MORGANTOWN — Defensive end Taijh Alston is entering his sixth season of college football this season, but when WVU takes on Pitt on Sept. 1, it’ll be just his 17th Division I game.
A knee injury at East Carolina stole Alston’s freshman season in 2017, and after a healthy campaign at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi in 2018, he transferred to West Virginia.
In just his second game with the Mountaineers in 2019 at Missouri, another knee injury cost Alston the rest of that season. Getting ready in 2020 prior to what we now know as the COVID season, Alston suffered an Achilles injury that forced him to miss the entire regular season before coming back for the Liberty Bowl against Army.
In four seasons, Alston had played just three games at the Division I level.
Some would simply call it quits, but that was nowhere near Alston’s mind.
“Since I had my injury the year before 2021, I knew I was going to come back,” he said. “I just wanted to show people what I could do.”
When Jeffery Pooler transferred after spring practice in 2021, it opened the door for Alston to finally make an impact, if he could stay healthy. That opportunity led to playing in all 13 games, including 12 starts, with 37 tackles and 11 for loss.
His performance helped him earn an honorable mention for the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year award, giving him a national honor.
Heading into this season, his free year of eligibility due to COVID, Alston is taking nothing for granted.
“I’m not going to lie, I had a few doubts when I had my injuries. Like, talking to God, asking if this is really for me,” Alston said. “But I just knew, like, I love this game. And if I just worked every day something good would come out of it. I thank God I didn’t quit. Now I see what I could do with me being healthy for a season.”
While Alston certainly expects to stay healthy again for the whole season, defensive line coach AJ Jackson said he wants to get nine different players in his rotation. Even if Alston is healthy, Jackson only wants him, along with other starters Dante Stills and Jordan Jefferson, to get about 60% of the snaps.
“I’ve got to figure out how to get all these guys in the game,” Jackson said. “Hopefully it’s like hockey subs where you see three and four guys roll in at a time.”
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