Morgantown, Wv—With everything swirling around college football some thought this day would never come. WVU had to stop all football operations six months prior due to Covid-19.
The Mountaineers looked unfazed by it all when they ran on the field. WVU got their first victory of the season by cruising by Eastern Kentucky 56-10 in front of a very small crowd (parents and family of the team) at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Mountaineers had 10 rushes over 10+ yards, after having only 25 all of last season. The five rushing touchdowns is only two short of what WVU muster last season. The four touchdowns are the most since the Oklahoma game in 2018.
West Virginia elected to receive the ball after the coin toss and it was the Leddie Brown show after that. The stealth running back opened the drive with a 38-yard run and then finished it off with a 10-yard gallop to pay-dirt three plays later.
Following a three-and-out from EKU, West Virginia went into over drive on offense. The Mountaineers starting quarterback Jarret Doege spread the field out by hitting different wide receivers with ease, including true freshmen Sam Brown and Reese Smith both caught their first receptions of their college career, as the team trucked down the field, ultimately hitting Brown for a 15-yard touchdown for a 14-0 quick lead.
Sam James got into the record book with his first touchdown reception of the season. It came in the opening minutes of the 2nd quarter with a 32-yard dart from Jarret Doege, giving WVU a 21-0 lead. Shortly after that the Colonels got on the board with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Parker McKinney to Keyion Dixon. The drive lasted just five plays and took 2:10 ticks off the clock.
On the Mountaineers’ first offensive possession of the second quarter, Doege hit a wide open Sam James for a 32-yard touchdown. Eastern Kentucky (0-2) was able to get their offense going with a score on the next drive, cutting the lead to 21-7 but there were still plenty of football to play.
The Mountaineers played well on both sides of the ball, also in the second quarter WVU defense produced their first turnover of the season with an athletic play by safety Alonzo Addae on the sideline intercepting McKinney.
The Mountaineers turn the turnover into points with a four-play scoring drive, toting the ball on the ground with Brown as he sprinted in for his third score of the day (2nd rushing) from eight yards out. With less than a minute before the break, the Mountaineers scored again with an 8-yard TD pass to sophomore Bryce Ford-Wheaton.
West Virginia led at the half, 42-7.
In the beginning of the second half EKU managed to kick a field goal, then WVU put together a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped off by a 17-yard TD scamper by Alec Sinkfield.
Backup quarterback Austin Kendall replaced Doege at the start of the second half and went 3/6 for 43 yards for the game. With the score at 49-10, Neal Brown got true freshman quarterback Garrett Greene into the game for some live action.
WVU ‘s running backs Leddie Brown and Alec Sinkfield provided the Mountaineers all the firepower the needed to put away the Colonels. They combined for nearly 250 yards and ultimately helped West Virginia to rack up 56 points.
The contest was almost entirely in favor of the Mountaineers from the start, after winning the opening coin toss West Virginia (1-0) came out firing on all cylinders on every aspect of the game.
Jarret Doege finished the game 19-of-25 passing for 228 yards and three touchdowns.
WVU power back Leddie Brown finished the game with 10 carries for 123 yards along with three touchdowns and ran the ball with vengeance punishing the EKU defenders.
The Mountaineers will hit the game field again on Sept. 26 after a week off, taking on the No. 15 Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater.
