yards are a major concern as Nicco looked slow compared to the Ohio Bobcats defense, with Marchiol being hunted down very quickly when he tried to scramble and having no time to work.

There are some confusing and worrisome parts of Nicco’s game right now. His speed isn’t conducive to being the main runner, and as a passing quarterback, he looked indecisive and slow in his progressions. Many of his throws were three- to four-yard swing passes, and any time he was asked to try and stretch the field, his pass would be deflected at the line, be slow in its delivery, or he would be hurried.

Jaylen Henderson was brought into the game during the third quarter to try and give the team a spark and some life, but other components of why West Virginia lost this game helped to stall the two drives when Henderson was the quarterback. However, on three rushing attempts (two of which count, one nullified by a penalty) Henderson gained 6, 2, and 9 before the 9-yard attempt was offset by a holding call. He was then sacked, but it’s clear that Henderson has the speed and the ability to be the mobile quarterback that this offense desperately needs.

I do not know how you can watch that game — a game that West Virginia easily could have won, a game that West Virginia should have won, a game that West Virginia did everything in every other phase to win — and think everything will be okay. To believe you can play the same quarterback in another game and get different results doesn’t add up.

The Offensive Line is Offensive

West Virginia might have a quarterback controversy brewing, but neither one is going to be successful if this offensive line can’t figure out a way to block people, plain and simple. The game was lost when the line couldn’t open up holes against Robert Morris and couldn’t do anything against Ohio. Every. Single. Drive. seemed to go the same. Every run play was snuffed out as Ohio just looked bigger, faster, and stronger — not something you want to hear about a Group of 6 school when they play a Power 4 school.

Some of it is the fact that we had to bring in a ton of new people, and the offensive line is a tougher place to recruit than other positions. Maybe the offensive line gets better, but right now it looks like a wet paper bag.

According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), not a single player graded above 66.5 against Ohio in run-blocking. It gets worse when you look at zone versus gap, with gap run-blocking dropping to a 62. It’s a problem for a team that wants to run tempo and run the ball when no one can block the scheme.

Twelve of the top 14 run-blockers on the team are non-linemen, which seems like a problem. Nick Krahe graded out as the team’s best run-blocker this week, while center Landen Livingston graded as the fifth-best. Every other player in the top 14 is a wide receiver, quarterback, running back, or tight end. Left guard Walter Young Bear comes in at 15, right tackle Ty’Kieast Crawford comes in at 16, and right guard Kimo Makane’ole comes up at 18. That is a serious, serious problem for a run-first team.

The Defense Wasn’t the Problem

In the first half I was frustrated watching the game and I kept thinking I wanted to blame the defense, because I mean, they scored 17 points and we just kept getting flagged and giving up plays. But the more I think about it and the more I watched, I have a really hard time blaming the defense.

Despite being on the field for 40+ minutes (the box score says the two teams played a combined 56:55 of game time — the missing 3:05 not determined?), the defense allowed 78 plays to be run, an average of 5.5 yards per play. That isn’t great, but they held Ohio to 5 of 14 on third downs, 1 of 3 on fourth downs — 6 of 17 on critical downs. They generated three interceptions — on three consecutive drives! Those interceptions stopped a 6-play drive, a 13-play drive where Ohio certainly would have scored, and a 4-play drive that had Ohio gain 23 yards. After the three interceptions, the defense allowed 30 yards and forced two punts and a turnover on downs. That is winning football.

In the first half they did their job, as they forced back-to-back punts to open the game and it looked like this game would go the way it should go. They allowed a field goal, then backed up Ohio to force a missed field goal before allowing two touchdowns. After that, Ohio never scored.

The defense was called for several penalties, including defensive holding on a third and goal from the 9 that would have forced Ohio to kick a field goal on their first touchdown drive. On the second touchdown drive, West Virginia was called for a very soft pass interference call that moved the ball from the 26 to the 41 and then saw Parker Navarro get hot.

Even on the interceptions, West Virginia was called for pass interference on the first INT, on third down that would have forced Ohio to punt. Several times, defensive coordinator Zac Alley had a blitz or pressure call that forced Navarro to pull the ball, and his speed proved to be too much for this defense. Navarro’s speed — or West Virginia’s lack of it — was apparent throughout the game and it showed how much it hurt not being able to bring down the quarterback.

The defense finished with three sacks, six tackles for loss, five passes defended, and three interceptions, and allowed only 17 points — all stats that win football games a lot of times. It was more than enough this time to win the game, had the offense shown up and moved the ball at all.

Fred Perry finished with 10 tackles (6 solo), 1 sack, 2 TFL, and 2 passes defended. Perry is easily one of the best players on this defense and should make a case for himself in the All–Big 12 team.

Injuries

I will never be a writer who blames injuries, simply because it is the job of the coaching staff to have the next guy ready to play. While losing players is detrimental to the game, teams have to be able to overcome injuries.

The loss of Jaheim White was a big blow to this team, and I am more worried about Jaheim both this year and for his career. White was taken down in a nasty horse-collar, facemask tackle that saw him immediately stay down and then be carted off the field after being evaluated. He limped out of the locker room on crutches, gingerly helped onto the cart, and then escorted off the field.

Losing White seemed to completely disrupt the game plan for the coaching staff, as backup running back Clay Ash provided absolutely no worthy plays and the staff put the game in the incapable hands of quarterback Nicco Marchiol. West Virginia lost White near the end of the first half and then called 19 pass plays in the second half. The passing game wasn’t working, and the running backs did not provide any help in that area.

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