West Virginia will take the field in Athens against Ohio on Saturday afternoon looking to build on a dominant Week 1 performance.
West Virginia routed Robert Morris 45-3 last weekend while running for 393 yards and five touchdowns. Eleven different players had at least one carry for the Mountaineers. Jahiem White led the attack with 93 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Despite the win, however, West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said he wants to see a cleaner performance on Saturday.
“We obviously didn’t play well at all in the first half; West Virginia beating West Virginia,” Rodriguez said of his team, which was ahead only 10-3 at halftime. “There were some things we did OK, but we weren’t playing like we should have.”
Most experts picked West Virginia to finish toward the bottom of the Big 12 standings. A 2-0 beginning to the season would bring a positive start to the second Rodriguez era in Morgantown. He also coached the Mountaineers from 2001-07, going 60-26.
For Ohio, the Bobcats entered this season with high expectations and were picked to finish third in the MAC coaches preseason poll.
Ohio nearly upset Rutgers as a 15-point underdog in the opener on Aug. 28 but came up short, 34-31.
Despite the loss, Bobcats quarterback Parker Navarro was named MAC offensive player of the week. He finished the game 21 of 31 for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Rodriguez referred to Navarro as “one of the best quarterbacks in the nation.” But Ohio coach Brian Smith said he is aware of the challenges of going against a Power 4 conference team.
“Some of the tempo stuff on offense is going to be challenging,” Smith said. “Offensively for us, they are very multiple; they’re going to give you a lot of different looks. There’s a lot that they give you that you gotta handle at the line of scrimmage.”