MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A few fans in Section 217 at Milan Puskar Stadium make it perfectly clear what they wanted to see in the second half of West Virginia’s 38-17 loss to Texas Tech.
“We want Doege!” the rowdy crew continued to chant as the Mountaineers struggled to gain any momentum offensively and couldn’t find the end zone on six of eight trips inside the Texas Tech 25.
Finally, after quarterback Austin Kendall threw into triple coverage and had his pass intercepted in the end zone following a failed flea-flicker, the fans in 217, as well as many others, got their wish.
On West Virginia’s next possession, Jarret Doege made his anticipated debut behind center — with four games left in the regular season, he’s able to get snaps and preserve his redshirt. In limited opportunities, he played well, finishing 11 of 17 for 119 yards and a touchdown.
His touchdown pass, with five seconds left in the game, went to another player in his position — true freshman running back Tony Mathis.
But according to coach Neal Brown, Kendall wasn’t benched as much as it was just an opportunity to get Doege’s feet wet in a game that was already out of hand.
“I just wanted to get him reps,” Brown said. “I think he did some good things — the same things that plagued Jarret are the same things that plagued Austin. We dropped the ball and we didn’t do a great job in pass protection. I’ll say this: I wish quarterback was our problem, because that’s an easy fix.”
Kendall’s worst decision was his last play of the game with the pick in the end zone, but he played admirably throughout. The Mountaineers had seven drops and the offensive line struggled with pressure, so that affected Kendall’s final totals. He finished 26 of 43 for 355 yards and two interceptions — his first pick was on a drop by George Campbell.
While Brown didn’t say it, it’s safe to assume Kendall will be the starter next week at Kansas State.
James has day to remember … and forget
Wide receiver Sam James put himself in the record books with his performance Saturday, but he could have put himself at the top.
His 223 yards on 14 catches is the third most in school history — the most was Stedman Bailey’s 303 yards against Baylor in 2012, following by 225 by Bailey at Oklahoma State in 2012 and Gary Jennings against Oklahoma in 2018.
But James knows he could have had so much more. He finished the game with five drops, and on his two longest receptions, each could have been touchdowns if he wasn’t underthrown by Kendall.
“It’s all attention to detail,” James said. “Drops are a lack of focus. With those drops, I could have easily gone for 300 (yards), but I just wasn’t focusing enough on the ball.”
As a team, drops have been an issue all season for the Mountaineers. The receivers had a challenge this week in practice to catch at least 500 balls, and James said everyone in the corps was able to reach it, but George Campbell said he won with over 530 catches.
They’re also working with the jug machine and using tennis balls to help with hand-eye coordination.
“That’s just what we’ve gotta keep doing, working with the jugs and other drills,” James said.
