Cam Vaughn Provides Excitement in the Season Opening Win

Cam Vaughn made his West Virginia debut with seven receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the season opening win against Robert Morris, marking the first Mountaineer to produce a 100-yard receiving game in a season-opener since 2018.

The redshirt sophomore got going early, with redshirt junior quarterback Nicco Marchiol finding him for a quick pass and catch for nine yards on the Mountaineers first offensive play of the game. The second connection went for 20 yards.

West Virginia University receiver Cam Vaughn | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

The two arguably made the play of the day when Marchiol lofted the ball down the sideline and Vaughn made one of the most underrated catches in football after the ball dropped over his head and into his hands for a 46-yard touchdown reception.

“The leverage they play, was kind of several yards off – right at the stick.” Vaughn said. “I just gave him a little stick inside and just scored.”

“I’m glad we took a deep shot,” Rodriguez said. “We didn’t throw deep balls today much. He (Vaughn) ran a great route and Nicco made a great throw. Cam’s one of the most explosive guys I think in the country.”

Marchiol and Vaughn appear to have a good chemistry and its just the first game of the season.

“This connection is not something that happened this morning,” Marchiol said. “It’s been the day he got on campus. It’s the things we do when no one is looking. It’s the extra hours we’ve put in and its things like this that build trust. Having a connection with a guy like that is so huge in big moments and big third downs. Really proud of him.”

Vaugn was not highly recruited coming out of Temple High School in Villa Rica, Ga.

“We thought when we signed him, he was a Power Four talent,” West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez said.

“He was a quarterback in high school… He had a lot of people projecting him at another position,” Rodriguez explained. “We told him we’d give him a shot at quarterback and that lasted about an hour. [I] said ‘hey, listen you can learn the offense while you’re playing wideout.”

Vaugn began his collegiate career with Rodriguez at Jacksonville State, redshirting in 2023 before earning a role among the receivers to begin the season and started the final eight games of the year.

The redshirt sophomore finished the 2024 season leading the Gamecocks with 48 receptions for 803 yards and five touchdowns to garner All-Conference USA Freshman team honors.

The last WVU receiver to put up over 100 yards receiving in the season opener was David Sills’ 140-yard and two touchdown output against Tennessee in 2018. Sills was also a former high school quarterback.

Vaughn in the Mountaineers travel to Athens, Ohio, to take on the Ohio Bobcats Saturday afternoon. Vaughn’s last meeting with he Bobcats came in the Cure Bowl where he caught nine passes for 183 yards and a touchdown.

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