What Rich Rodriguez Said Following the Upset Win Over No. 25 Virginia

The West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) toppled the No. 25 Virginia Cavaliers (2-1) Saturday night 38-27 at Bank America Stadium in Charlotte (NC).

WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez met with the media following the game and praised the Mountaineer fans, junior quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr.’s performance, the defensive effort and more.

Opening Statement

“Really excited for our players and our fans - a really nice win. I thought we had a home field advantage. Our fans were fantastic the whole game. There were times we didn't play particularly well, but I think we always played hard and I’m really proud. We thought that was going to be a key. We knew they were going to make plays. They got a good football team, a very experienced football team, we knew had to just keep getting after it.

“Proud, especially how we close it out toward the end of the game, running the football and making some stuff on defense. A good win over a really good program. Got a lot of respect for (Virginia head coach) Tony (Elliot) and what he's done there. You know, it's just one win, but it's a win against a ranked team, that we got a lot of respect for. So happy for that.”

The defense’s performance

“Yeah, I thought, you know, we were uneven at times, but they were never panicked. You know what I mean? (Defensive coordinator) Coach (Zac) Alley and the defensive staff made a few adjustments here and there and they hit us on some stuff. We knew they were going to be able to – They’re experienced offensive line. It’s hard to trick those guys that have, you know, five, six, seven years of experience. But our guys kept plugging in there, and I thought in the 4th quarter, in the 3rd quarter, whatever that was, made some really key stops when we kind of took the momentum over.”

Mike Hawkins running the offense for 313 total yards and five touchdowns

“Mike is, he's a dynamic player and I think he's going to keep getting better. I mean, it's just his 3rd game in the system. Obviously, the plays he made, but his composure and his seeing what was out there, even on certain other plays, it maybe didn't hit the way we wanted to. He knew exactly what was going on. So, I think he grew a lot. I think our offense grew a lot today at certain moments, but Mike was, he's electric. I think he shown today, he's got a lot of really good football in front of him too.”

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