West Virginia Steamrolled in Big 12 Home Opener and Fall to 0-2 in League Play

West Virginia and Utah were two programs looking to bounce back after suffering Big 12 Conference opening losses a week ago.

The Utes (4-1, 1-1) came out ready to prove they are still a contender for a conference title after their loss, marching down the field for three consecutive touchdown drives. An unsettling development for a unit playing winning football through the first four weeks of the season.

“I thought we had been pretty consistent and played well in a lot of our games [defensively],” West Virginia University head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Today, we were leaving guys wide open, missing tackles and giving up the deep balls. I thought a couple of time we had a chance to make a play and the ball – didn’t quite do it.”

Junior quarterback Devon Dampier connected with senior tight end Dallen Bentley for 20 yards on the second play of their opening drive, then found team’s leading receiver, redshirt senior Ryan Davis, for 14 yards before capping 12-play 73-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end JJ Buchanan.

West Virginia had no answers.

They never even had a punt – didn’t punt one time. They had 33 first downs. We only had 14 first downs,” Rodriguez stated.

Offensively, the Mountaineers (2-3, 0-2) were without starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol, although he had not played a full game this season, he showed signs he could lead the offense on touchdown drives.

Redshirt senior quarterback Jaylen Henderson led the offense onto the field for the opening drive of the game. West Virginia picked up a first down but was forced to punt near midfield. The offense crossed midfield once in the first half.

“I don’t think we were as physical maybe in the front on either side in the first half of course. We’ll see who played well – watch the film and kind of go from there,” Rodriguez said.

Dampier was responsible for all four first half touchdowns. After hitting the freshman on the opening drive, he scampered in from seven yards out, then hit Davis for a 32-yard touchdown pass and re-found Bentley right before the half. He was 14-19 for 163 yards for a 28-0 Utah lead at halftime.

Utah opened the second half with its fifth touchdown drive, ending with Dampier linking with running back Wayshawn Parker for the 11-yard touchdown pass.

The West Virginia defense gave up season-highs 532 total yards and 48 points.

The Mountaineers may have found a spark on the offensive side of the ball in redshirt freshman quarterback Khalil Wilkins. He put the defense on its heels after running for 17 yards and clipped another 10 on fourth and seven to keep the drive alive before delivering a 39-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Cam Vaughn.