MORGANTOWN — It was a dark and gloomy night.
At least in Touchdown City, that is, at the end of WVU’s football game with Liberty.
It was cloudy. It was dark and misty. Yet there was a spot one expected sunshine: inside the Mountaineer facilities building. The hosts won handily, by 41-17 over Liberty in front of 52,899. They’d gone almost seven full quarters this season without even allowing a point.
West Virginia has won the first two games against respectable competition by an average of 42.5-8.5. Party on, Garth, right?
Uh, no.
“Defensively I thought we struggled today,” said Mountaineer defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. “We didn’t have any energy. I don’t know. It wasn’t West Virginia defense, at least the way I want it to be.”
It was weird. We in the media are supposed to be the downers, right? What the heck was Gibson doing?
“It was just one of those days,” he said with a head shake. “The good thing is, we won the game, which is our main goal. We’ll get in here tomorrow and watch game film and see what we need to fix.”
Perhaps it’s a good attitude to possess. Set the bar high. But after the first two games it seems WVU players, coaches and fans should be encouraged. The offense might not be a juggernaut, but points are going on the board. The defense is much improved. Even the special teams have progressed nicely.
This West Virginia team, remember, hasn’t exactly been slaying its schedule the last few years. Also, Georgia Southern and Liberty aren’t gimmes. Also, linebacker Jared Barber showed up Saturday in sweats. And all Al-Rasheed Benton did was fill in nicely in the middle. Right, Gibby?
“He made some plays,” Gibson said. “I thought he played well. He’s about the only kid I can say anything good about right now.”
Benton played very well. The redshirt sophomore was tied at the top of his team with seven tackles, including two for loss. Once, on a third-and-5 situation, Liberty QB Josh Woodrum threw into the flat — where Benton flattened the receiver. In another situation, he stuffed a Flame runner near the Liberty goal line, which led to a punt from the end zone. The only ugly moment was when Liberty receiver Zac Parker torched the WVU secondary for a 60-yard score and Benton was left chasing. Gibson said, however, that wasn’t Benton’s responsibility.
“I thought [Benton] played really well,” said strong-side linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski. “All week we worked on communication. That’s what Jared and I have. And he played well. Benton is very physical and his speed is good.”
So to Benton we went after the game. Here come the smiles, right?
“I don’t think I played that good,” said the sophomore. “I guess I just expect more from myself.”
Apparently it’s contagious.
“I knew early in the week I’d be starting,” Benton said. “I just let them know I was ready for it. I’ve been training for this for two years.”
He wore a ballcap and a chain. He did not wear a smile.
“I don’t think we had that good of a game,” he said. “I don’t think we put our best out there.”
Benton did fine.
“Al is a good football player,” Gibson said. “He’s physical and can run a little bit. It was good for him to get that many snaps. We subbed him a little in the nickel package, but, other than that, he took the load today at Mike linebacker. I thought he made some good plays.”
“I thought Al Benton played really good last week,” said WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen. “That’s going to be beneficial over the course of the season.”
“There’s a lot of passion when I’m out there,” Benton said. “I bring a lot of passion most don’t. That and physicality.”
WVU received many breaks Saturday, especially in the field-goal department. The Flame that missed three field goals has been excellent. Yet the visitors didn’t score until there was 3:32 left in the third quarter.
Also, WVU gave up 372 total yards, but there were a lot of garbage-time yards in there.
Overall?
WVU is in a good place after two games. And Mountaineer fans shouldn’t let those frowns turn them upside down.