MORGANTOWN — Mike O’Laughlin was a tall, lanky Chicago kid when he committed to WVU in 2017 at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds — the perfect wide receiver build.
It’s hard to imagine the now-252-pound tight end, an imposing figure on the Mountaineers’ offense in 2021, in his younger form, even to the point where people from his hometown of Oak Park, Ill., have a tough time recognizing him.
Not only is his imposing size different, but the self-admitted baby face is also growing a beard, making him even less recognizable.
O’Laughlin is also using his size to good use on the field. He’s caught his fair share of passes over time, but being able to put a defender down is tough to beat.
“I get more satisfaction, for sure, putting someone on their back,” O’Laughlin said. “Putting another man on their back against their will is one of the best feelings on the planet. One thing I always thought I had was the ‘mentality.’ Even in high school, when I was a receiver, it didn’t matter. When I was blocking, I wanted to put him on his back, too. I just enjoy that a lot. I always had that mentality. I just didn’t have the body for it when I first got here, especially playing against Big 12 linebackers and D-ends, so there’s a process to that.”
Now in his fourth year, O’Laughlin has put the wide receiver label in the past and is a full-fledged tight end, and put together an impressive sophomore season in a shortened 2020 season, with 137 yards and a touchdown in 10 games.
With high expectations coming into this year, he suffered a bit of a setback during summer workouts, injuring his right ankle. Head coach Neal Brown downplayed the severity of it through fall camp, but later admitted he tried to gain a competitive advantage in the season-opener at Maryland.
O’Laughlin didn’t practice much at all in August, so it was known for a while he was going to miss the game against the Terps.
“Watching the Maryland game and just knowing that there’s nothing you can really do,” he said. “You know, you’re on the sideline in your regular clothes — that’s difficult. In the first half, I just kind of struggled. I had anxiety about it, like, ‘I wish I could go out there and play.’ “
“Then, there was a switch that went off in my mind. I’m like, ‘I’ve just got to focus on the guys who are in the game, just aid them as much as I can. If that’s running over and grabbing Gatorade because it’s too hot out or giving them a towel, or telling them, if you see this, then you might be thinking this or doing this.’ Just trying to help them out in any way I can, because if you do that, at least you’re benefiting your team in the position that you’re in.”
O’Laughlin missed the next game against Long Island, as well, with teammate T.J. Banks filling the void. Banks and O’Laughlin arrived at WVU as part of the 2018 recruiting cycle, so they’ve become good friends despite battling it out for the starting spot.
When O’Laughlin returned against Virginia Tech, though, he had an immediate impact, especially in the running game. On the second play of the game for the Mountaineers’ offense, the Hokies had to respect O’Laughlin’s presence in the passing game, which created space for running back Leddie Brown to take the ball 80 yards for a touchdown.
While he has just seven catches in three games, O’Laughlin’s work in the running game hasn’t got unnoticed.
“The last two weeks, we’ve asked a lot out of him,” Neal Brown said. “I thought he did a really nice job competing. I’m not saying that he won all those battles, but he didn’t lose very many. This week, I thought he was dominant, at times, run blocking. Go back and watch. I think he played really physical. He was active in the pass game. The better your tight ends block, the easier it is to get them the ball.
“The thing that’s really encouraging about that, and I think I’ve said this last week, is he didn’t practice all fall camp. He really just started practicing for Virginia Tech week. So, I think there’s still a bunch of improvement there as we get through the year.”
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