WVU's Fatorma Mulbah Did Something Nose Tackles Just Aren't Supposed to Do

Reliving the massive performance from the West Virginia nose tackle.

West Virginia defensive lineman Fatorma Mulbah. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Very rarely do you see the nose tackle be the guy that everyone is talking about for a week. But with the 13-tackle performance that West Virginia's Fatorma Mulbah put on display last week in Cincinnati, he's been the main center of attention on the defensive side of the football for the Mountaineers.

Neal Brown on Mulbah's big day

“The defense isn’t really built for your nose to get tackles. It’s built for (Josiah) Trotter and (Anthony) Wilson to get tackles. But you’ve got to win 1-on-1s and the thing that’s unique about him is he won his 1-on-1s and played his responsibility. He wasn’t out of his gap or anything. Now, some of that is just fortunate and that’s where the ball hit but some of it was Sean (Martin) was having some really good you know putting the ball back toward him. He’s played really well. I think the message with Fatorma is if you prepare the right way and you play fundamental football, the ball will find you.”

Jeff Koonz labeling the performance "elite"

“Fatorma did his job at an elite level, and when the ball was run in between the tackles…they ran the ball 43 times on Saturday, both designed runs and passes, and if he’s not doing his job, then we’re going to have a long day, and he did it elite. 13 plays happened to come to him.”

Mulbah explains what led to so much success

“I think they just tried to run the ball a lot. They put a huge emphasis on getting the run game started. I knew it was going to be a challenge going down there, and we knew that we had to stop the run, so just chasing the ball, I would say, and getting a stop.”

Mulbah has quietly been one of the most productive players on the West Virginia defense all season long. After losing Mike Lockhart to the transfer portal, the Mountaineers had a big question mark at the nose tackle spot entering the season despite feeling good about the trajectory of Mulbah and Hammond Russell IV.

Expecting a double-digit tackling performance is a little unreasonable, but don't be surprised if that Cincinnati game really gets Mulbah going down the stretch, and they'll need him to play big with the rushing attacks of Baylor and UCF next up on the docket, who rank sixth and first respectively in the Big 12 in rushing.

Because of his massive day against the Bearcats, the Mountaineers are now one of just three Power Four teams who have two of the top 15 tacklers from the defensive tackle position, according to Sports Info Solutions. Mulbah ranks 15th with 32 tackles and T.J. Jackson is third with 34.

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