Monday, September 2, 2019

As Neal Brown Era Officially Begins, WVU Holds on to Defeat JMU

Photo Credit: Ben Queen of USA Today Sports

The West Virginia Mountaineers continued their streak of winning home openers by defeating the James Madison Dukes Saturday, 20-13.

Coach Neal Brown, who was happy to win his debut as WVU’s 35th head coach, had this to say on the AT&T SportsNet broadcast following the game: “We won the game, it was ugly at times, about 65% of our guys hadn’t been out here before.”

Though James Madison is an FCS school, they were only seven point underdogs coming into the match up with WVU, according to DraftKings. JMU was also ranked second in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25.

Offensively, the Mountaineers were unable to mount much in the running game, rushing for just 34 total yards. Quarterback Austin Kendall completed 27 of 42 passes for 260 yards, adding two touchdowns in his WVU debut.

WVU was able to avoid turning the ball over, a key difference in the game, Brown said. Also key, according to Brown, was special teams’ play, including a blocked field goal by defensive back Darius Stills. 


Junior receiver Tevin Bush was certainly key in the Mountaineers’ win. Bush caught four balls for 74 yards, including a 41-yard gainer in the second half that Brown called “as big a play as there was in the game.” Bush also caught one of two touchdowns on the day from Kendall, a 22-yard reception.


Florida State transfer George Campbell caught the other touchdown for WVU, a 28-yard reception that put the Mountaineers ahead in the second half.

Defensively, WVU held the Dukes to 328 yards and forced three turnovers as a team. The WVU defense racked up six tackles-for-loss (TFLs) and four sacks. Dante Stills, Darius Stills, Reuben Jones and Taijh Alston each were able to bring down DiNucci.

However, dual-threat quarterback Ben DiNucci forced the Mountaineers to tighten up mid-game. DiNucci ran for 36 yards (with a long of 22) to go with 156 yards through the air.

“We just missed plays right at the line,” said Defensive Coordinator Vic Koenning, regarding various missed tackles.

Sophomore linebacker Josh Chandler led the way with 14 total tackles for WVU.

Senior cornerback Keith Washington Jr. made perhaps the biggest play on his respective side when he intercepted DiNucci in the third quarter. The pick set up the drive which would eventually give WVU a 20-10 advantage.

Regarding Austin Kendall’s performance as WVU’s starting quarterback, Brown said: “You look back on it, and he won the game,” adding, “I thought he handled the end of game situations really well.”

"We’ve got to get better at the deep ball, some of that was because he (Kendall) was so amped up he overthrew it,” Brown said.

Regarding the seemingly stagnant run game, Brown says: “We’ve got to block better, we’ve got to be creative and create space.” “We’ve got some guys up there that are playing new roles and spots,” Brown adds, regarding the offensive line.

Senior offensive lineman Colton McKivitz is one of those guys with a new role/spot, moving from right to left tackle.

“Next week is definitely a bigger challenge for us, it’s an SEC defense, it’s kind of the big boys’ time,” says McKivitiz, regarding WVU’s next game against Missouri. “We’re going to have to grow up pretty quick up front over this week and fix those things that need to be corrected,” he adds.

WVU (1-0) will travel to Missouri (0-1) next to play the Tigers on Saturday, September 7th. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

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