Coastal Carolina QB Deuce Bailey lights up WVU’s defense in second half
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MORGANTOWN -- The fireworks went off, and the game was over. West Virginia secured its first win of the season over Coastal Carolina. Rich Rodriguez shook hands, but he was really looking for one player.
"Where is Deuce Bailey?" Rodriguez shouted.
Rodriguez did his television interview, but he still had his mind on looking for the quarterback. Finally, with the help of Mountaineer staffers, Bailey met with Rodriguez. The two exchanged a couple of words, but the main sentence made out was:
"I don't want to see you again," Rodriguez joked.
Bailey led the Chanticleers on a late comeback that ultimately came up short against West Virginia, 31-24. Bailey and Coastal Carolina scored 24 points and had 311 yards of offense in the second half.
Bailey is a redshirt freshman and was in a quarterback battle with veteran JUCO transfer Tre Guerra up until kickoff. Ultimately, Bailey received the nod after playing in three games at Missouri State for new Coastal Carolina head coach Ryan Beard.
Bailey threw for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. He led the game in passing, throwing for 373 yards, and completed 21 for 37 passes and three touchdowns.
"That little quarterback, I told him after the game, Deuce, he played his tail off," Rodriguez said. “Ran all over the place and made a lot of plays."
Unlike the Mountaineers, Bailey didn't have a lot of designed runs. There were multiple times where WVU had a free rusher on Bailey, but they broke contain, and Bailey used his speed to scamper for a gain or keep his eyes downfield to hit his receivers.
In the fourth quarter, Bailey was flushed out of the pocket to extend the play, and connected with Jaden Allen-Hendrix for 33 yards. The next play, Bailey threw for a touchdown to make it 31-21 with under two minutes left.
"He’s a pretty speedy quarterback," defensive tackle Nate Gabriel said. "Got out the pocket really well, running around."
Bailey also took advantage of what looked to be the Mountaineers’ secondary playing soft coverage. WVU's secondary was really hurt by the big passing plays in 2025, and with a lead, the Mountaineers didn't want to take any chances. Bailey wasn't afraid to hit his receivers for five yards while the secondary was giving up cushion.
The Chanticleers averaged 17.8 yards per completion.
WVU's defense had Bailey somewhat contained in the first half. Bailey, still getting his footing, had just 80 passing yards, and Coastal Carolina didn't register a point. And, even in the second half, WVU's pass rush sacked Bailey five times. The Mountaineers also had nine tackles for loss.
"We came out first half playing like what West Virginia," Gabriel said. "Came back second half, didn’t find that."
WVU held the Chanticleers rushing attack at bay the entire game. The Mountaineers’ rushing defense was middle of the pack in the Big 12 in 2025, and was an area defensive coordinator Zac Alley looked to improve with added size, and it showed. Coastal Carolina had 52 yards on the ground, keeping in mind sacks count as negative rushing yards in college, and averaged 1.9 yards per carry. WVU also forced the ball carrier to fumble three times and landed on two of them.
But with the breakdowns in coverage and not containing, Bailey made the game close in the end.
"They came at it a little harder," Gabriel said. "Wanted it more. Wanted to win."
Rodriguez didn't get into specifics, but he said the pass coverage, pass rusher and more needed to be corrected. Rodriguez said effort isn't an issue, at least from instant analysis, which is good. Once he watches tape, he can figure out why Bailey was so effective.
"Nothing’s easy to fix, but there are some things that should be relatively easy to fix," Rodriguez said. "We did not do that in the second half. We’ll get that corrected before the sun goes down."