MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia already faces a tough task Thursday trying to establish its run game against Baylor without leading rusher CJ Donaldson.
Donaldson’s absence after entering concussion protocol for an injury sustained October 1 in a loss at Texas isn’t the only factor that’ll add to the challenge the Mountaineers face when they welcome the Bears for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Perhaps the toughest and unquestionably the biggest of those challenges comes in the form of Siaki Ika, Baylor’s 358-pound nose guard.
“He’s special. He’s not just a big guy,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “He is a monster of a man, but he’s agile and playing more plays in a row this year than he did last year. He was an all-conference player last year and he’s on his way to being that again. He’s a tough matchup 1-on-1. I’m not sure anybody’s had success blocking him in 1-on-1 situations yet. He takes up two gaps.”
Baylor (3-2, 1-1) boasts the second-best rush defense in the Big 12 Conference by surrendering slightly less than 97 yards per game on the ground. That mark is good for No. 18 nationally, behind only Iowa State among league teams, and three spots ahead of West Virginia, which has also been stingy against the run.
Much of the Bears’ success can be attributed to Ika, whose size, steady play and ability to cause havoc allows for the Bears to often slow opposing run games while employing a six-man box in favor of a more traditional seven-man box. That’s also a big benefit to the BU pass defense.
“They have really good answers,” Brown said. “It goes back to they can play the box one down. If you’re in 11 personnel, most people are trying to get the seventh hat down into the box where the defense has a numerical advantage. When you do that, you leave guys in 1-on-1 coverage. They’re good enough that when you’re in 11, they can play a six-man box and still control the run game, and therefore and you don’t have any 1-on-1s in the pass. This year, the way they’ve been successful is playing a man down in the box and still being able to control the run game.”
Ika made a major impact during his first season at Baylor in 2021 after transferring from LSU, where he was a member of the Tigers’ 2019 national champion team and played four games in 2020 before entering the transfer portal.
Last season, Ika was the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year as well as an All-Big 12 second-team selection. Over 13 games, he had 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and 25 tackles.
One of Ika’s better performances in his first season at Baylor came when the Bears had their way in a 45-20 victory against the Mountaineers. In that game, Ika had two sacks and three tackles and was a critical component of a Bears’ defense that surrendered 2.4 yards per rush.
“He was a big factor in our game last year,” Brown said. “The thing that stood out was he rushed the passer better than he had shown and had a good day with that.”
Ika’s statistics in 2022 — 11 tackles without a sack or TFL — don’t stand out, but are at least somewhat misleading, according to Brown. On top of playing a position that often draws double teams, Ika’s play makes it more attainable for teammates to make stops near or behind the line of scrimmage.
“There’s a difference between getting statistically rewarded and actually making a play,” Brown said. “There are so many times where [No.] 62 makes the play even though he’s not statistically rewarded. People run inside zone to him and he takes the double team. Most times double teams get a little bit of movement. He moves the double team backwards and then a linebacker makes the play. He made the play. He just didn’t get statistically rewarded.
“It’s the same thing in pass. He’ll take the center and move him back and kind of condense the pocket and then somebody else will fall in and make the sack, but he actually made the play even though he wasn’t statistically rewarded. He does his job as well as anybody does their job in our league. He’s a special player and he’s a problem.”
Ika will likely draw his fair share of double teams Thursday when the Mountaineers (2-3, 0-2) go after their first Big 12 win, though Zach Frazier’s primary responsibility as a blocker will be the Bears’ near immovable nose guard.
West Virginia’s sophomore center is listed at 306 pounds, and while the Fairmont native is likely to have help at times, Frazier is also regarded as the Mountaineers’ top offensive lineman.
”It’s a little bit of a chess match there, and it’s probably a challenge for Zach just like it’s a challenge for him, because they’re well aware our center is a good player, too,” Brown said. “We’re able to do some things in the run game because of his ability that other teams can’t. He man blocks a lot of things that other people don’t. It’s a matchup of strength on strength.”