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Heading into Saturday’s game against Cincinnati there was some concern regarding whether West Virginia would be able to handle the solid rushing attack and highly touted defensive line of the Bearcats.
Those worries were quickly set aside as the Mountaineers completely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball in a 42-21 win which wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
West Virginia amassed 634 total yards, 424 of which were running the ball, along with 31 first downs. Freshman running back Jaheem White ran for 204 yards and added a 75-yard touchdown reception, while quarterback Garrett Greene showed flashes of the days of Pat White with 154 yards of his own. On the defensive side of the ball Cincinnati was unable to generate any consistency until a couple of scores in the fourth quarter long after the game was decided.
The Joe Moore Award in college football is given to the outstanding offensive line as a unit. Twelve teams were listed this past Tuesday as semifinalists for the award, and West Virginia was not among them. Head coach Neal Brown was livid at the omission and he has a good argument. WVU is fourth in the nation in rushing yardage and seventh in fewest sacks allowed playing nine games in a Power 5 Conference as well as a Top 10 team in their non-conference schedule. Obviously, those who made the selections didn’t look outside the Top 25, and it is disappointing they didn’t spend a little more time doing their homework.
The victory assures a winning season for the Mountaineers and on the positive side in Big 12 games as well after being picked last in the preseason media poll. WVU did benefit from a favorable conference schedule, as with the league expanding to 14 teams playing a round robin slate is no longer an option. West Virginia played all four of the new entrants while avoiding Texas, Kansas State, Kansas and Iowa State this season. But we didn’t make the schedule, so no apologies for our successes.
Cincinnati has found out the hard way that it is a big difference playing at a higher level week after week. The Bearcats had been 53-11 in the previous five seasons playing in the American Athletic Conference, including an undefeated regular season and a playoff appearance just two years ago. They now have a 1-7 record in Big 12 play in their inaugural season in the league.
THIS SATURDAY: The Mountaineers travel to Baylor for the regular season finale in another Saturday 7 p.m. game. The Bears won the Big 12 Championship just two years ago but have unexpectedly fallen on hard times since with a losing record in 2022 and 3-8 this season. Baylor has given up over 37 points per game in Big 12 play, so there is an opportunity for the Mountaineers to continue their success. But the Bears will be hungry for a win in their last home outing in 2023 so this one will not be easy. WEST VIRGINIA 38 BAYLOR 28.