West Virginia uses the last contest to determine future opportunities

You might question why power five football teams play contests like the one that West Virginia just did with Towson but they certainly serve a purpose.

Not only is it a way to improve the morale for a team that suffered a pair of devastating losses to open the year, but it is an opportunity for quality in-game work up and down the roster.

That means chances for players all throughout the two-deep and beyond to see the field and participate in a real game atmosphere with fans in the stands.

“We’re able to sub three quarters of the way through the second quarter and we were able to play a lot of guys,” head coach Neal Brown said.

On the offensive side of the ball, West Virginia played a total of 33 players while the defense was able to get in 32 different players. Those totals don’t even include special teams which allowed even more players to make their way onto the field for the Mountaineers.

It might seem insignificant on the grand scale of the season, but being able to utilize all four quarterbacks, each of the running backs and the rest of the depth chart at the other offensive and defensive positions is critical to overall development.

“In general there is a lot of time and effort put in from some guys that maybe aren’t marquee names but are developmental type guys or young guys in your program or maybe they’re walk-on type guys that are kind of the glue,” Brown said. “And for them to get the opportunity to play and play on that field in front of a crowd that’s hugely important. And these are the types of games that really help.”

That was the plan coming into the game and West Virginia made good on that promise. But it also serves as an opportunity for the Mountaineers to sort through their roster options in order to see if some of those players were able to make the most of their opportunities.

That could lead to some extra playing time on special teams or other areas moving forward.

"There’s probably some guys that showed up in that third, fourth quarter and put stuff on film that may warrant more playing time,” he said. “Especially on special teams.”

How the coaching staff sorts that through that is by looking for who is playing fast on film and handling the elements of lining up and doing what they are coached to do.

It sounds simple, but it’s a way to earn more trust when the eyeballs are in a lot of places but front and center at the action.

Those third and fourth quarters might not be at the forefront of the fan base’s eyes, but the coaching staff will finely comb through those snaps to see who emerges.

“Because sometimes you can’t see in practice. We will judge on that," Brown said.

And on first view, players such as offensive lineman Tomas Rimac, running back Jaylen Anderson, all three backup quarterbacks, tight end Treylan Davis, wide receiver Preston Fox, defensive lineman Mike Lockhart, linebacker Caden Biser, safety Raleigh Collins, cornerback Andrew Wilson-Lamp and cornerback Jacolby Spells all stood out.

Now, it will be interesting to see how their roles continue to evolve.

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