COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Austin Kendall going down with an injury on West Virginia’s second drive was only the beginning of a snowball that continued to roll downhill for the Mountaineers on Saturday against Iowa State.
By the end of the game, WVU was without its starting quarterback, but also needed to play four freshmen in the secondary. Against one of the Big 12’s best offenses in the Cyclones, that could spell disaster. Tied at 14 at halftime, Iowa State scored 24 unanswered points, and fingers could be pointed across the board for the Mountaineers’ lackluster second half.
But as the injuries continue to pile up, West Virginia is forced to roll with what it has and deal with the consequences later.
“We just ran out of gas,” WVU coach Neal Brown said. “Defensively, if you looked out there much of the second half, you saw two true freshmen playing corner. You saw true freshmen rotating a lot at safety and you saw a true freshman playing spear. We had a true freshman playing nose (guard) a lot.”
JoVanni Stewart’s impromptu departure from the team forced Tykee Smith into the spear spot on defense. Keith Washington was out with an injury, so Nicktroy Fortune earned his first career start at cornerback, while Hakeem Bailey was ejected in the third quarter for targeting, which forced Tae Mayo into the other cornerback spot.
Kerry Martin, a true freshman from Charleston, played free safety on a rotating basis with Sean Mahone.
Two weeks ago, all of them were either expected to play in a limited capacity or were going for a guaranteed redshirt. Now, not only are they expected to play, they could be starting next week when the Mountaineers have to take on the vaunted Oklahoma offense in Norman.
Halfway through the season, depth concerns are beginning to rear its ugly head.
Following Bailey’s ejection — he must sit out the first half next week against the Sooners — Mayo was thrown into his first taste of college football.
“Mayo got beat on the touchdown, but again, that’s the first time he’s played in a game,” Brown said. “We were hoping to be able to redshirt him, but that was his first game action in the second half. He played every snap once Bailey ejected with targeting. I’ll talk more on him once I get a chance to watch the film, but he went in there and made a couple plays. He had at least one [pass breakup], but man, it’s tough when you’ve gotta go out there and play against top offenses in the country.”
Brown said Mayo will continue to get reps this week in practice because he will likely have to play against Oklahoma.
Washington missed the game with a muscle injury, so the coaching staff decided to sit him out after he didn’t practice all week. In his absence, Fortune got the start at cornerback, and while ISU was trying to pick on him early, Fortune settled down and played well.
“I thought he did a good job without watching the film,” defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said. “I thought he was competitive. I don’t know how many he won or how many he lost, but it didn’t seem like he was out of place.”
The same can be said for Martin, who played mostly on third downs at free safety. Koenning said Martin is one of the smartest kids on the team, but has issues with tackling — again, freshman mistakes that can prove costly.
Smith made the play of the game for West Virginia in his second start after replacing the now-departed Stewart. In the first quarter, he snagged a deflected pass and ran into 19 yards for a pick-6.
While all of the young guys continue to show promise, rookie mistakes are bound to happen and it’s coming at the expense of the 2019 season for West Virginia. Most knew this year wasn’t going to be a 10-win season, but WVU has had a chance to win every game this year with the exception of the Sept. 7 loss at Missouri.
Growing pains are tough to watch, but Koenning mentioned that the young players are getting their feet wet and showing what they can do when called upon.
