WVU Throttles UT Martin, Moving to 2-0 for First Time Since 2018

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers moved to 2-0, using 525 yards of total offense to move past UT Martin on Saturday afternoon.

The Skyhawks (1-2) started with the ball and moved it past midfield, until finding themselves in a 4th-and-2 situation in plus territory before WVU made a huge stop to turn the ball over on downs to the Mountaineer offense.

It didn't take long for the Mountaineers' offense to show some explosives as Michael Hawkins Jr. found DJ Epps across the middle for a 53-yard touchdown.

West Virginia University receiver DJ Epps | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

After a quick three-and-out by UT Martin’s offense, Andrew Sordell blocked the Skyhawks punt to set the Mountaineers up with beautiful field position. The Mountaineers' ground game did the rest, as it was Cam Cook who punched the ball into the end zone from 2 yards out to make it 14-0 for West Virginia early in the first quarter.

The Skyhawks responded with a 48-yard burst from Chris Franklin Jr. After that explosive run, disaster struck again for the Skyhawks as defensive lineman Zeke Durham-Campbell forced a fumble on a quarterback keeper by UT Martin’s Julian Calves.

After the forced fumble, the Mountaineers' ground game continued to punish the Skyhawks' defense. Michael Hawkins Jr. brought the house down as he kept the ball himself and ran 71 yards untouched to the house to cap off a 4-play, 95-yard drive. With 5:27 still left to play in the first quarter, the Mountaineers were out to a 21-0 lead.

The Skyhawks had a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown wiped off the board for an illegal block early in the second quarter. UT Martin’s Makhia Sherrard broke several tackles on his way to the end zone, but the impressive play was not.

DJ Epps continued his dominance with a 59-yard reception to put the Mountaineers in the red zone. Hawkins Jr. did the rest as he scampered into the end zone from 5 yards out.

Sacks by Ashton Woods and Zeke Durham-Campbell thwarted a late drive by the Skyhawks, as the Mountaineers went into the half up 28-0.

Hawkins Jr. and the Mountaineers offense came out firing in the second half. A six-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 31-yard strike to tight end Ryan Ward.

The Mountaineers defense continued to stand strong into the second half. Linebacker Ashton Woods continued his strong day with a diving interception of Julian Calvez early in the third quarter.

Just two plays after the turnover, West Virginia continued to extend their lead through the ground game. Running back Amari Latimer burst through the line and went 29 yards to the end zone.

Scotty Fox entered the game at quarterback in the middle of the third quarter and helped West Virginia extend their lead to 45.

It was Jyron Hughley who came in to quarterback the West Virginia offense for the start of the fourth quarter. The true freshman wasted no time making his mark, leading a 10-play, 68-yard drive capped off by a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kedrick Triplett.

Max Brown came into the game at quarterback with just over four minutes left to play. It was shortly thereafter that the Mountaineers made their first monumental mistake of the game, as a botched handoff led to a scoop-and-score by UT Martin.

Sophomore quarterback Max Anderson took over at quarterback on the ensuing drive with just over three minutes to play. Anderson was not asked to do much, as West Virginia ran out the rest of the clock to pick up a 52-7 victory over the Skyhawks

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