Between The Eers: How West Virginia Can Survive on the Road vs. Ohio

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 9:41 AM ET

Winning won't come as easily for the West Virginia Mountaineers as it did in the season opener from here on out. Typically, you'd still feel pretty good about your chances against a Group of Six opponent, but this is not your typical G6 foe.

Ohio is coming off a year in which they won the MAC championship and return one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in all of college football, who no one talks about in Parker Navarro.

Last season, Navarro threw for over 2,400 yards while rushing for over 1,000 yards. He took another step last week in a close 34-31 loss on the road to Rutgers, further proving that he can still be just as dangerous against a Power Four opponent.

Defensively, Zac Alley is going to have to be strategic about when he sends numbers because Navarro can make you pay. In the loss to Rutgers, Navarro went 9/12 with two touchdowns when blitzed.

Offensively, I'd imagine Rich Rodriguez will have an aggressive approach in this one, possibly attempting multiple fourth downs if they're manageable. Rutgers went 5/5 on fourth downs last week, most of which were not 4th and short. Going for it and converting those fourth downs will test Ohio's conditioning early in the game, forcing them to defend a bunch of snaps.

On today's episode of Between The Eers, I give my best guess as to what Rich Rod and Zac Alley will do to put their guys in a position to leave Athens with a win.

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