Offensive Line Struggles Doom Offense Against Missouri
Blocking was an issue for WVU against James Madison in the opening game of the season and even the most optimistic of WVU fans could not have said otherwise. There was a reason for hope. With three new starters with a game under their belt, in addition to two returning all-conference performers, that improvements would be made against the Missouri Tigers in Week 2. That did not happen.
It was a brutal showing from the Mountaineer front which saw some shuffling after the opening win over JMU. Josh Sills got the start at center against the Dukes after moving from right guard but shifted back to his original position in Columbia with Chase Behrndt reinstalled over the ball. While it may have been designed to sure up those interior positions, the performance of the offensive line was arguably worse than it was against James Madison.
In Week 1, WVU struggled to find running lanes. Today, the backs had a hard time even getting back to the line of scrimmage. No running back had more than Alec Sinkfield's nine carries. Sinkfield also led the team with 27 yards on the ground, most of which came with the Mountaineers down 30+ points in the fourth quarter. Leddie Brown once again did not play due to an ankle injury so the majority of the carries went to Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway. McKoy carried the ball seven times and was able to gain a total of 1 yard. Pettaway got six touches and went backward, even more, finishing with -6 yards from scrimmage. The Missouri defense came up with a whopping 12 tackles for loss against the WVU offense while bottling up what is arguably the most talented position group on the WVU roster.
It cannot be denied that the WVU backs have talent. Mountaineer fans saw that throughout last season. However, if they have nowhere to go once they get the ball in their hands, they will not have any chance to be successful. This is not an indictment of the linemen themselves. This is not an indictment of Neal Brown and offensive line coach Matt Moore. This is not even an indictment of Dana Holgerson and Joe Wickline. This is an indictment of the fact that West Virginia has arguably one of the strongest stables of running backs in the Big 12 and that talent is going to be wasted. Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway are seniors. This season is their last opportunity to impress professional scouts and if something does not change before the year is out, two very talented football players will be longshots to have even a chance to play at the next level.
Pass protection has not even been brought up yet. Austin Kendall did not have his best day. That was clear to anyone who watched the game. However, by the end of the first half, Missouri's front seven was living inside the WVU backfield. Kendall was sacked three times, hurried once, and flushed out of the pocket countless times throughout the sixty minutes of play today. Nearly every passing situation, the Tigers pinned their ears back and brought heavy pressure. More than once, Missouri pass rushers came in untouched to force Kendall to get the ball out quickly or lose yardage. Inexperience is an issue, but missed assignments were much larger, concerning trouble that was evident throughout the game.
WVU is breaking in three new starters on the offensive line. That is difficult to do at any level. Mike Brown didn't play football in high school. Chase Behrndt starting playing center in March. Kelby Wickline saw the staff that recruited him and included his own father pack up and leave town seemingly overnight. Growing pains are going to happen but the performance against Missouri did not seem symptomatic of growing pains. This was the performance of a group that was overmatched and embarrassed by a defense that allowed 37 points to Wyoming a week ago. The sky isn't falling for WVU but with Colton McKivitz set to graduate and Josh Sills a draft-eligible junior, someone is going to have to emerge upfront if the Mountaineers don't want to spend years rebuilding their offensive front.
