Gross trusts the process during long road to first WVU start

Marvin Gross had a one of a kind game for West Virginia.

Well at least in the annals of West Virginia football history no player had ever finished with two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Until now.

The redshirt junior also racked up six tackles in his first career start but was a difference maker filling in for the injured Kyzir White. And it started early as Gross would record his first career interception on the second play of the game and didn’t look back from there.

He also had one of the game changing plays of the game when he came off the edge and sacked Baylor quarterback Zach Smith and forced a fumble only to be recovered by the Mountaineers inside the Bears ten yard-line. The offense would score four plays later.

“Unbelievable. He’s a blitzing machine. He’s got to play more wherever it is. Linebacker, safety or defensive end – we have to find a spot for him,” defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said.

Gross isn’t a new name in the program. In fact, it’s been quite the winding road to get to his current location. A defensive end at Dunbar High School in Baltimore, Maryland, Gross signed with West Virginia and actually saw time as a true freshman at outside linebacker.

But with the change to the 3-3-5 defensive scheme, Gross would redshirt the following year and then spend last season a regular on special teams. It was difficult but necessary for his development.

“It’s been hard but I trust the process. I trust everything they’ve been doing here,” he said.

However, with K.J. Dillon heading to the NFL this past spring and White yet to arrive on campus it was Gross that took first team reps at his new safety spot.

Another one of the versatile options on the defensive side of the ball, Gross is a hybrid that doesn’t necessarily fit one role on defense but his speed and athleticism kept him on the depth chart. It took some time for him to adjust to his new spot in the secondary but the process prepared him to be ready when his number was called for a larger role.

“The transition was a little hard at first but my athleticism helped me a lot to make plays. I’m comfortable now,” Gross said.

It came as no surprise to his coaches or teammates that Gross would be ready to fill a major role on the defense given the way he had approached it in practice. And he did that playing every snap at SPUR.

“He knows how to blitz, gets after that quarterback and knows what to do when he gets there,” Gibson said. “You could see spurts of it last week and he had a great week of practice.”

Gross is used to sacks due to his role on the defensive line in college but he did have a first for his entire career stretching back to his prep days against Baylor.

“That was my first career interception. The only other one I had was called back,” he said.

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