MORGANTOWN — Much has been made this offseason about the changes offensively for WVU, with new coordinator Graham Harrell bringing a high-flying scheme and Georgia transfer quarterback JT Daniels getting an opportunity to run it.
With a trio of experienced receivers, the entire offensive line returning and a deep running back room, the thought of the offense’s potential is always a talking point.
But the Mountaineers’ defense, which has consistently been a strength of the team since head coach Neal Brown took over in 2019, is once again shaping up to be a steady machine that can hopefully keep WVU running, if not more.
“We think this defensive unit has the opportunity to be the best that we’ve fielded so far,” Brown said Wednesday at Big 12 Media Days in Arlington, Texas.
It seems odd on the surface for Brown to leap to this hypothesis. The Mountaineers lost leading tackler Josh Chandler-Semedo, who transferred to Colorado. Defensive tackle Akheem Mesidor, perhaps the player with the highest ceiling on last year’s team, is now at Miami. Much of the secondary transferred out, including starters Daryl Porter (Miami), Jackie Matthews (Mississippi State) and Nicktroy Fortune (UTSA).
Brown, though, believes the players who stayed and bought in will make this group special.
“We’re never going to lose what makes West Virginia special, and that’s toughness,” Brown said. “We really try to mirror the mindset of our state and West Virginia — it’s a blue-collar group that goes to work and are really proud of their heritage. That’s the same fundamental we’re trying to look for and trying to put on the field on the defensive side of the ball every Saturday.”
It starts with defensive lineman Dante Stills, who surprised many by using his free COVID year to return, adding a much-needed boost to a defense that already had a lot of turnover through the transfer portal, especially Mesidor.
“Dante has been a huge piece of what we’ve done,” Brown said. “We’ve been one of the top defenses in our league over the past three years and it’s a lot due to the play of our defensive line. That’s going to be our strong point on defense this year.”
The line is expected to be a strength despite losing Mesidor, with experience abound, including end Taijh Alston and nose Jordan Jefferson. Sean Martin and Jalen Thornton have also played significant snaps.
The Mountaineers brought in Syracuse transfer Lee Kpogba to replace Chandler-Semedo, and Brown believes Kpogba could be one of the best in the Big 12 at his position.
“If you look at a guy like Lee Kpogba, who came in the spring and will be our starting middle linebacker, he’s had a untraditional path, but here we think he’s got a chance to be one of the better linebackers in the league,” Brown said.
Jared Bartlett will battle Lanell Carr at Bandit, while Lance Dixon and Exree Loe will split duties at Will linebacker. Regardless, all four have played significant snaps in their careers.
As for the secondary, cornerback Charles Woods is hyped as one of the best CBs in the Big 12, but the rest lack experience, including all three safety positions.
Still, Brown and defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley had a plan through recruiting and it may come to fruition this season — length and speed.
“The one thing we were intentionally trying to improve defensively is we’ve been primarily a zone coverage team and we’ve had success, but we haven’t been able to cause as much havoc up front because when you play zone coverage, you can rush only four or five guys,” Brown said.
“We wanted to get faster, more athletic in the back end so we could play more coverage and rush six or maybe even seven sometimes. Throughout additions, and we’ve had several, Wesley McCormick, who is a multi-year starter at James Madison at corner … I really like his ability. We think he can compete for a starting job. Jaylon Shelton has versatility and can play safety or corner and can really run. Jasir Cox, from North Dakota State, a multiple-year starter on a multiple-national championship team, gives us some flexibility to play both outside linebacker positions and our nickel position.”
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