What We Learned in WVU's Blowout Win Over UT Martin

There was no sweat today for the West Virginia Mountaineers, who blew out the UT Martin Skyhawks, 52-7, improving to 2-0 on the young season.

As always, here are my initial thoughts from today's game.

The concerns about the defense are valid

The Mountaineers pitched a shutout in the first half, but it was not the prettiest shutout by any means. The only forced one three-and-out, and gave up 246 total yards of offense. UT Martin had seven plays of 10 yards or more and two over 24 yards. Last week, keeping contain was the issue. In this one, it was misfitting gaps and poor tackling, combined with giving UTM receivers a TON of space to operate. It's two games, but eight quarters is a good measuring stick, particularly against inferior competition, to realize that there could be some huge problems on that side of the football.

The effort was much better and cleaner in the second half, but you could still see several players struggling to get lined up, knowing where they were supposed to be, etc.

I know everyone is going to want to pounce on Zac Alley, and I do agree that some of the issues are on him. Some of it, however, is just not having the dudes he needs to be competitive. WVU spent a good bit of NIL fixing the offense and not nearly as much on the defense. The depth concerns are certainly there, but the starting unit has some major problems as well. If this unit does not improve much, it's going to put a ton of pressure on the offense to put up points in bunches every week.

DJ Epps is going to be WR1 as a slot

I've talked about this being a possibility for a while now, and it seems as if it might actually come true. Jaden Bray has been silent in the first two games and with Prince Strachan out, Epps has become Mike Hawkins Jr.'s go-to target. He had big receptions of 53 and 59 yards in the first half, just flat-out running away from UTM defenders. And that's not just because of the level of the opponent. Epps is a dynamic playmaker who can reach pay dirt from anywhere on the field.

Mike Hawkins is already operating like an elite QB

No, I'm not saying this because he put up big numbers against an FCS team, but stars make it look easy against teams like this, and he certainly did that today. In his first two games as a Mountaineer, he is 16/21 for 287 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks. He's also added 199 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. He's looked super smooth in both starts, and I fully expect that to carry over into games against Power Four competition.

Patience needed with the offensive line

As stated last week, the unit is significantly better, but it's far from where they would like and need to be. It'll be interesting to see how West Virginia handles the physicality of Virginia's front seven next week, considering they didn't really dominate the trenches today and only had pockets of dominance in the opener against Coastal Carolina. The more reps they log, the better they will be. It's just going to take some time.

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