MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Controlling the line of scrimmage had largely been a sore spot for West Virginia through eight games.
At least for one week, the narrative changed in the Mountaineers’ 45-35 win at then-No. 22 Houston last Saturday.
“We certainly played a little bit better,” WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “A point of emphasis has been coming off the ball a little bit better for our o-line, tight ends, wideouts — everybody on offense. I thought we did that to some degree. We came off the ball a little better, ran a little harder, blocked a little better on the perimeter, so that all helped.”
West Virginia set the tone up front early and often, marching 75 yards over 12 plays to produce a touchdown on its opening drive for the first time this season against FBS competition. Nine of the 12 plays were rushes and amassed 57 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown run from true freshman quarterback Scotty Fox Jr.
The Mountaineers’ second possession tied for their second longest drive of the season as they covered 89 yards in 10 plays and took a 14-0 lead on a 21-yard touchdown run from tailback Cyncir Bowers.
The only pass on that possession was a 26-yard completion from Fox to wideout Rodney Gallagher III. Otherwise, WVU rushed nine times for 63 yards.
Through two series, both of which resulted in touchdowns, WVU had 18 rushes for 120 yards and Fox had completed 4-of-4 passes for 44 yards.
For a team that entered without a first-quarter point in six straight contests, an ideal start was critical in the outcome. Much of it had to do with an offensive line, that from right to left, consisted of: Ty’Kieast Crawford, Walter Young Bear, Landen Livingston, Donovan Haslam and Nick Krahe.
“It comes down to a little bit of the want to factor,” said Livingston, a junior center. “In conversations with each other throughout the week, we knew we were going to have to rush the ball and it comes down to us to get those rushing yards, as well as our backs and Scotty did a great job and a lot of credit goes to them. They ran really hard and it makes our job a lot easier.”
WVU finished with 403 total yards and 246 on the ground against the Cougars. It marked the Mountaineers’ first time this season with 400 yards against a Big 12 opponent.
The 246 rushing yards represent WVU’s second-highest total against FBS competition in 2025, and of its 261 yards on the ground in a 34-point loss to Utah, 188 came in the second half with the game well out of reach.
The Mountaineers also did not surrender a sack against Houston after allowing seven two games earlier in a loss to Central Florida.
“A couple easy pass protection things we gave up, but those guys want to be good,” Rodriguez said. “Our line, all year they’ve been very conscientious and they want to be good. They’re listening to stuff we tell them. I didn’t think we were coming off the ball as hard as we could and they tried to do that all week in practice and did a a better job of that in the game.”
Three fourth-quarter plays stood out as an indication as to the level of physicality West Virginia’s front five played with while the Mountaineers were securing their first road win over a ranked team since 2018.
On the first, with the game well in the balance, Fox darted up the middle untouched for a 34-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4, enabling the Mountaineers to lead 38-28 early in the fourth quarter.
“It was a great play call and Scotty did a great job of getting the job done,” Livingston said.
SCOTTY FOX JR. 🔥
Second rushing TD of the day for the @WVUfootball QB! pic.twitter.com/2tJ5jrEXPt
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 1, 2025
Another was when Haslam was flagged for assisting the runner after he gave extra effort to keep tailback Diore Hubbard upright and helped will him for what would’ve been a first down reception on third down without the penalty.
“You’d rather everyone block so it wouldn’t be so hard to get the first down on that one,” Rodriguez said. “Donovan’s played hard and he’s making the most of his opportunity. He got a little banged up in that game. I’ve said all along playing hard is non-negotiable. Even when we weren’t playing well, we were playing hard for the most part, but there was a game or two where I didn’t think we really played as hard as what our standard is and we have to learn from that.”
Directly after Haslam’s penalty, Fox fired a 53-yard pass to receiver Jeff Weimer that setup Hubbard’s 11-yard touchdown run for a late 17-point lead.
Later in the fourth, the Mountaineers were the beneficiaries of a muffed punt that allowed them to regain possession with a 10-point advantage. Shortly after Houston’s fourth turnover, WVU was faced with fourth-and-2 from the Cougars’ 19-yard line with 2:15 remaining.
Hubbard narrowly gained the necessary 2 yards leading into the 2-minute warning and that allowed WVU to run out the clock in the victory formation.
“At the end of the game, we could’ve kicked a field goal and tried to go up 13, but it’s still two scores and if you get a first down, you win the game,” Rodriguez said. “That was more my thought. Let’s try to win the game right here and get a short yardage run, and we barely got it.”
It was a fitting way for the offensive line to end what would widely be accepted as its best showing this season, one that helped Hubbard rush for a career-high 108 yards while Bowers and Fox added 65 apiece.
“That was definitely a very satisfying thing. When it came to the 2-minute end of game situation, they knew we were going to run the ball and we were able to do so,” Livingston said. “It comes down to continuing to do that. Obviously teams know we want to run the ball and we have to go out there and get the job done.”