Rich Rodriguez Gives WVU Offensive Line An Honest Review After Week 1 Win

The West Virginia Mountaineers got off to a slow start in Morgantown against Robert Morris last week. In the first half, WVU looked sloppy, but as they got comfortable, the Mountaineers started to seriously flex their muscles, winning 45-3 in the official return of Rich Rodriguez. 

A lot was made about what to expect from Rodriguez’s new-look offense. Every WVU fan was expecting fast, but that tempo was quicker than expected. To keep an uptempo offense running effectively, obviously, elite offensive line play is pivotal. Rodriguez spoke about how his offensive line held up in Week 1 against the Colonials.

“I thought our o-line played pretty hard,” Rodriguez said. “We didn’t get as much push at times as we need to. The physicality was there sometimes, but not probably to the point where we’re going to have to have it going forward. Assignment-wise, they were pretty solid for the first game. I thought they communicated well. There were a couple missed assignments, as you would expect, but overall, mentally, they did a good job.”

The WVU snap counts from the offensive line were: Kimo Makane’ole (61), Ty’Kieast Crawford (61), Walter Young Bear (61), Nick Krahe (61), and Landen Livingston (60). Jack Bicknell Jr’s unit saw 12 players on the offensive line get action against Robert Morris on Saturday. 

WVU opens as a slight favorite against Ohio on the road, and many pundits aren’t certain what to expect after Ohio almost pulled off an upset against Rutgers last Thursday. One thing is for certain: if Rodriguez wants to get his squad to 2-0, he will need his offensive line to play even better Saturday against the Bobcats. The good thing is the Bobcats' front really struggled to get much push and allowed Rutgers to rush for 147 yards.

Every single game that this group plays together, the more technically sound they should be. Naturally, it wasn’t going to be very easy for Rich Rod to transform this roster into a juggernaut overnight. However, the Big 12 isn’t anything he’s afraid of. If WVU can string together a couple of wins in the early stages of the year, this team will start to gain confidence quickly.

Nicco Marchiol stayed upright and clean against Robert Morris as the offensive line did their part in pass pro, allowing just one sack on the day. WVU fans are surely hopeful this offensive line can build off that showing and keep Marchiol clean as he looks to dice up the Bobcats' secondary.