Mountaineers Dominate In 2014 Home Opener, 54-0 Over Towson

The Mountaineers got off to a slow start, sort of. They were able to move the ball up and down the field on Towson's defense. But as they got close to the goal line, the Tiger defense stiffened up and was able to hold West Virginia out of the end zone two out of  the first three drives. But the fact that WVU got into the red zone in each of their first three drives was a plus.

At the same time the defense was stingy for WVU. Towson was able to string a few fist downs together. But they never were a threat to put points on the board. When their drives stalled, the Tigers did go for it on a couple 4th down plays. One was a fake punt that WVU was all over. It was also the last offensive play of note for Towson.

If the first quarter put any doubt in the minds of Mountaineer fans that this was going to be a one sided game, the second quarter left no doubt. Three West Virginia drives ended in touchdowns, the fourth ended the first half. Most impressive of the three was the touchdown from Trickett to Mario Alford in which Alford couldn't pull the ball in as he battled for the jump ball. But as he was falling to the ground, he was able to reel the ball in for one of the most circus catches imaginable.

Kevin White and Jordan Thompson caught pretty much everything thrown their way. The duo combined for 15 catches, 150 plus yards and a touchdown. And overall, 10 different Mountaineers had at least one catch. The guy spreading most of those passes around, Clint Trickett was 35/40 for 348 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a pretty quarterback keeper for a rushing touchdown.

The second half was mostly what you would expect with WVU keeping the starters in for most of the third quarter and substituting 2nd stringers hear and there. Normally this is where the game recap would end. But as had been a rumor, William Crest came in when Clint Trickett was done for the day. The highly touted freshman quarterback looked mostly like a freshman quarterback at times. But he also show some flashes of what is to come in years to come. It's also significant in that he must be second on the quarterback depth chart. And if that's the case, the experience is valuable should anything happen to Trickett.

The game ended as a 54-0 win for the Mountaineers. It was the first shutout for West Virginia since Central Carolina in Holgorsen's first year. The coach was again very complimentary of the team, noting the good week of preparation despite the competition drop off from Alabama. Next up, Maryland.