Between The Eers: Should Khalil Wilkins Be QB1 for West Virginia?

Evaluating the Mountaineers' quarterback situation heading into the bye week.

Rich Rod Not Committed to Khalil Wilkins as QB1

Khalil Wilkins got his first opportunity to start for West Virginia on Friday night and as expected, was filled with some ups and downs. The way he handled the situation, however, was extremely impressive. He didn't seem rattled or unprepared — he was ready for the challenge, he just didn't get much help, as Rich Rodriguez stated in his postgame press conference.

“Played hard. He competed. A freshman in that environment, I thought he was into the game. I think he’d like to have a lot of plays back, but I also think he competed his tail off. I think Scotty did too when he got in there," Rodriguez stated. “We got to get some help, I mean, hell, if you can’t score from the one-inch line – It's ridiculous. Get shoved around on offense and get shoved around on defense. It's not good.  We got to get better at that.”

Wilkins finished the night 7/15 for 81 yards and two interceptions, while rushing for 89 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Was this a one-time thing with Wilkins running the offense? Should it be? Well, Rodriguez was not ready to commit to him, or any other quarterback heading into the bye week, but from what I saw, I think he's at least deserved the right to start vs. UCF in two weeks.

That being said, I don't think it should be Wilkins 100% of the time from here on out unless he just strings together several weeks of good gootball and just runs away with the job. True freshman Scotty Fox Jr. is a talented dual-threat in his own right and had a "don't forget about me" moment at the end of the game with a touchdown pass to Cam Vaughn.

On this morning's episode of Between The Eers, I look at how Wilkins performed and what the plan should be under center coming out of the bye week.

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