Rapid Takeaways: Changes Are Coming on Offense & WVU May Have Found Its Quarterback

Saturday evening, the West Virginia Mountaineers fell to the Utah Utes, 48-14. I've got a lot of thoughts from this one, but here are some of the main things I want to hit on before I dive deep into it in my Sunday Morning Thoughts column.

Start Khalil Wilkins

Rodriguez has been searching for an answer at quarterback, and he might have one in Wilkins. It's still way too early to tell if he's going to be the long-term solution for them, but they can't afford to go with anyone else in Provo next week. You have to see what he can do over the course of a 60-minute game, and when it's not out of hand. He short-armed a couple of throws, one of which would have been a touchdown, and another that he had terrific timing and ball placement on, but it just lacked zip.

Something has to change up front

Look, I get it. The guys who perform the best throughout the practice week should earn the right to start, but when certain individuals continuously let you down on gameday, changes need to be made. Donovan Haslem did replace Kimo Makane'ole in the first half, but Walter Young Bear remained in the game despite having another poor start. Continuing to roll the same guys out there every week is the definition of insanity. Haslem and Malik Agbo did some nice things in the second half, so it'll be interesting to see if Rodriguez goes with them next Friday.

WVU must spend more in NIL

I don't know the exact number that is being spent on NIL, but whatever it is, it's not enough. I thought it was a little concerning when you look at the offensive line and see a guy who was a former walk-on at Tulsa (Walter Young Bear), a guy who didn't sniff the field on offensive, so flipped to defense and is no your starting right guard (Kimo Makane'ole), and a guy who struggled to see time at Charlotte and Arkansas throughout his career (Ty'Kieast Crawford) — and that concern is proving to be more than valid. It's not just the offensive line; that's just the most obvious of position groups. The good news is, the university recently agreed to provide funding to move WVU into the top tier of the Big 12. The bad news? This won't get fixed this season.

Defense was putrid

The offense was atrocious, so don't think I'm dismissing their play. It was unbearable to watch, but the one thing you could feel good about — at least coming into this game — was the defense doing its job to keep you in the game. Not this one. From the jump, they looked out of sorts and confused despite seeing way fewer shifts and motions than they did a week ago in Lawrence. Missed tackles are a huge issue with this group, and that led to many third and shorts and, of course, third down conversions. In the first half alone, the Utes were 8/8 on third down.

Start Khalil Wilkins

Something has to change up front

WVU must spend more in NIL

Defense was putrid

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