[2023] WVU Rides Stellar Defense in Upset over Iowa State

[smackemz]

WVU's Chad Dolis walks in for a Touchdown against Iowa State

Ames - In what many around the country would classify as an upset.  The West Virginia Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2) would ride a a fantastic defensive performance to an upset of Iowa State (4-2, 2-2).  In an ultimate showing of bend, but don't break - the Mountaineers would hold ISU to 180 total yards of offense, 50 which would come on one play, while only recording 2 tackles for loss in the game.  On top of the relative lack of tackles in the backfield, the WVU defense would also only force 1 turnover on the day.  The turnover would occur when (Fr) Defensive End Robert Cabrel would snuff out a screen pass, stepping in front of Iowa State's Johnny Young to secure the interception.  Senior Miguel Cortes would pace the Mountaineer defense with 4 tackles, 1 TFL, and a sack on the day.  In the post game presser, smackemz would highlight the effectiveness of the defensive unit, "It was really impressive how we were able to dominate from a fundamental standpoint.  While we didn't have many tackles in the backfield, we had a ton of tackles that limited them to 2 or 3 yards at a time.  I was impressed with our coverage as well.  We kept their passing accuracy to a really low percentage and their yards per attempt around 3."  

The Iowa State offense was not the only offense to struggle in the game, as unable to capitalize often on their defensive play only scoring 14 on the day.  "Overall we need to continue to improve on the offensive side of the ball, coming in we knew it was going to be a difficult task to move the ball on the ISU defense.  I was happy that we were able to do that somewhat, but we have to be able to take more advantage of our opportunities."  One of the bright spots for the Mountaineers was the play of (Fr) Michael March-Lillard, who would turn in his best game of the season with 79 yards on 9 carries.  "MML really showed some of the athleticism flashes that we've been excited to see this season, one of the highlights in his recruitment was how fast he was once he got to the second level."  (Fr) QB Dzanan Reid also threw for 2 touchdowns and nearly 300 yards against the stellar cyclone defense.  

There are no off days in the Big XII though - the Mountaineers will turn around and face the #19 ranked Houston Cougars in Morgantown.  "Got another tough game against Houston coming up, we're going to have to continue to improve on offense if we want to win that game."  Houston comes off a 24-20 victory over the Texas Longhorns in Austin.  They have talent across the board, so it'll be another game where the young Mountaineers have a chance to show everyone they are trending in the right direction.

 

WVU Inks Offensive Guard Shaun OBin

Continuing the weekend good news for WVU.  Coach Smackems announced they have received a commitment from 4* Offensive Guard Shaun Obin.  The Clairton, Pennsylvania native is considered to be a consensus top 100 recruit in the class  and continues to show the commitment the Mountaineers are placing in the trenches.  Obin had narrowed down his top choices to rivals WVU and Pitt, so it feels extra good for Mountaineer fans to see his commitment to West Virginia.  With the commitment of Shaun Obin this brings WVU's current class to 6 signings, 5 of which we highlighted a few weeks ago.