MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Thankfully for West Virginia, it doesn’t sound like quarterback Austin Kendall’s injury is as bad as it appeared.
Following a third-down blitz by Iowa State on the Mountaineers’ second drive of the game, Cyclones safety Anthony Johnson hit Kendall right as he threw, pulling Kendall’s right throwing arm behind him. As he walked toward the sideline, he wouldn’t lift his arm, and took off toward the locker room, only to emerge in the third quarter without pads, but fortunately, no sling.
“I think we’ll know more [Sunday] and Monday,” coach Neal Brown said. “He got hit right in the act of throwing. His arm kind of got behind him. The good thing is it’s not an arm or shoulder injury. It’s more in his chest area, so we’ll k now more after 24 hours or so where he’s at.”
In comes Jack Allison, who backed up Will Grier last season and earned the start in the Camping World Bowl against Syracuse in December. Kendall beat Allison out in fall camp, but at least to start, the junior appeared to be in complete control of the offense, thanks in large part to a game plan change by Brown.
“When you do different things, you want to make sure that your starting quarterback is getting a ton of those reps [in practice],” Brown said. “Jack didn’t get a lot of reps so we kind of had to change and basically went to some plays that we thought he was comfortable with.”
In the first half, Allison was 10 of 12 for 107 yards and a touchdown, which came just before the end of the second quarter to tie the game at 14.
The second half was a much different story — Allison went 8 of 12 for just 33 yards and an interception. The yardage total is skewed since the Cyclones had the ball 12 minutes longer than West Virginia in the second half, so there weren’t many opportunities, but when it did have chances, WVU’s offense did nothing with it.
“We couldn’t get much going offensively in the second half — that’s probably an understatement,” Brown said. “Offensively, we just struggled. They beat us in some one-on-one situations up front. We struggled to get the run game going versus some decent box numbers. It’s tough to ask Jack to go in and play when you’ve got limited reps. It’s tough to ask of him, but I thought he did some good things.”
Allison said he wasn’t caught off guard when Kendall went down — that’s his job as the backup quarterback to be ready whenever needed — but he hopes he can correct the second half mistakes, especially if he’s needed next week at Oklahoma.
“I think we got caught with some bad field position in the second half,” he said. “I think it’s execution at the end of the day for me. I think the rest of my team played a great game. There’s a couple plays I wish I had back, but you’ve just got to live with it and learn.”
Pettaway hopeful for redshirt
In 2016 during running back Martell Pettaway’s freshman season, his redshirt needed to be burned in the 10th game out of necessity.
Fast-forward to this season, Pettaway’s senior year, the hope is for Pettaway to finally get that fifth year back, according to Brown.
“He, coach [Chad] Scott and I talked and have had some ongoing discussions, so the plan, if everyone stays healthy, is to redshirt him,” Brown said. “That’s one position where we do have some depth even though [Alec] Sinkfield went down in the second half, but that’s why Martell wasn’t dressed.”
Brown said Pettaway isn’t having the year he expected — 72 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns —- but since he’s only played four games, he is eligible to redshirt under the new NCAA rule established in 2018. With Kennedy McKoy set to graduate, Pettaway would be a welcomed member of the 2020 team in the backfield, along with Sinkfield and Leddie Brown.
Wide receiver Tevin Bush remains injured, Brown said. A possible redshirt is still in the works for him, as well, only playing in two games.
O’Laughlin all the way
Freshman tight end Mike O’Laughlin had his biggest offensive output of the season against Iowa State, though it didn’t seem like much. He had three catches for 16 yards, but the tight end spot, with O’Laughlin and Jovani Haskins, hasn’t been a part of the passing game this season.
O’Laughlin thinks Saturday was more of a coincidence than an actual conscious effort to get him the ball.
“I just think I was in the right place at the right time this week, but Jovani and I have just been switching off,” he said. “Jack was just able to find me a few times.”
