MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s offense was nearly flawless and the defense overcame a shaky second quarter as the Mountaineers rolled over FCS opponent Albany 49-14 in Milan Puskar Stadium Saturday evening.
“It’s always good to win,” WVU coach Neal Brown said. “It’s hard to do.”
WVU (1-1) got off to a perfect start in the opening stanza. The Mountaineers’ offense drove right down the field on its first three drives of the game, finding the endzone each time.
Jahiem White’s 14-yard run opened the scoring and Justin Robinson’s 12-yard catch on the following drive gave WVU a 14-0 lead.
Tight end Kole Taylor scored on a 39-yard catch-and-run at the beginning of the second quarter to put the Mountaineers up 21-0 just over 15 minutes into the contest.
Albany (1-1), which had just 11 yards in the first quarter, turned the tides a bit in the second. After forcing a WVU punt, Albany’s offense started to find some success.
Quarterback Myles Burkett started 3-7 for 36 yards, but he went 3-4 for 48 yards on Albany’s next drive, which ended with a seven-yard touchdown run by Griffin Woodell to make it 21-7. Burkett went 3-4 for 69 yards with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jacari Carter on the Great Danes’ next drive to cut the lead to 21-14.
West Virginia’s offense created some breathing room before halftime, executing a perfect two-minute drill that ended with a 40-yard touchdown scramble by quarterback Garrett Greene to make the score 28-14.
“It was big because they got the ball coming out in the second half,” Greene said. “Coach Brown always talks about winning the ‘middle eight,’ which is the last four (minutes) of the second quarter and the first four of the third quarter.”
Albany opened up the second half with another impressive drive as Burkett completed passes of 41 and 49 yards to get the Great Danes down to WVU’s two-yard line. Albany failed on three plays and then had a receiver fall down on fourth down as the Mountaineers’ defense got a goal-line stop.
WVU’s offense kept humming as the ensuing drive went 99 yards in 14 plays, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Greene to Hudson Clement.
“I don’t necessarily think the game was in question, but that was a huge flip,” Brown said. “That stop and then us going ahead and scoring put the game out of reach.”
A CJ Donaldson touchdown later in the frame made it a 41-14 WVU lead, putting to bed any idea of a competitive finish.
The Great Danes’ last gasp was another drive that got into the redzone, but Burkett misfired on fourth down from the 13-yard line to give the ball back to WVU.
Backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol entered and led a touchdown drive that featured a 48-yard run by Donaldson and a 12-yard scoring run by Marchiol.
Greene finished 17-23 with 236 passing yards, 68 rushing yards and four total touchdowns. White and Donaldson each eclipsed 100 yards, running for 100 and 125, respectively, with a touchdown each. WVU ran for 305 total yards, averaging 9.5 yards per carry.
“The front five did their job,” Donaldson said of the offensive line. “They’re probably the best (players) on the field.”
Taylor led the WVU receivers with 47 yards and a touchdown on three catches. Jaden Bray had a 44-yard catch while Clement had four catches for 39 yards and a touchdown and Robinson had two for 30 and a score.
Defensive linemen Sean Martin and TJ Jackson had a sack each. Anthony Wilson led the defense with six tackles.
Burkett completed just half of his passes, going 18-39, but he had 306 yards, an average of 17 per completion.
“I thought he was tough,” Brown said of the opposing quarterback. “That’s probably the best compliment I could give him.”
Albany went 7-16 third downs with all seven conversions coming through the air. In total, the Great Danes had eight pass completions over 15 yards.
Seven McGee made four receptions for 90 yards while Jacari Carter had two catches for 44 yards and a touchdown. Albany struggled on the ground, barely passing 20 yards before the last drive of the game, ultimately finishing with 68 total.
Dillon Dunathan had a sack for Albany while linebacker Dontae Lunan racked up 11 tackles.
Next up for the Mountaineers is the Backyard Brawl against rival Pitt. The Panthers (2-0) completed a 21-point second-half comeback to defeat Cincinnati 28-27 on Saturday.
Kickoff from Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. next week.
