MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Quarterback Austin Kendall took plenty of lickings but kept on ticking in West Virginia’s 38-7 loss at Missouri.
During his Thursday night radio show, coach Neal Brown noted that Kendall had to get stitches on his throwing hand after getting hurt on the return of his first-quarter interception.
That was far from Kendall’s only uncomfortable moment against the Tigers.
“He got hit 20 times. It’s unfair to judge him til we do better around him,” Brown said. “Week 1 he had six drops. Last week he got hit 20 times. Can he play better? Yes. Has he been a negative? No.”
Kendall finished 15-of-25 for 137 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions at Missouri. Through two games, his 121.27 passer rating ranks and 62.7 completion percentage ranks 10th among the 11 qualifying quarterbacks in the Big 12.
Alston out 6-9 months
Brown said sophomore defensive end Taijh Alston won’t be able to resume football activities for the next 6-9 months after recovering from surgery for a torn patellar tendon.
“He was really down on Saturday. But I saw him Tuesday night after practice and he had a great spirit about him,” Brown said. “He’s a kid that will bounce back. He will have two or maybe even three productive years here.”
Alston suffered a season-ending injury as a true freshman at East Carolina before transferring to a Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Junior College.
Uniform update
The Mountaineers will wear old gold helmets, old gold jerseys and blue pants for Saturday’s annual Gold Rush game. It will be their first non-traditional look of the season.