Initial Thoughts Following WVU's Season Opening Win Over Coastal Carolina

Football is back, and the West Virginia Mountaineers open up the new campaign by taking down the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers by a 31-24 score.

As always, here are a handful of my initial thoughts from this one.

My goodness, Cam Cook! What an introduction!

There is living up to the hype, and there is whatever the heck Cam Cook just did. My, oh my! On the first play of the game, Cook ripped off a 72-yard run that nearly went for a touchdown. One play later, he found pay dirt. In the first half alone, he racked up 119 yards and two scores, averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

Mike Hawkins Jr. looked the part...when given the opportunity

Obviously, Rich Rod wanted to play smashmouth football for much of this game and get Cam Cook going, but when he did have Hawkins grip it and rip it, he was on the money. On the Mountaineers' second scoring drive of the game, Hawkins went a perfect 3/3 on third down, including the 49-yard strike to Armoni Weaver-Bomar for six. He has confidence in his arm, and his decision-making was on point. Yes, we'll get a better read in a couple of weeks against Virginia, but man, there was a lot to like about this performance. Rich Rod got away from throwing the ball in the second half for whatever reason, though, so not exactly the type of final line he should have had.

All is right in the world when a hard hitter sports the No. 8 in Morgantown

Even in this day and age of college football, where it takes time for transfers to settle into their new spots, first impressions still mean something. At least I believe so. Kamari Wilson wasted very little time putting his physical brand of football on display. He had a couple of bone-crushing hits, one of which was on third down early in the game, right before the 'Eers forced a turnover on downs in the red zone. Should WVU make it a requirement for a defensive player to wear No. 8, they have to play with the same physicality as Karl Joseph? Something to think about, but if so, Kamari Wilson is earning that right.

Really poorly executed/managed second half

It's almost like the Mountaineers lifted their foot off the gas and got too comfortable with a 24-0 lead. Defensively, Zac Alley's squad wasted a great 70+ yard punt by Bryan Hansen that was downed at the one, committing a handful of penalties that eventually led to a touchdown. The soft coverage was picked apart by Deuce Bailey.

Offensively, I understand wanting to establish your identity in the run game, but why Rich Rod was waiting until 3rd down to throw the ball nearly every time is beyond me. It became very predictable and made this game much closer than it ever needed to be.

Offensive line is better but has a long way to go

In the first half, the o-line showed a lot of reasons to be excited about this offense. I wouldn't say it was pure domination, though, because the backs (and Hawkins) did a lot of work making people miss and creating extra yardage, but they were fairly sound. The second half, meh, not so much. Coastal got some good push and was able to meet Cook and Co. at or behind the line of scrimmage pretty consistently. It's definitely a far better unit than what we saw a year ago, but they are clearly nowhere near where they want or need to be.

Pass coverage/pass rush is definitely a concern

Heading into the season, these two things were a major concern of mine, and it appears WVU does indeed have a long way to go in these two areas. From a pass-rush standpoint, they got after Deuce Bailey pretty well when they sent extra numbers, but when bringing three or four, it didn't feel like there was much there. I'm not sure if corners were playing too far off or were getting beat, but regardless, it wasn't the type of performance you were hoping to see there. Deuce Bailey throwing for 373 yards is, uh, not good.

Jack Cassidy, where have you been?

For years, West Virginia has struggled mightily to boot the ball through the back of the end zone on kickoffs. Western Kentucky transfer Jack Cassidy did a tremendous job doing it today, not allowing a single return by Coastal.

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