MORGANTOWN — In the real world, two against one is about as unfair as Usain Bolt racing against Charles Barkley, yet those are the expectations Dante Stills lives with these days every time he steps on a football field.
West Virginia’s top defensive lineman lives a football life where he’s taking on two offensive lineman at a time, play after play, all with the hope that it opens up some space for a teammate to make a tackle.
“It’s happening more now, but it’s not something I can use as an excuse,” the Fairmont native said. “I still have to do my job and play as well as possible.”
There is maybe no one harder on himself and his own performance than Stills. Case in point: In last week’s win against Baylor, it was Stills who blocked an extra-point attempt that teammate Jacolby Spells ran in for two points that began a swing of momentum toward the Mountaineers in their 43-40 victory.
“I noticed on their first extra point, he held me,” Stills began the story. “The second one, he got a little lighter. It started getting like he wasn’t wanting to block.
“The last one, they scored and I got mad. I told myself I had to do something. Yeah, once I got through that lane I don’t normally get through, I knew.”
Yet, he had no quarterback sacks in the game and hurried the quarterback just once. He made four tackles, but only one was for a loss.
Halfway through the season, Stills has registered just 2 1/2 sacks — he had a career-high seven in 2021 — and he has 15 tackles.
That’s not what he was expecting when he decided to come back for a fifth season of eligibility, a reality he battles himself over almost daily.
“I feel like I’m missing a lot of opportunities to pretty much make that play,” he said. “There’s a couple of times, I guess I’ve got eyes in the wrong gap. That stuff happens.
“I came into this season not worried about making every play. I just wanted to do my job.”
Stills realizes that much of what he’s able to do or not do on the field is dictated by the opponents’ focus on him, hence the constant double-teams.
WVU has tried throughout the season to keep Stills out of those situations by constantly moving him around. WVU head coach Neal Brown said they’ve basically had Stills play all four positions along the defensive front this season.
“Teams have been sliding their protection to him, so they’re getting inside and outside help,” Brown said. “We’ve countered that by moving him around. He’s playing a lot more on the edge than he has earlier in his career.”
The unfunny joke to putting Stills on the end of the line is it becomes an invitation for the team to run in the other direction.
“There’s a lot of plays where I recognize they go the other way,” he said. “It happens. I guess it’s props to me. If it goes to the other side, I hope whoever is there makes the play.
“It’s definitely frustrating. I get frustrated on the sidelines.”
There comes an opportunity Saturday, as the Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) play at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (3-3, 1-2) are attempting about 51 passes per game. Many are extremely quick throws, but Stills knows there will be some chances to make a play that could change the game.
That’s all he can ask for, a fair shot to make a play.
“I know a lot of teams are going off me and where I line up,” Stills said. “I want everybody to just do their job and the play will be made, even if it’s not me.”
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