Let’s Grade That Win Over Coastal Carolina by Position Group
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Hope everybody enjoyed the holiday the right way. Grill going, family around, maybe a cold drink in your hand, and a win in the books to talk about while you do it. That’s the good life. Before we get too deep into the cookout, let’s talk about what we saw Saturday, because there’s a lot to unpack from a game that started as a blowout and ended as a nail-biter.
WVU took Coastal Carolina 31-24, and the box score tells two completely different stories depending on which half you’re looking at. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 24-0 lead and looked like they had complete control of the game. Then the second half happened, and things got a lot more uncomfortable than they needed to be. Let’s break it down by position group.
Quarterback: A-
Michael Hawkins Jr. was efficient with the football, going 11 of 14 through the air and adding a rushing touchdown on top of it. That kind of accuracy earns the grade by itself. My only gripe isn’t with Hawkins at all, it’s with how he was used. This coaching staff leaned on the run even in spots where the defense was clearly sitting on it. When your quarterback is that sharp with the ball, you’ve got to trust him to throw it more.
Running Backs: B-
Cook’s 72-yard run in the opening drive that set up the touchdown on the very next play was the play of the game for this group. That’s the standard right there. But the second half was rough, and I don’t put that fully on the backs. The coaching staff made a conscious decision to keep hammering the run instead of spreading the field, and it showed. Give credit where it’s due for that opening burst, but the follow-through wasn’t there.
Wide Receivers: B
The passing game clicked when they called on it. That 49-yard touchdown was a thing of beauty and the receivers showed up when the ball came their way. Where they slipped was on the edge. There were too many run plays where the blocking on the outside just wasn’t good enough, and that’s part of why the ground game bogged down later in the game.
Offensive Line: C
First half, this group was excellent. They opened lanes, protected Hawkins, and set the tone. Second half is a completely different conversation. The running game took a real hit and it looked like we couldn’t get movement past the line of scrimmage. We had multiple three-and-outs in a row, and the offensive line was a significant reason why. We’ve got to tighten things up up front.
Defensive Line: C+
First half, this group was an A-plus unit. Five sacks and three forced fumbles on the day is excellent production, and they got after the quarterback all game long. The issue was gap discipline. They let Coastal Carolina’s quarterback get outside the pocket and extend plays, and it happened over and over on third down in the second half. When an offense can’t stay on the field, the defense pays a price for that too, and I factored that in. First half was A-plus, second half was closer to a D, so it balances out to a C+ overall.
Linebackers: C
Good in run support, but there was no answer for a mobile quarterback all game. If your defensive line is pinning its ears back trying to get to the quarterback, somebody has to be spying him. That’s on the coaching staff as much as it is on the linebackers themselves. You can’t rush that hard at a scrambling quarterback and leave nobody responsible for containing him.
Secondary: C
I’m not giving this group a failing grade, because a lot of what they allowed came from broken coverage after the quarterback scrambled, not blown assignments in man or zone. When a mobile quarterback looks like he’s about to take off running and then throws it with touch at the last second, that’s a tough rep for a defensive back, and it happened repeatedly on third down. Fix the gap assignments up front, get somebody spying the quarterback, and this secondary looks a lot better.
Special Teams: A-
Cassidy gets an A. Automatic on his extra points and drilled a 38-yard field goal. Nothing to complain about there.
The punt game gets a B+. That 74-yard punt is unheard of and flips the field completely. But there were a couple of shanks in there too that handed Coastal Carolina good field position, and that’s the difference between this being an A and a B+.
Coaching: D
This one’s on me to be honest about, and I don’t enjoy saying it because Rich Rodriguez is an excellent coach. But if the defense has extra bodies in the box daring you to throw it, and you’ve got a quarterback going 11 of 14 slicing people up, you throw the football. Don’t get prideful and stick to the run just because that’s the identity you want. We can’t have three straight drives go three-and-out in the second half of a game we were dominating.
On defense, it comes down to two fixable things. Clean up the gap assignments so a scrambling quarterback can’t escape the pocket, and get a linebacker or a fast defensive back spying him when the front is selling out to get a sack. Those two corrections alone would’ve made this a much more comfortable Saturday.
Overall Team Grade: C+
We got the win, and a win is a win. But when you tally it all up, the second-half slide across both sides of the ball is what keeps this from being anything higher. First half, this team looked like a playoff contender. Second half, we looked like a team that got comfortable and let a beatable opponent hang around way too long. That’s a C+ performance, and there’s real meat on the bone here for this coaching staff to chew on before next week. Let’s get back to work.
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