MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia wanted to use Saturday’s game against Albany as an opportunity to get right following a disappointing showing in a season-opening loss to Penn State.
The Mountaineer offense did its part, scoring touchdowns on its first three and final four possessions to lead the way in a 49-14 victory before 50,043 at Mountaineer Field.
The result moves West Virginia to 1-1 ahead of the Backyard Brawl in Week 3 at Pitt and 22-0 all-time against FCS programs.
“Offensively, we really had three bad plays in the game,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said, “and the rest we showed what we’re capable of being.”
For as productive as the offense was, the WVU defense had its share of difficulty stopping the Great Danes after the opening quarter. Albany (1-1) finished with 374 total yards despite managing only 29 over its first three series.
“We have to play the ball downfield better,” Brown said, “and that’s evident.”
For the second straight week, West Virginia received the opening kickoff, and this time, it made the most of an early scoring opportunity. The Mountaineers moved 90 yards in 12 plays, converting fourth-and-1 from the Albany 17 on CJ Donaldson’s 3-yard run, and scoring two plays later on Jahiem White’s 14-yard run for a 7-0 lead 5:26 into the contest.
An Albany three-and-out enabled the Mountaineers to regain possession less than 1 minute later, and that amounted to a 76-yard drive that was capped by Garrett Greene’s first touchdown pass this season — a 12-yarder to wideout Justin Robinson.
“He has to continue to play within himself, and he did that,” Brown said of Greene.
WVU made it three touchdowns in as many series when Greene found tight end Kole Taylor in the middle of the field for a 39-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the second quarter.
After the teams exchanged punts, Albany began to develop an offensive rhythm on what marked its fourth possession. The Great Danes got a 19-yard pass from Myles Burkett to Seven McGee to convert on third-and-16, and two plays later, tailback Griffin Waddell reached the end zone on a 7-yard run.
While that allowed Albany to trail by 14, the Great Danes immediately forced the game’s only turnover when White had the ball punched out by Thomas Joe-Kamara at the end of his 36-yard run, and the fumble was recovered by Erv Wiggins at the Great Danes’ 36.
“Jahiem learned a hard lesson,” Brown said. “You have to hold the ball the right way.“
Shortly after the change of possession, Burkett had nice touch on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jacari Carter that allowed the visitors to close their deficit to 21-14 with 1:54 left in the half.
The Mountaineers answered with an important a six play, 75-yard drive, with more than half of the yardage output occurring on Greene’s 40-yard touchdown run 39 seconds before halftime.
WVU’s fourth touchdown enabled it to lead 28-14 at halftime, before the Great Danes threatened to draw closer on the opening drive of the second half.
Burkett found McGee for 41 yards on the first play of the third quarter, and after a 49-yard pass from Burkett to Levi Wentz on third-and-17, the Great Danes faced first-and-goal from the WVU 2.
“I didn’t think we played real fast back there,” Brown said of the secondary. “We have to figure out why that is. We did a much better job of getting aligned and handling their formations.”
An incomplete pass followed by a 1-yard run made it third-and-goal from the 1, and Burkett threw consecutive incompletions, the latter of which was a fade route toward McGee, who slipped and fell early into the play.
“That was just great defense,” defensive lineman Sean Martin said. “We have to continue to do that.”
WVU then regained control with a 99-yard drive. Donaldson’s 3-yard run on fourth-and-1 put the Mountaineers 6 yards outside the red zone, and one play after a horse collar penalty negated what would’ve been another fourth down, Greene connected with wideout Hudson Clement for a 10-yard TD pass at the 5:22 mark of the third.
“As a collective, we put that in our mindset that we were going to drive 99 yards and punch it in for a touchdown,” Donaldson said.
Donaldson’s 2-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 upped the advantage to 28 with 49 seconds in the third and finished off a drive that featured a 44-yard pass from Greene to receiver Jaden Bray.
Albany reached the red zone twice more, but came up empty both times after turning it over on downs. In between, WVU backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol made the most of his only series and led the Mountaineers on an 87-yard drive that he finished off with a 12-yard TD run.
“I don’t really who care scores, but it’s good for team morale,” Brown said. “In these games, you want to get guys touches and we did a good job of distributing the ball. Having seven guys score TDs is a positive because it rewards guys for working.”
Greene finished 17-for-23 with 236 yards and three touchdowns.
“After watching tape vs. Penn State, a huge point of emphasis [from quarterbacks coach Tyler Allen] this week was doing what I’m coached to do,” Greene said. “There were four or five plays last week where if I do what I’m coached to do I’m in the high 60s or 70s [completion percentage wise]. Really just tried to stick to the game plan and do what I’m coached to do.”
Donaldson led all rushers with 125 yards on 14 carries and White added 100 on 10 attempts. Greene was also a factor on the ground with 68 yards on seven runs as the Mountaineers totaled 305 yards on the ground.
Ten different WVU players caught at least one pass. Clement’s four catches were a team best, while Taylor’s 47 receiving yards led the Mountaineers.
Burkett finished 18-for-39 with 306 yards as the Great Danes had more passing yards than any previous FCS opponent of the Mountaineers.
McGee’s 90 receiving yards on four catches led all players.
Martin and TJ Jackson each recorded a sack in the victory.
WVU defensive lineman Edward Vesterinen left the game for good with an injury on Albany’s first scoring drive.
“He’ll probably be out a few weeks,” Brown said.
Mountaineer defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley was also shaken up when he took a hit on the sideline during the contest.
“He went about a series, maybe more where he didn’t call the defense and Sha’Don [Brown] called it,” Brown said. “He got hit extremely hard.”