What the Film and Stats Revealed About Mike Hawkins Jr.'s WVU Debut

Mike Hawkins Jr. made his debut in a Mountaineer uniform on Saturday, completing 11-of-14 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing the ball 20 times for 103 yards and a score.

Was it the sample size we were hoping for? No, far from it, but he absolutely made a strong first impression, knowing where to go with the football and making things happen with his feet.

The play of the day

This is that next-level stuff from Mike Hawkins. As soon as Armoni Weaver-Bomar gets even with the safety, with turned hips and he notices he's getting through clean, the ball is out. Not to mention, Hawkins throws it off balance and leads his man into the end zone. pic.twitter.com/ltunoUVn1w
— Schuyler Callihan (@Callihan_) September 6, 2026

Let me clarify something here because some are taking this as "Next-level? He threw a wide-open deep ball."

There is a lot that makes this play impressive. And okay, maybe I went too strong with "next-level," but pardon me; it's week one, and we're actually talking football.

But let me first start off by saying he makes this throw look a lot easier than it is. Now, yes, as long as he gets air under it, it's going to be caught, so in that respect, sure, it's an easy throw.

But to launch a 45-yard pass off your back foot, jumping while throwing to not only get enough on it but making sure it clears the defensive end who is crashing in with his arms up is not necessarily a routine play. You have to be athletic enough to make that happen and also recognize the defender crashing down on you.

The part that I was really impressed with here was the vision. Again, I'm not saying he's threading the needle here or layering the ball between a backer and a safety. It's understanding leverage. He sees the safety is caught in a vulnerable position with his hips flipped and gets the ball out before Armoni Weaver-Bomar is even a full step clear of the safety.

The two plays he'd like to have back

West Virginia University quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

The first is obvious: the football out of the back of the end zone. He knew it was a mistake as soon as he did it. Most coaches will teach players to never reach for the pylon unless it's fourth down, or, in some cases, not unless it's on fourth down and in overtime with the game on the line. It's something to learn from, but when you're trying to make something happen, and it's your first start in two years, it's hard to be that critical. It can't happen moving forward, and it won't.

The second was the ball he forced into the end zone to John Neider. He had Amari Latimer wide open on a wheel route that would have resulted in an easy touchdown. Outside of that, he was pretty spot on in knowing where to go with the football.

The 2nd half struggles weren't on Hawkins or anyone in particular

You might think that because the offense struggled in the second half, part of the blame can be placed on the shoulders of Hawkins. Well, doing so would be inaccurate. Let's look at the play chart from those three three and outs.

3rd QTR, first possession

P1: Cam Cook rush up middle, gain of three
P2*: False start on C Wes King
P2: Hawkins rush up middle, gain of six
P3: Hawkins completes pass to Bray, gain of four
P4: Punt

3rd QTR, second possession

P1: Hawkins keeper to the left, gain of two
P2*: Latimer rush to the left, gain of five, called back for holding on TE Cam Ball/Unsportsmanlike conduct on Bray
P2: Hawkins complete to Bray, loss of two
P3: Hawkins complete to Bray over the middle, gain of 10
P4: Punt

4th QTR, first possession

P1: Cook rush to the left, gain of four
P2: Cook rush to the left, gain of four
P3: Cook rush up the middle, fumble, loss of eight
P4: Punt

Between a few costly penalties, a fumble, and the predictability of the run game into a heavy box, well, that's how you end up at three three and outs. It's not because Hawkins was struggling or because there were passes being dropped or the o-line getting whipped. When you don't pull Coastal out of a heavy box, you're essentially beating your head against a wall.

The X-factor + clutch gene

Michael Hawkins Jr making multiple defenders miss 🔥 pic.twitter.com/d40XL1INfW
— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) September 5, 2026

Most quarterbacks nowadays can run, but just because you have the ability to run doesn't necessarily make you a dual-threat. Hawkins is that. As you can see in the play above, he makes four guys miss, three of whom were at or behind the line of scrimmage. Those plays just didn't exist last year at that position.

Against Coastal, Hawkins was credited with six missed tackles, forced by Pro Football Focus. Scotty Fox Jr. had five in ten games last year, and Nicco Marchiol had four in four games. There were a few other plays in this game against Coastal that probably resulted in a sack with most quarterbacks. Hawkins can bail you out, and he showed that on Saturday.

The efficiency on third down was extremely impressive. He created a level of comfort that, even on third down, you knew you still had a chance because he stays calm under pressure and can beat a defense in multiple ways. The numbers back that up.

On 3rd down against Coastal, Hawkins went a perfect was 8/8 for 108 yards, with five of those completions resulting in the chain gang moving the sticks. That's a lot of what we saw on tape in our summer film breakdown, particularly in that bowl game against Navy. Third down after third down, he'd find a way to keep the drive going.

I wouldn't expect much to change in this week's game against UT Martin. We'll likely see another heavy dose of run calls to continue to rep the living daylights out of the five starters up front so that they can be a well-oiled machine by the time Week 3 rolls around, while also not tipping their hand at what they want to accomplish in the passing game.

There is still a lot to learn about Hawkins and this offense as a whole, but they're off to a pretty good start, especially when you consider the nature of the conservative play-calling in the second half.

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