ATHENS, Ohio — Rich Rodriguez proclaimed West Virginia had up to five quarterbacks he was comfortable playing in the lead up to the 2025 season.
On Saturday at Ohio, both Mountaineer signal-callers that saw action failed to produce.
West Virginia scored on two of 13 possessions, managed only a field goal over its last 11 series and did not score on its final six in a dismal offensive showing that led to a 17-10 loss to the Bobcats at Peden Stadium.
“Very disappointed. It starts with me,” Rodriguez said. “I thought we had a good week of practice and were ready to play, and we weren’t. A lot of things to work on. I knew there would be some growing pains. I’m going to do a better job and we’ll get better from this.”
Jahiem White’s 32-yard touchdown run on the Mountaineers’ second series provided WVU (1-1) with a lead at the 3:22 mark of the opening quarter, but White suffered what appeared to be a significant lower body injury in the second quarter that forced him off the field in a cart. WVU’s leading rusher each of the last two seasons did not return and finished with 40 yards on six rushes.
“It didn’t look good from the sidelines, but I haven’t talked to the medical staff, so I don’t know what’s going on,” Rodriguez said.
A 37-yard field goal from Brack Peacock with 1:07 to play in the first quarter provided Ohio (1-1) with its first points.
Peacock had a chance to bring his team closer on the Bobcats’ next series but missed from 38 yards, allowing the Mountaineers to maintain their four-point lead at that point.
When Ohio forced a punt and got the ball back for its next possession, the home team moved 71 yards over 12 plays and got a 1-yard touchdown run from Sieh Bangura for its first lead.
White’s injury occurred on the first play of WVU’s ensuing possession, a play in which the tailback tried to bounce a run outside and was dragged down from behind. Ohio was flagged for a horse collar penalty and face mask on the play, but the Mountaineers did not manage another first down on that series and were forced to punt it back.
The Bobcats then quickly moved 74 yards courtesy of a pass interference penalty, pass plays of 11 and 17 yards and another of 31 from Navarro to Chase Hendricks that provided OU with its second touchdown and a 17-7 advantage 1:19 before halftime.
“We came into this game knowing it was not going to be an easy task for us and we didn’t do what we needed to do,” WVU safety KK Tarnue said. “We have to learn from it and do better.”
Trailing by 10 to start the second half, the Mountaineers got a 45-yard pass from Nicco Marchiol to Cam Vaughn less than 2 minutes into the third quarter, but the series stalled in the red zone and ended with Kade Hensley’s 38-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit to seven.
That marked the final scoring play of the contest, but the Mountaineers weren’t without opportunities the rest of the way.
Darrian Lewis’ interception of Navarro on OU’s first second-half series positioned West Virginia at the OU 49, but the Mountaineers punted four plays later after failing to gain a yard.
While the Mountaineers surrendered one fourth-down conversion on Ohio’s next series, Ben Cutter picked off Navarro on the Bobcats’ next fourth down attempt, allowing WVU to regain possession at its 41.
Jaylen Henderson spelled Marchiol at quarterback for that possession and rushed for 8 yards over the first two plays, before Cyncir Bowers was dragged down for a 1-yard loss on third-and-2 from just shy of midfield.
Early into the fourth quarter, Navarro was intercepted for the third time in as many series — this time by linebacker Chase Wilson, who was brought down at the OU 49.
Henderson remained behind center for a second series and threw two incomplete passes before a holding penalty forced WVU into third-and-20. The Mountaineers ultimately punted again, failing to so much as pick up a first down after each of their three interceptions. Three three-play drives by WVU following each Ohio turnover netted minus-7 yards.
“It’s a team game,” Tarnue said . “We don’t point fingers at anybody. We have to keep doing our job and at the end of the day, it is what it is.“
Marchiol came back on for Henderson to start the Mountaineers’ second series of the fourth quarter and looked as though he might have a long completion to Vaughn inside the OU 5, but it was ruled incomplete and upheld following a review.
That possession ended two plays after the review with Marchiol’s 3-yard pass to Clay Ash on fourth-and-8 from the Bobcats’ 37.
“I tried to get a little spark, particularly maybe with some quarterback run stuff. It wasn’t Jaylen or Nicco’s fault,” Rodriguez said. “It’s more mine. We’ll evaluate the film, try to see what went wrong and what we can get better at.”
The Mountaineer defense came up with yet another second-half stop to give the offense the ball back at its 34 with 6:18 to play. In need of a touchdown to tie, WVU got to the Bobcats’ 41, was flagged for a false start and then saw Marchiol intercepted by Cam Hollobaugh, whose 21-yard return put OU at the WVU 47 with 3:13 left.
Navarro’s 10-yard run on third-and-9 allowed Ohio to run off much of what remained of the fourth-quarter clock, and by the time the Mountaineers got the ball back, they were without a timeout and needing to cover 73 yards in 17 seconds.
Three plays later, Marchiol was sacked by Anas Luqman on the game’s final play.
Eighty-nine of West Virginia’s 250 total yards came on its lone touchdown drive and 51 more came on the series that produced a field goal. WVU’s other 11 possessions consisted of a total of 43 plays for 110 yards.
Marchiol was 15-for-26 with 178 yards, while Henderson misfired on both passing attempts.
White’s 40 rushing yards were a team-high as WVU was held to 72 yards on 28 attempts.
Bray was also carted off the field with an injury and did not return.
“We got banged up a little bit,” Rodriguez said. “The guys are playing hard. The guys battled, but I want it to hurt and I think it hurts all of us for the next 24 hours or so. We know who’s next. We have to get to work and I have to get these guys ready to go and they’ll be ready to play next Saturday.“
Navarro completed 22-of-31 passes for 247 yards and rushed 18 times for 87 yards.
“There were times we kept him from going outside, but he’d duck inside and scramble,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a phenomenal playmaker and pretty dynamic.”
Bangura rushed 20 times for 66 yards and Hendricks had eight receptions for 121 yards.
OU gained 429 yards and 5.4 yards per play, amassing 79 total plays to WVU’s 56.
“We forced turnovers and we had plenty of opportunities,” Rodriguez said. “We missed a couple tackles here and there and gave up a couple things on third down, but they battled and played hard and played well enough for us to win. When you lose, everyone loses together. We’re going to take this and learn as much as we can from it.”