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WVU shakes off ugly start, rolls in Rich Rod’s return

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez talks to quarterback Nicco Marchiol during the first half an NCAA college football game against Robert Morris, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Morgantown, W.Va. (Ron Rittenhouse/The Dominion-Post via AP)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There was a lot of anticipation for West Virginia’s 2025 season. Rich Rodriguez was back, after 18 years, and looked to pick up where he left off, bringing WVU back into the ranks. It wasn’t as clean as Rodriguez had hoped.

The Mountaineers still bested Robert Morris 45-3 Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t up to the caliber of a win over an FCS opponent that it should’ve been.

Rodriguez talked a lot in the offseason about his non-negotiables, and the biggest was negative plays. A negative play is anytime the ball goes backwards, rather than forward. WVU had a lot of going backward Saturday afternoon.

The Mountaineers turned the ball over four times and were penalized nine times for 69 yards. A lot of times, WVU left points on the field. It could’ve been a lot more lopsided.

Jacksonville State transfer Cam Vaughn hurdled a defender into the red zone, but after a couple of steps, fumbled the ball into the end zone for a touchback. Then, WVU was lined up to go for it in the second half, and had to change plans after the right tackle false-started.

Despite being held back by negative plays and a 10-3 lead at half, WVU did roll in the end and had a couple of solid drives.

“The penalties are really frustrating,” Rodriguez said. “I was more frustrated with that because of that lack of discipline. We’re going to get that fixed right away. We have to correct the penalties. Obviously correct the turnovers.”

Quarterback Nicco Marchiol received the nod to start and led the Mountaineers on a very Rodriguez-like opening drive. It was fast, assertive and effective. In 3:22 minutes, Marchiol marched WVU down the field for an 83-yard drive, capped off with a 10-yard quarterback keeper.

There was only one negative play on the whole drive, a negative one-yard rush. The tempo was so fast, Robert Morris used a timeout just outside of the red zone.

Marchiol was perfect through the first five passes.

The second drive out of the locker room was similar. Marchiol marched WVU down the field for a nine-play, 64-yard drive, ending in a 1-yard Jahiem White carry. White’s touchdown made it 17-3 with 11:21 left in the third.

“Jahiem ran hard,” Rodriguez said. “I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get him loose for some longer runs.”

Most of the offense came on the ground. White was the primary back and rushed 18 times for 93 yards and two scores. Running back Clay Ash tagged in a couple of times, but wasn’t as productive as White, who was WVU’s leading rusher last year.

Even Marchiol was effective with his legs, too. He took off 13 times for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Marchiol was pretty efficient through the air. Very quickly, it was clear, at least in Week 1, that Vaughn was Marchiol’s favorite target. Despite the fumble into the end zone, Vaughn had one of the better days for the team. He hauled in seven passes for 127 yards and had a readjusting deep catch for 46 yards, which was the highlight of the day. The touchdown put WVU up 31-3, with 13:52 left in the game.

In his first start of 2025, Marchiol went 17-for-20 for 224 yards and a touchdown to Vaughn. After the deep throw to Vaughn, Marchiol’s day was over, to get in some of the other quarterbacks.

“He’s a gritty player,” Rodriguez said. “All the quarterbacks run pretty good. They’re all willing runners, but Nicco’s a competitive guy. He’ll do what he’s got to do to win the game.”

Henderson was the second quarterback to hit the field. He handed the ball off to Cyncir Bowers for a 26-yard touchdown, making it 38-3. Henderson showed his speed on the ground, too. He ran for 54 yards on six carries. Young quarterbacks Scotty Fox and Khalil Wilkins both saw action late into the game.

The debut of defensive coordinator Zac Alley’s defense didn’t have it too difficult. Robert Morris dropped multiple passes and fumbled the ball itself, but was very dominant all day, bailing the offense out when it turned the ball over. Alley’s defense held the Colonials to 123 yards and had four sacks, which was a point of emphasis for Alley this season.

With the help of the defense and an offensive surge in the second half, Rodriguez’s squad took care of business in his return to Morgantown. But, there are plenty of things to clean up before Ohio in Week 2.

“We’ll take the win and learn from it,” Rodriguez said. “Obviously, there are a lot of things to clean up and fix. But, there are a lot of guys playing for the first time, and there are a lot of things we have to do as a staff to be better next week.”

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