MORGANTOWN — At first glance, it would appear West Virginia’s week off from football proved beneficial in terms of the Mountaineers’ overall health.
There are still question marks offensively. Freshman running back C.J. Donaldson (concussion) has already been ruled out of Thursday’s game against Baylor.
WVU head coach Neal Brown confirmed Monday that tight end Mike O’Laughlin (leg) is still questionable after getting injured last week against Texas.
“I’ll kind of update him later in the week,” Brown said of O’Laughlin. “Everybody else should be available.”
That does not include senior defensive back Charles Woods, who injured his ankle in the season opener against Pitt and had surgery.
“Charles Woods is probably a week out,” Brown said, making Woods’ potential return on Oct. 22 at pass-happy Texas Tech.
Overall, WVU had four players receive concussions in the Texas game, but it appears Donaldson will be the only one of those held out against Baylor (3-2, 1-1 Big 12).
In terms of Donaldson’s absence, Tony Mathis Jr. and Justin Johnson Jr. will obviously be called on to do more in the running game.
Another name to watch will be freshman Jaylen Anderson, a highly-recruited prospect out of Ohio, who redshirted last season.
Anderson could see some action filling in at spots at running back.
As for tight end, if O’Laughlin is unable to return, Brown said freshman Treylan Davis would step in.
Checking on the secondary
Injuries against Texas forced last-minute shuffling in WVU’s secondary, a good reason for the Longhorns’ 336 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Brown said Rashad Ajayi was playing well until getting hurt in the second quarter.
That opened the door for redshirt freshman Andrew Wilson-Lamp.
“That was the best football he’s played,” Brown said. “We continue to grow his role. I think he’s somebody the more he plays, the better he’s going to be.”
Ajayi is back to face the Bears, but Wilson-Lamp will also see some playing time, as will junior-college transfer Jaylon Shelton.
Shelton is a relative new name to the Mountaineer’s secondary, mostly because he’s been trying to get healthy.
“He got healthy, and we’re going to give him some opportunities this week,” Brown said.
For the most part, though, there won’t by any radical changes in the rotation of players, meaning you’ll likely see a mixture of Ajayi and freshman Jacolby Spells, as well as Wesley McCormick and Wilson-Lamp.
“There’s not going to be a lot of moving pieces right now,” Brown said.
Scouting Baylor
Brown was quick to remind those listening the Bears are still the defending Big 12 champions, despite the fact Baylor is currently in sixth place in the league standings.
A couple of things have gained the attention of the WVU coaching staff, beginning with Baylor’s consistency.
“I think they’ve taken on the demeanor of Dave (Aranda, head coach),” Brown said. “They don’t get rattled and they’re very consistent.”
The Bears’ balance on offense is generally a 40-rush and 30-pass attempts per game, making Baylor one of the more balanced teams in the Big 12.
“It’s new for us, considering the teams we have played have been mostly run-heavy or pass-heavy,” WVU linebacker Jasir Cox said. “We need to look at everything this week. Their versatility at quarterback, it makes our job more difficult.”
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