Nation’s No. 1 Player Shocks College Football History – Turns Down $10.6M NIL Deal and SEC Powerhouse to Commit to West Virginia University Football…
A sun-soaked crowd of 57,093 watched today’s game, coach Rich Rodriguez’s first here since 2007 when he last coached the Mountaineers.
It was Rodriguez’s 61st victory at West Virginia, tying him with Dana Holgorsen for second on the school’s all-time win list. Rodriguez earned 60 of those during a seven-year period here from 2001-07.
“The crowd was unbelievable,” Rodriguez said afterward. “West Virginia fans really showed up today.
“I’m blessed to be back,” he added.
Marchiol played three full quarters and the beginning of the fourth before giving way to Jaylen Henderson, who immediately got West Virginia into the end zone. All 54 yards of Henderson’s fourth-quarter scoring drive came on runs by him and Cyncir Bowers, who broke free at the 26 and raced into the end zone to make it 38-3 in favor of the Mountaineers.
True freshman quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. got into the game with 4:15 remaining and it took him just three plays to excite those still left in the stadium with a 59-yard touchdown run down the near sideline.
Fox accounted for all 71 yards of the drive, 63 on the ground and 8 on a pass to Logan Ramper.
Kahlil Wilkins finished the game behind center with a pair of rushes for 31 yards
before fumbling his second carry for West Virginia’s fourth fumble of the game.
“If we could have played better, and coached better, those (backups) could have gotten into the game much earlier,” Rodriguez observed.
It was a penalty-filled, turnover-marred contest in which West Virginia fumbled three times in a span of four plays late in the second quarter and was flagged a total of nine times for 69 yards. At times, it looked like a team with 81 new players.
“The fumble part, I probably should have had more live practices with the helmet on the ball, and that’s my fault,” Rodriguez said. “Lesson learned there.”