WVU football’s offensive line played ‘solid’ in 1st game playing together
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia football's offensive line had a lot of problems in 2025. The Mountaineers allowed the second-most sacks in the Big 12 and tied the program single-game record for most sacks in a game against UCF. Rich Rodriguez spent the offseason doing his best to fix the offensive line, which included bringing offensive line coach Rick Trickett and multiple transfers from all different schools.
The only problem was that with so much change, there was a chance the offensive line played similar to last year because last year also had an offseason with new players and new staff.
This offensive line was a lot more experienced and more talented. They might not have started at WVU, but they have started somewhere. He wasn't really nervous because he knew Trickett would get them into shape, but Rodriguez was still a bit anxious about whether they could work together.
He couldn't tell too much immediately after the game; he needed to watch the film. Now, a few days after the Coastal Carolina game, Rodriguez could properly evaluate the offensive line.
"Thought they played hard," Rodriguez said. "There were a couple of missed assignments here and there. But for the first game together for all five of them or six of them, I thought it was a pretty solid effort. I think they'll grow from this one as well."
The offensive line, especially in the first half, was really dominant. The front five helped the Mountaineers rush for 281 yards and three touchdowns in the game. WVU allowed just one sack the whole game, too. There were times when quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. could get to multiple different reads. He wasn't hurried the entire game.
The most worrisome part was whether the offensive line was going to get on the same page with communication. The line needed to pick up free rushers and pull block when needed.
Prior to the game, the offensive line spent a lot of the offseason getting to know each other, so for the first game, the communication wasn't an issue.
"The communication was well," offensive lineman Amare "Bubba" Grayson said. "This is a different atmosphere from where everybody has been at, so there's a little communication issues at first, but we got better over time throughout the game."
In the second half, the front five was really tested. Coastal Carolina started to stack the box, meaning the offensive line was outnumbered. WVU definitely struggled creating holes and the rushing attack only picked up 58 yards.