MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — At 6-foot-7 and 312 pounds, it’s hard to believe West Virginia offensive lineman Colton McKivitz would be on the shy side.
Never one to draw attention to himself — he let his play do the talking — McKivitz has grown to be a little louder at practice and during games, even if it had to be pulled out of him.
“It’s not that I couldn’t do it, but before, there were other guys on the team who had been around longer than me, and I didn’t feel like it was really my place to be that guy,” he said. “Now, things are a lot different.”
McKivitz, the starting left tackle, has been around the program for five years. Compare that to the rest of the starting offensive line, right guard Chase Behrndt is the most experienced in his fourth year, but this is his first as a starter.
McKivitz started as a redshirt freshman in 2016 and hasn’t looked back.
When the new coaching staff arrived in January, it was clear McKivitz needed to be a beacon not just for the line, but the entire offense. One to always lead by example, McKivitz had to learn to speak up.
“That was asked of me from coach (Neal) Brown and coach (Matt) Moore,” he said. “I’ve always come in with the idea of leading by example, but so far, I think the younger guys are buying into that. They’re learning and playing physical — that’s one thing I do harp on a lot is every chance you have to hit someone, you need to do it.”
James Gmiter, a redshirt freshman, who will make his sixth career start at Baylor on Thursday night beside McKivitz at left guard, could tell right away that McKivitz was someone to pay attention to.
“He’s a big presence and that helps us — we all follow him and he’s like Mother Duck,” Gmiter said. “We’re just like little ducklings following him. When the new coaches came over, he kept us all in line. After he leaves, it’s nice to know guys like Chase and (Josh) Sills will have that in them.”
Injury report
West Virginia’s game against Baylor will be the healthiest the Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3) have been in a long time, except at linebacker.
Brown confirmed Josh Chandler is definitely out after suffering a knee injury at Oklahoma, but also downgraded “bandit” Quondarius Qualls from questionable to doubtful.
Bandit was already in a tough spot when VanDarius Cowan’s season was ended with a knee injury, so the defensive coaches are going to have to pick up the pieces.
“We’ll be a little bit piecemeal there,” Brown said. “I think that Jared Bartlett will play in this game — he’ll make the trip and this will be his most significant action. We have some flexibility there with (Jake) Abbott, (Shea) Campbell and (Dylan) Tonkery. They have the ability to play ‘Mike’ or bandit, so we’ll have that, as well as Zach Sandwisch, who played a little bit against Oklahoma.”
Bartlett, a true freshman from Georgia, has yet to get into a game, but depth issues will force the Mountaineers to take advantage of the 4-game redshirt rule.
Starting cornerback Keith Washington, who missed the last two games with a muscle injury, is back and will play.
Texas Tech kickoff time announced
The Big 12 announced WVU’s Nov. 9 home football game against Texas Tech at Milan Puskar Stadium, will be at noon and televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU. Network designation will be determined later.
The Texas Tech game is designated as Military Appreciation Day and True Blue. All fans are encouraged to wear blue for the Mountaineer Week matchup with the Red Raiders.
It’s also a “Coca-Cola Family Day.” Fans can purchase four tickets and a $25 concession voucher for $200 per Family Day package.
The Red Raiders (3-5, 1-4) are coming off a tough loss at Kansas. The Jayhawks stormed back from 17 down to win the game.
