MAILBAG: Panic Meter, New Prediction, Confidence in Hawkins, O-Line Evaluation + More

Good Monday morning, Mountaineer fans! It's time to crack open this week'sWest Virginia On SI mailbag.

From @lescottyoung:

Q: Why did we take a knee? The game changed when we decided to take a knee at the end of the 1st Half. That is not “Hard Edge”. We should have run our hurry-up. That decision set the tone for the second half.

A: Only Rich knows, and maybe he'll be asked about it during his radio show tonight or at his press conference tomorrow. But I talked about this in one of my stories yesterday. Could he be so paranoid as to put anything on tape? As in choosing not to show his two-minute offense versus getting the live in-game reps with it? Maybe.

From @MVPhilly_:

Q: WVU offensive line that bad after that much of an overpay (2nd half)? Can Hawkins throw? If so, why not more than 14 attempts, especially when we’re struggling? Defense? That’s the question- just defense??

A: The offensive line was fine, in my opinion. When you're constantly running into a loaded box, you're not going to have a ton of success. And yes, Hawkins can absolutely throw. Uh, he went 11/14 and was on point the entire day. The lack of attempts wasn't a lack of confidence in Mike; I can assure you that. It's about not showing anything. The defense? Whew. Yeah, just...yeah.

From @Cojseese:

Q: How many O-linemen played? I saw the same 5 out there most of the game, if not the whole game.

A: Your eyes saw it correctly. Kevin Brown, Nick Krahe, Wes King, Bubba Grayson, and Carsten Casady played all 76 of the offensive snaps. Malik Agbo and Josh Aisosa each saw a few snaps on the heavy package. I still think Rick Trickett has confidence in his depth. This is more about getting five guys who haven't played together as many reps as possible before Week 3.

From @jdmead2:

Q: Was it the Coastal Carolina QB that you’ve been talking up so much about him being a game-changer? Who would’ve thought... a redshirt freshman in his first game with a totally new team?

A: Both QBs played well. One was restricted; the other had to throw it around to give his team a chance. Deuce Bailey is a Power Four-caliber starter, but the defense helped him out a ton.

From @bobmadigan_wvu:

Q: The drive that started at the 2 in the 1st half was how the entire game felt. The intention was to get enough yards to get the punter out of the end zone, not a 1st down. The entire game plan felt conservative. Do you think it's just 1st-game jitters, or how the season will play out?

A: It was a very conservative approach. I thought Rich would have tried to blow it open, but when he decided to knee out the first half, I knew right then and there that he had no desire to do so. It became obvious that he was trying to win the game without having to dip too far into his bag of plays.

From @Coogs57:

Q: Was the lack of run game in the 2nd half due more to the O-line not getting a push or Coastal putting 9 in the box?

A: A mixture of both, but it's incredibly hard to run into a loaded box when there is no threat to throw the ball on first or second down. I don't expect that to be a trend when he opens up the playbook, but in this game in particular, yeah, they were selling out to stop the run, and Rod essentially said, "To hell with it, I'm still going to try and run it."

From @MmaMountaineer:

Q: Play the 1st half of the game was incredible; the 2nd half worries me badly. What’s your new prediction for the year?

A: I almost typed up an altered prediction story, but I decided to hold off for now. I might end up doing it still, but I don't know how much it changed my mind. There are still so many unknowns about this team. If Rodriguez kept his foot on the gas, everyone would probably be overreacting in the opposite direction, thinking about a Big 12 title. If the game was close from start to finish, I would feel much differently about it. It was pretty clear they were head and shoulders better than Coastal when they were able to throw it around a little bit. I'll give you this for my new prediction, although it's for one specific game...folks will feel much differently about this team's potential after Virginia, win or lose. And I might add, I give WVU a better chance to win that game, even after what happened on Saturday, than I would have given them to beat Pitt last year after losing to Ohio.

From @pittsburghfan25:

Q: How worried, on a scale of 1-10, should we be after that brutal second half?

A: Are you going to hate me if I say 5? Haha. That's where I personally land on it because I just don't know. The defense is certainly a concern, and with 11 new starters on that side of the ball, yeah, you can get yourself to think the absolute worst there. Offensively, it was a product of running the same handful of plays and not having the ball much. I still don't think we'll really know what Rich Rod has until Week 3.

From @DontaeTrump:

Q: Favorite player to watch so far?

A: Outside of the household names, man, I really liked Darius Wiley. Big, long, physical dude who was making plays and looking as if he was going to have himself a monster year. Another guy I was impressed with was Nate Gabriel. They needed him to step up and be a force on the interior, and he was exactly that on Saturday.

From @MikeMcGuinnCT:

Q: Should Fox start the next game so that we have seen both before UVA?

A: Absolutely not. What for, with all due respect? Hawkins was damn near perfect and made a ton of things happen with his legs that Scotty simply cannot do. Mike didn't get to fully show off his abilities because of the way the game was called. He's a game-changer, and we saw that on Saturday.

From @MrEd315:

Q: What was your likes and dislikes against Coastal Carolina?

A: Things I liked: Jack Cassidy being perfect in kicking the ball out of the end zone. The offensive line is definitely improved. The second half wasn't great, but predictable play-calling and a loaded box will do that. Hawkins looked as good as advertised. And holy pressure! 40-some pressures on Coastal's QB...just need to do a better job of coming in under control to finish those plays.

Things I disliked: Linebackers dropping in coverage were...not good, to say the least. Corners were giving too much cushion in zone. Not opening up the pass game more.

From @_xFaTT:

Q: How much was our second-half struggles was based off our conservative play-calling? And when is it too early to hit the panic button on our secondary? I know it’s the first game, but it’s already kind of hard not to hit that panic button.

A: A good portion of the blame can absolutely be placed on the play-calling. I would not worry about the offense at all. At least not right now. They will be even better once he does open it up. For the secondary...yeah, you can hover your hand over that button, and I wouldn't blame you for it. I wouldn't fully make contact with said button until we see this group against Virginia. That's two more weeks of practice film, drill work, film study, etc. That first game is just the starting point.

From @wvufan2023:

Q: Why is this defense so bad, and do you think Rich Rod was being vanilla on offense on purpose in the second half?

A: The defense played great in the first half. I think a lot of it came down to guys not dropping to their marks in the second and third levels while also having overpursuit on the quarterback. How many times did West Virginia have three of four guys running free to the quarterback and catch themselves coming in too hot, having to try and chase him down from behind? Containment has to tighten up. And yes, Rod was definitely being vanilla.

From @omgjwick:

Q: What's the difference between the team under Rich Rod compared to Neal Brown?

A: Just about everything. The disappointing results (so far) are the only thing you can drum up as similar, but it's still way too early to know what this team is capable of. Neal struggled for six years. Rich is one week into year two, and we have to remind ourselves of that.

To participate in next week's mailbag, send me a DM on X (@Callihan_) reply to my tweet asking for submissions on Saturday, or place your question in the comments section under my poston Facebook.

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