MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The wait is over.
The secrets, too, as West Virginia and Coastal Carolina will showcase largely new-look rosters for the first time in 2026 when the Mountaineers welcome the Chanticleers to Milan Puskar Stadium for Saturday’s noon season opener airing on TNT.
After a disappointing 4-8 season in 2025 in the return for Rich Rodriguez to Morgantown, the Mountaineers are after significant improvement, but again deal with an abundance of roster turnover.
This time around, however, the head coach is hopeful he and his staff did a job better identifying talent and needs during an offseason where there was more time to acquire what was needed in favor of what was available.
“There’s guys that have experience, so you think that can carryover,” Rodriguez said. “We have exciting skill players on offense. We have some explosive guys on defense. Our overall team speed is a little bit higher on both sides of the ball. They’ll really play hard. We’ll learn a lot of in the first game — probably more than any game we’ll play, simply because there are so many new guys playing. But I think they’ve earned the right to play a game and have some fun on Saturday.”
Much of the offseason discussion among WVU faithful has rightfully centered around quarterback, where Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. figures to be in line to take over.
Fellow quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. garnered an abundance of quality experience last year as a true freshman, but Hawkins and tailback Cam Cook were brought in to help rejuvenate a unit that struggled throughout much of 2025. WVU is also expected to feature four new starters along its offensive line, including true freshman and decorated recruit Kevin Brown at left tackle.
Cook earned plenty of offseason praise from coaches and teammates alike, and will be a featured piece of the attack after leading the FBS in rushing last season at Jacksonville State.
West Virginia’s wide receivers are headlined by Jaden Bray, who enters his third season as a Mountaineer and sixth in college football looking for more fortunate health. Bray has battled a slew of injuries throughout his career, including one in Week 2 of last year that cut his 2025 campaign short for good.
“Last year, we saw what happened with our running back situation, quarterback situation and at wideout,” Rodriguez said in reference to a multitude of injuries over the first half of the season. “The depth got tested way too early and you hope you never have to go through a year like that again.
“We know the depth. The games start right now, but hopefully our depth will be quality depth. That was part of our focus when we were bringing guys in the portal or signing guys out of high school. But you have to have a little luck, too. Hopefully, you don’t have two years in a row where you’re playing four or five quarterbacks or five or six running backs. You can’t avoid it, and sometimes it’s just bad luck, but we’ll hope for good luck this year.”
For all of the offensive turnover, there is even more defensively.
Linebacker Ben Cutter is the lone returning defender among the team’s top 17 tacklers last season, though linemen Nate Gabriel and Corey McIntyre Jr. have experience in defensive coordinator Zac Alley’s system, as does cornerback Nick Taylor.
“There is probably a fire under some guys’ butts this week that knows they’re competing to be a starter come Saturday,” Alley said. “Those aren’t full decided yet. There are a couple guys that have to perform this week. We’re right there 50/50 with this guy and that guy. The competition breeds performance, so whoever performs well in practice will probably start the game.”
Under a new head coach in Ryan Beard, Coastal Carolina also has a surplus of new additions to its 2026 roster. Beard is eager to see the first impression his squad offers against the lone power conference opponent the Sun Belt Conference member faces this season.
“We get to go toe-to-toe with an elite Power Four opponent, and I don’t even know if I’ve seen anything written that we’re in the matchup, and I think that’s a good thing,” Beard said. “A lot of our unknowns are healthy as well, because no one knows about the type of football team we’re going to put on the field until we show up on Saturday with that prove it mentality.”
Beard, like Rodriguez, did not publicly name a starting quarterback in the lead-up to this game, though redshirt freshman Deuce Bailey could be in the mix for extensive action after he played in a limited role last season at Missouri State under Beard and offensive coordinator Nick Petrino, also now with the Chanticleers.
WVU surrendered an average of 76 more passing yards than what it averaged last season, and ranked outside the top 100 nationally in both passing yards and allowed.
Tailbacks Jevon Edwards and Dominic Lee-Knicely appeared in all 13 Coastal contests last year and combined to rush for 756 yards. Both should heavily factor into the Chanticleers’ offensive plan again this season, as will tight end Zach Courtney.
“I’ve talked at length about the running back room and I really like the running back room with Von and Dom,” Beard said. “Those guys are a great 1-2 punch and do things we want them to do. Zach Courtney has been a staple in our offense since the day we got here. We’re going to highlight him and use him in advantageous ways.
“Really like the wideout room. The wideout room, offensive line and defensive line is probably where you’ll see quite a bit of rotation. That’s where there’s still competitiveness going on in regard to the group that will kind of mesh the best and who we’ll go with moving forward.”
Fifteen minutes prior to kickoff Saturday, West Virginia will honor Pat White — a former quarterback and one of its most accomplished football players who is now a current member of the coaching staff — during a ceremony to retire No. 5.
Mountaineer fans are encouraged to wear white for a “white out” in honor of the former standout quarterback, who was 35-8 as a starter from 2005-08.
“Everybody who gets their number retired probably made an indelible impact on that program for decades and that’s what Patrick did,” Rodriguez said. “He made an impact while he was here of course, but people are still talking about it 20 years later. That’s the neat part for me to watch it. I know what kind of person he was. To that day and to this day, he was always about the team first and what do I need to do for West Virginia to have success. I’m really proud of him.”