Boiling Point Reached? The One Play in WVU's Loss to BYU That Could Lead to Lineup Changes

It was fourth and goal for the West Virginia offense, trailing 38-17 with 3:15 remaining in the game. Pulling off a comeback was extremely unlikely, but all hope of a miraculous comeback was dashed when BYU stuffed running back Diore Hubbard behind the line of scrimmage, forcing a turnover on downs.

Center Landen Livingston got knocked back, creating a hole for a BYU linebacker to shoot through and make the stop. Left guard Walter Young Bear also failed to get any push on his man; right tackle Malik Agbo was also knocked back a couple of yards. Right guard Kimo Makane'ole reached the second level (didn't have a hat over top of him) and went after the guy furthest away from the ball (halfway in the end zone) instead of the guy who ends up having a short path to the ball.

In that situation, I'm not sure why they had Agbo in over Ty'Kieast Crawford. Rich Rod has mentioned a handful of times that Agbo's lean frame is one of the reasons he hasn't seen much playing time this season. But to have him in on a goal-line situation? Very interesting.

Nevertheless, the outcome did not make the ol' ball coach happy, visibly showing his frustration in the postgame press conference when asked about the play of redshirt freshman QB Khalil Wilkins.

“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.”

That group has been a mess all season long, and while the lineup has remained the same to this point, that play could be enough to spark some changes.

Could we finally see Xavier Bausley get some reps at tackle? Or Mickel Clay? What about Donovan Haslem or Josh Aisosa at guard? Walter Young Bear and Kimo Makane'ole aren't going to be here beyond this year, and they've played a huge part in the o-line's issues to this point.

“We can’t pass protect long enough if we do drop back pass and can’t get open on press pass [coverage] sometimes, sometimes we can," Rodriguez said. "So, we just got to find and create some ways for those guys to have some success. I don’t want to say you have to be perfect with your assignments and stuff, but you got to be pretty close on mark, and the hard part is everybody is going to play different fronts and change things up a little bit. And we can’t overcome a lot of negative yards plays."

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