With four games remaining in its 2023 regular season, the West Virginia Mountaineers find themselves one game out of first place in the Big 12. They also find themselves one win shy of bowl eligibility after missing the postseason in 2022. The road ahead may prove more difficult than it otherwise would be, however, as we see injuries mounting for the Mountaineers.
Injuries Mounting for the Mountaineers
First thing is first: we use the term injuries loosely here. Like most schools across the country, in-season personnel losses for the Mountaineers come in a few shapes and sizes. Some athletes self-impose a redshirt and signal their intention to enter the transfer portal. Some athletes find themselves removed from the roster for reasons that the coaching staff rarely, if ever, address publicly. Other athletes suffer injuries. West Virginia has lost players this season to all of these categories. We address them all here.
Prior to WVU’s win over UCF, the Mountaineers had already declared several players out for the remainder of the season. Those include linebackers Josiah Trotter and Trey Lathan, cornerback Montre Miller, and safety Keyshawn Cobb. They also traveled without safety Hershey McLaurin, wide receiver Graeson Malashevich, and cornerback Andrew Wilson-Lamp, the latter of whom was out for unspecified reasons. Additionally, we understand that linebacker/safety Lance Dixon is indefinitely (maybe permanently) suspended from team activities.
Head coach Neal Brown updated the press on Monday afternoon noting that Malashevich would be out at least one more week. Meanwhile, he expressed optimism that McLaurin would return against BYU this weekend. As for Doug Nester–who suffered a lower leg injury against UCF–he will be out at least one week. Previously, Brown confirmed that wide receivers Jeremiah Aaron and Cortez Braham planned to transfer and are no longer with the team.
For those keeping count, that totals 11 Mountaineers who will be out at least one week, and one more (McLaurin) who seems poised to return as soon as this weekend.
Losses Raise Depth Concerns
One of the most repeated phrases in sports is “next man up.” West Virginia has done that with mixed results this season. The offensive line has certainly enjoyed having two to three players they can rely on to spell injured starters. They needed two of them (Ja’Quay Hubbard and Nick Malone) to eat snaps this past weekend. Surprisingly, with the emergence of Hudson Clement (who will return next week) and Preston Fox, the wide receiver room seems deeper than usual, so the losses of Aaron and Braham have not made a difference.
On the other hand, West Virginia remains razor thin at linebacker and in the secondary. Only one starter from the season opener remains available, Lee Kpogba. True freshman Ben Cutter has been relied on heavily. He plays like a true freshman at times; at other times, he looks like he should have been a starter all along. That is to be expected, of course. Behind them, WVU traveled with Caden Biser (who played around 25 snaps), Tirek Austin-Cave, and walk-on Tyler Cain. Jairo Faverus was injured, too, but he is expected to return this weekend.
At bandit, West Virginia traveled with just two players, Jared Bartlett and Tyrin Bradley, who split snaps against UCF. That margin is the thinnest among the team, though the Mountaineers can offset it somewhat by playing four down on the defensive line, where they have numbers (as in eight defensive linemen played for ten or more snaps Saturday).
In the secondary, the Mountaineers feel the losses most of all. With Wilson-Lamp’s status unknown and Miller out for the season, West Virginia is down to just five scholarship cornerbacks, two of whom are true freshmen. They played three against UCF. Spear and safety have the same problem. Again, the Mountaineers traveled with just seven players here, and that represents the entirety of their remaining scholarship players at those two positions.
But the Experience Might Bode Well
In order for this prediction to prove true, of course, WVU needs to get a little luck on the injury front. Additional losses at linebacker, cornerback, or safety could spell doom for the remainder of the season. That said, spreading game experience among a larger percentage of the roster certainly helps as the season wears on. The coaching staff can begin to rely on more players when others go down or need to be spelled.
That is where the long-term development game comes into play. The Mountaineers have not had that luxury at any prior time under Brown, and the results showed. The pieces still have to gel. The defensive players (where the losses have mounted more rapidly) need to find their gaps better. As Brown said in this week’s Monday presser, the team needed to tackle better against UCF. This echoed his comments after the loss to Oklahoma State, too. It was the same story against Houston.
Brown knows excuses don’t fly in Power Five football. In his own comments, he refuses to accept the injuries as a reason for those deficiencies. If his younger players start to buy in and translate the drills they run through at practice into results, the team could see improvement through the end of the season. But they have to do it, and, regardless of the injuries mounting for the Mountaineers, they cannot make excuses if they do not.
