West Virginia defense with strong debut

The West Virginia defense certainly took care of business in the season opener.

The Mountaineers held Robert Morris to just three points and only 123 total yards. That included limiting the Colonials to just 53 yards on 37 carries or 1.4 yards per tote.

Coordinator Zac Alley’s unit permitted just 2.1 yards per play and controlled the line of scrimmage with eight tackles for loss and four sacks on top of that.

The unit was particularly effective on first down holding the Colonials to just 58 yards on 23 plays which helped to keep them behind the sticks. Overall, Robert Morris converted just 3 of 15 third down attempts at an average of 8.3 yards per try and had eight total three and outs.

In fact, one of the only downsides for the unit is that they gave up a pair of third and longs. But overall, a solid day at the office on a unit with a lot of different pieces forcing two turnovers.

“They couldn’t run the ball and our front did a good job of getting the guy on the ground,” Head Coach Rich Rodriguez said. “I thought we tackled pretty well and they’re not an explosive team but at the same time you know I felt the whole time during the game that the defense was going to be okay.”

Offer Alert

Fall camp is here and there’s no better time to sign up with us to get all your WVU intel! Sign up today – $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic included. Join – http://gowvu.us/Join

Wondering what other WVU fans are saying?

Head to The Blue Lot and jump into the discussion →