Final Thoughts: West Virginia Looked Unprepared and Uninspiring on Offense

The West Virginia offense in week 1 seemed timid

College Park, MD – West Virginia lacked explosiveness in the 30-24 season-opening loss to the Maryland Terrapins Saturday evening.

Winston Wright Jr. had a 98-yard kickoff return when the Mountaineer needed it the most, trailing 17-7 in the first quarter, and the Mountaineers were able to punch it in on the first play handing it off to Leddie Brown.

The defense got off to a slow start, giving up the 17 points in the first quarter, including giving up a 66-yard touchdown after redshirt freshman Daryl Porter Jr. was beat on a go pattern peaking in the backfield.

However, the defense played well enough to win this game and really should not be the focal point in this loss. But, again, it was the offense that struggled, which makes this loss such a bitter pill to swallow.

West Virginia was serving Maryland a heavy dose of Leddie Brown in the first half, mixing him in the run and the passing game. He had 47 receiving yards on three catches, and 10 carries for 53 with three total touchdowns in the first half, and the Mountaineers held a 21-17 advantage early in the second quarter, but things began to go sideways on their following possession.

Quarterback Jarrett Doege, who had been solid at taking care of the ball, threw a pass off his back foot into double coverage after being pressured out of the pocket. This seemingly changed the offense, and there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Quite frankly, the offensive seemed to go in their shell after that. That was not necessarily the players, but play calling lacked creativity despite knowing the Maryland secondary was going to play man to man.

Yes, there were four turnovers, and two came from Doege, but I think it goes back to play calling. It seemed like they never built off what was successful in the first half. Leddie Brown did have a fumble late in the third, but he never got a carry after that. Although some of it may have to do with the Maryland defense adjusting and the running lanes shrank, they started to cover him in the flat in the passing game

There was no pop on offense. Yes, they hit a few 30-plus yard pass plays. The Maryland secondary didn’t shy away from who they were and answered the challenge on the outside, but it is disappointing the receivers didn’t win that matchup considering all the talk in the offseason on how much the passing game improved. It did, but not at the clip expected against Maryland.

The offensive line struggled. Credit to the Maryland defensive line, but having two new starters on the right side of the line exposed the lack of continuity. But again, the lack of creativity in the run game didn’t keep the defense honest.

The fourth turnover came on a muffed punt from Winston Wright Jr., which is a shame because he turned the game around on the big kickoff return.

There is something off with the offense. Maybe it’s quarterback play, or maybe it’s just year three under Neal Brown, and the staff is still trying to build up an offensive line that struggled against Maryland. Of course, the easy route is to blame Jarrett Doege. He is the quarterback, after all, and the two interceptions were bad. There’s no denying it.

Here are a few things that stuck out, though, following Winston Wright Jr.’s kickoff return. West Virginia had to call a timeout prior to the first snap due to what I am guessing was confusion. However, they did punch it on the next play.

Then, towards the end of the half, West Virginia called a timeout with three minutes remaining after a sack from Dante Stills that resulted in a 13-yard loss and forced a 51-yard field that hit the right upright.

When the offense took the field, back-to-back running plays with Leddie Brown, followed by a delay of game penalty because the offense could not get set in time and tried to call a timeout when they had none. There was no sense of urgency on that drive after preserving time - none, and it started at the sidelines.

Bryce Ford-Wheaton was not targeted once in the first half, but they went right to him to begin the second half. It felt a little forced and overcompensating. Leddie did not touch the ball to open the second half after having 100 total yards in the first.

The bottom line, the offense remained stagnant and appeared to be the same offense from last season, after that first interception. Doege seemed to be a bit timid after the first interception, but I believe the lack of creativity and adjustments during the game did not help matters. The second interception looked to be a miscommunication. At this point and with Doege in year two, they should have been dictating the pace of the game, like they did when they put up 14 unanswered points to take the lead, regardless of it being the first game of the year and on the road.

Maryland might end being a good team. However, they’re young, and anything around six wins will be an improvement for them, so it makes it tougher to take a loss from a program that’s been at the bottom of their division since joining the Big Ten Conference.

I’m not saying I have the answers, and it is only game one. Maybe it was just a bad day. Only time will tell, but if they look sloppy next week against LIU, they may find themselves 1-2 heading into conference play.

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