MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Much of a defense’s ability to be disruptive is predicated on strong play up front.
If West Virginia’s largely new-look unit is to be more successful in coordinator Zac Alley’s second season guiding the group, it unquestionably needs more production from the defensive line.
“Everybody is new — at least most of them,” Alley said. “I’ve challenged our front four. I want to be better there. The consistency and the ability to do it. We have some guys that are talented enough and now it’s putting it together and showing their physicality and doing it every day.”
Too often in 2025, disruptiveness lacked up front from a group that struggled to consistently generate a pass rush.
While WVU was strong in that regard in non-conference play and finished with 13 sacks across its first three games, the defense went without one in its first four Big 12 tilts.
Not until a hard-fought late October home loss to TCU did the Mountaineers record a sack in Big 12 play, and after that game, WVU was 2-6 overall and 0-5 in the league.
There was improvement down the stretch, including three sacks the next week in a win at nationally-ranked Houston as well as seven in a home victory over Colorado that marked a single-game high for the Mountaineers since the eight they totaled on Halloween of 2019 in a loss at Baylor.
Altogether, West Virginia recorded 20 of 29 sacks over its four wins.
For more production and consistency in 2026, the front will need at least several newcomers to prove their worth.
With the exception of returners Nate Gabriel and Corey McIntyre Jr., both of whom are expected to assume expanded roles, the front will carry an entirely different look than what it did in Alley’s inaugural season in Morgantown.
“We have all the potential in the world,” says Gabriel. “This group is so special.”
Still, at this point, the defensive line is unproven.
Excluding Gabriel and McIntyre, holdovers from the 2025 front combined to play all of four snaps last season — two from Brandon Caesar and one from both Wilnerson Telemaque and Taylor Brown.
That brings to the forefront 10 new additions along the defensive line, though Coastal Carolina transfer Zeke Durham-Campbell is the only one with FBS experience.
A defensive end, Durham-Campbell started all 13 games for the Chanticleers last season and recorded 5.5 sacks among 42 tackles as an All-Sun Belt Third Team honoree.
A trio of additions from the junior college ranks all figure to factor into the plan as well.
Darius Wiley was a junior college All-American a year ago at Hutchinson Community College, and the 6-foot-6 sophomore has flashed early in fall camp.
Defensive tackle KJ Henson is a 290-pound junior who was Wiley’s teammate at HCC, while Jaylen Thomas is a 316-pound tackle with a surplus of experience over two seasons at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
One or two of the aforementioned trio could work its way into a starting role, but all three will be asked to provide depth.
“Whatever it takes. I don’t have a number to say you’re going to play this many plays in a game and that’s going to be it,” defensive line coach William Green said. “The thing is we have to develop depth so it’s not just those two guys [Gabriel and McIntyre] playing every snap. Something we can do is develop some guys to play and we have some good competition going on in the room.”
Head coach Rich Rodriguez had high praise for Wiley, who led the junior college ranks with 20 tackles for loss and was third with nine sacks a year ago.
“He has a huge upside and works really hard,” Rodriguez said. “He can be an impact player for us. There are a lot of new faces. I think the talent is there. We have some experience. We do so much with them with coach Alley and the scheme, but they’ve done a pretty good job.”
As fall camp progresses and roles fall into place, WVU should have a better idea of its two-deep depth chart at defensive end, defensive tackle and nose tackle, along with the bandit spot that serves as a hybrid between an edge rusher and outside linebacker.
Along the way, Green is hopeful the group as a whole becomes more comfortable and can follow the lead of Gabriel.
“You need positive leadership from the guys,” Green said. “They’re going to follow somebody. I think it is important. Nate Gabriel has done a phenomenal job for us up front being a leader and a guy who kind of sets the example. He’s done a really good job.”