September 2, 2018,
Head Coach Dana Holgersen stated the obvious late Saturday night, " I think we have a chance to score alot of points this year, i mean, alot of points"
Holgersen stopped short of saying this was the best offense he has coached in his career, but did insinuate they could be by saying " you know, i have had opportunity to coach some powerful offenses through the years and yeah, this one could be, well probably should end up on top of the list"
WVU had its share of hype offensively in the preseason and after only 1:34 of game action into the 2018 season it quickly lived up to the billing. QB Will Grier launched his Heisman campaign and SR season by hitting TJ Simmons on a 17 yard slant in middle of endzone to put the Mountaineers on the board. The play capped a four play 83 yard drive, highlighted by a Grier to David Sills 55 yard bomb on the games opening play .Evan Staleys extra point gave #20 WVU a 7-0 lead over the Volunteers .
The WVU defense gave up a couple first down runs on its first action of the season but forced a Tennessee punt that gave the EERS the ball back at thier own 26 yard line with just under 10 minutes to go, first quarter .Grier once again found Simmons, this time on a 13 yard strike. A false start pentalty made it first and 15 on the 34 yard line before Kennedy McCoy took a delayed handoff 53 yards to the Tenn 13 yard line. A quick dive by Martell Petteway took ball to 11 yard line before Grier and Sills hooked up again in corner of endzone, capping four play 74 yard drive in just 1:28 of action.
This was just the beginning of a record day for WVU as they would add 5 more first half TDs before a healthy flock of loyal fans and a national TV audience. Tennessee could muster only a kickoff return TD in 2nd quarter before heading to lockeroom down 49-6.
All told the WVU offense racked up 468 yards of total offense in first half with Grier completing 16 of 19 passes for 313 yards and 5 TDs before intermission. The ground game was efficient as well rolling up 155 yards on 17 carries, led by McCoys 10 carries for 106 yards and a score . The long awaited debut of Alec Sinkfield didnt dissapoint as the Freshman carried 4 times for 38 yards including a 22 yard sweep that set up a Grier to Gary Jennings 19 yard score .
Lost in the offensive onslaught was a dominant first half by the defensive unit as well .WVU surrendered just 109 yards to Tenn and just five first downs . The 2nd half proved just as entertaining as Grier would find Marcus Simms and David Sills on matching 58 yard scores before retiring to the bench with 2:58 to go in 3rd quarter .For the game Grier completed 23 of 30 passes for 469 yards and 7 TDs with no interceptions .
Jack Allison played final quarter plus at QB, completing 7 of 11 passes for 64 yards but did throw ill advised interception late in game .
The ground game continued to pound as game went on, finally churning out 256 yards on ground to give EERS 789 yards of total offense while possesing the ball just over 24 minutes in game .
McCoy finished with 14 totes for 125 yards while Sinkfield added 113 on just 7 carries .In total, 11 players caught at least one pass on the day, led by Jennings and Simmons with 7 catches each and one TD .All-American David Sills hauled in 6 passes for 189 yards and three TDs .
The defense continued its dominance in 2nd half giving up just 299 yards of total offense and keeping Tenn out of endzone until mass substitution patterns allowed a couple late scores by Tenn. David Long led the squad with 15 tackles, Kenny Robinson added 10 and a interception .The Stills brothers, Darrius and Dante combined for back to back sacks in third quarter, part of WVUs 8 sacks on the day .
Though coach H acknowledged the teams play " i didnt see a whole lot that went wrong tonight" he cautioned fans to maintain thier composure because there is 12 games to go, but added " i am just as excited as any fan to see where this team can go"
With a 77- 20 win over Tenn, it seems the sky may not be the limit.
WVU hosts Youngstown State, Saturday in Morgantown while Tenn has week off .Coach Jeremy Pruitt, while obviously disappointed, added this " we are young, but will get better each week" and about his opponent today " what you were watching today was a team that barring major injury, may run the table and set records that most people dont know exist
Head Coach Dana Holgersen stated the obvious late Saturday night, " I think we have a chance to score alot of points this year, i mean, alot of points"
Holgersen stopped short of saying this was the best offense he has coached in his career, but did insinuate they could be by saying " you know, i have had opportunity to coach some powerful offenses through the years and yeah, this one could be, well probably should end up on top of the list"
WVU had its share of hype offensively in the preseason and after only 1:34 of game action into the 2018 season it quickly lived up to the billing. QB Will Grier launched his Heisman campaign and SR season by hitting TJ Simmons on a 17 yard slant in middle of endzone to put the Mountaineers on the board. The play capped a four play 83 yard drive, highlighted by a Grier to David Sills 55 yard bomb on the games opening play .Evan Staleys extra point gave #20 WVU a 7-0 lead over the Volunteers .
The WVU defense gave up a couple first down runs on its first action of the season but forced a Tennessee punt that gave the EERS the ball back at thier own 26 yard line with just under 10 minutes to go, first quarter .Grier once again found Simmons, this time on a 13 yard strike. A false start pentalty made it first and 15 on the 34 yard line before Kennedy McCoy took a delayed handoff 53 yards to the Tenn 13 yard line. A quick dive by Martell Petteway took ball to 11 yard line before Grier and Sills hooked up again in corner of endzone, capping four play 74 yard drive in just 1:28 of action.
This was just the beginning of a record day for WVU as they would add 5 more first half TDs before a healthy flock of loyal fans and a national TV audience. Tennessee could muster only a kickoff return TD in 2nd quarter before heading to lockeroom down 49-6.
All told the WVU offense racked up 468 yards of total offense in first half with Grier completing 16 of 19 passes for 313 yards and 5 TDs before intermission. The ground game was efficient as well rolling up 155 yards on 17 carries, led by McCoys 10 carries for 106 yards and a score . The long awaited debut of Alec Sinkfield didnt dissapoint as the Freshman carried 4 times for 38 yards including a 22 yard sweep that set up a Grier to Gary Jennings 19 yard score .
Lost in the offensive onslaught was a dominant first half by the defensive unit as well .WVU surrendered just 109 yards to Tenn and just five first downs . The 2nd half proved just as entertaining as Grier would find Marcus Simms and David Sills on matching 58 yard scores before retiring to the bench with 2:58 to go in 3rd quarter .For the game Grier completed 23 of 30 passes for 469 yards and 7 TDs with no interceptions .
Jack Allison played final quarter plus at QB, completing 7 of 11 passes for 64 yards but did throw ill advised interception late in game .
The ground game continued to pound as game went on, finally churning out 256 yards on ground to give EERS 789 yards of total offense while possesing the ball just over 24 minutes in game .
McCoy finished with 14 totes for 125 yards while Sinkfield added 113 on just 7 carries .In total, 11 players caught at least one pass on the day, led by Jennings and Simmons with 7 catches each and one TD .All-American David Sills hauled in 6 passes for 189 yards and three TDs .
The defense continued its dominance in 2nd half giving up just 299 yards of total offense and keeping Tenn out of endzone until mass substitution patterns allowed a couple late scores by Tenn. David Long led the squad with 15 tackles, Kenny Robinson added 10 and a interception .The Stills brothers, Darrius and Dante combined for back to back sacks in third quarter, part of WVUs 8 sacks on the day .
Though coach H acknowledged the teams play " i didnt see a whole lot that went wrong tonight" he cautioned fans to maintain thier composure because there is 12 games to go, but added " i am just as excited as any fan to see where this team can go"
With a 77- 20 win over Tenn, it seems the sky may not be the limit.
WVU hosts Youngstown State, Saturday in Morgantown while Tenn has week off .Coach Jeremy Pruitt, while obviously disappointed, added this " we are young, but will get better each week" and about his opponent today " what you were watching today was a team that barring major injury, may run the table and set records that most people dont know exist
