West Virginia got in the win column for the first time in 2024, beating Albany 49-14 on Saturday to pick up their first win of the season.
Staff writer Wesley Shoemaker picks out five things from the game yesterday that stood out and dives into each.
Greene Gets Going
This West Virginia team will live and die by the play of quarterback Garrett Greene and he showed up in a big way on Saturday.
Greene passed for three touchdowns, adding another one on the ground as he helped the Mountaineer offense get back on track. Greene didn't use his legs much against Penn State but it was the opposite against the Great Danes. Greene rushed for 68 yards on seven carries, with 40 of them coming on a touchdown rush late in the first half to put WVU up 28-14.
For the Mountaineers to have success this year Greene will have to look at how he looked in week two. Greene flashed at times and this team will go as far as he takes them. He has the potential to do so and the completion percentage increasing hopefully is a sign of good things to come for Greene and company.
Good day for the offense
After last week the biggest question mark surrounding West Virginia was if the offense's struggles were a one-time thing or a more of the norm for the Mountaineers.
With Greene's success (as mentioned above), WVU's offense did exactly what they needed to do. They had nine drives on offense, seven of them ending in a touchdown, one ending in an explosive run that was fumbled, and then one punt.
There were questions that needed answered from the Mountaineers on offense and they did just that. The numbers were there, the success was there, now the key for them will be to carry it over into the Backyard Brawl and beyond.
It wasn't only Greene who got going, Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson, both surpassed 100 yards while seven different guys scored the seven West Virginia touchdowns.
Secondary needs improvement
Heading into the season the secondary had a lot of question marks for West Virginia and those questions still loom after two weeks of the season.
The Mountaineer defense gave up eight plays of 15 or more yards through the air including completions of 33, 41, and 49 yards. It's one thing if you give up a large chunk plays to a Penn State team with all the weapons and talent they hold on offense. It's another thing when an FCS program — although a top-tier FCS team — is coming in and throwing the ball the way they did.
I think alarm bells are starting to sound in that room and these next two weeks guys will have to step up and make plays or the Mountaineers will be in some serious trouble and having to score lots of points in order to potentially win ballgames. It's not a five-alarm fire yet in the Mountaineer secondary but there's certainly a couple of flames that need to be put out and questions answered from this secondary unit as a whole.
4th Down
West Virginia has been very good on fourth down through the first two weeks of the season. Today they went 3-for-3 on fourth down on Saturday after they went 3-for-4 last week against Penn State.
Last year WVU was just above 50 percent on fourth-down conversions, but are off to a hot start in that department this year. It might be a number that comes down to the average and dips, but it's something to monitor on how they play on fourth down.
On the flip side, third down has been an issue leading to the high volume of fourth down attempts through two games. West Virginia went 1-for-5 on third down against Albany after going 4-for-14 on third down against PSU. Fix third down and you won't have as many fourth-down chances. However, for the time being, the offense is looking good on fourth down.
D-line help
Eddie Vesterinen is going to be out for the next few weeks at minimum according to Neal Brown, so where will WVU find some production to get after the passer?
Looking at the next two weeks, the Mountaineer defense will be tested especially against Kansas in two weeks but also next week against Pitt. Last week the Mountaineers recorded no sacks, and this week they had two.
West Virginia led the Big 12 in sacks last season and is a ways away from that type of production. Finding guys to step into Vesterinen's role will be key but generating pressure as a whole is the more pressing issue at the moment.
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