What we learned from West Virginia’s win vs. Towson – The Gold and Blue Nation Podcast
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Neal Brown said WVU’s third game was going to be about the Mountaineers. His team followed through, dominating Towson 65-7 for its first win of the season.
West Virginia scored points on its first six drives, five of which ended in touchdowns. The first came on a methodical 10-play drive to open the game and ended when JT Daniels found Kaden Prather for a two-yard score — the receiver’s first career touchdown.
Towson tied it right back up, though, as D’Ago Hunter took his first kick return 96 yards for a touchdown.
From that point on, the first half was all West Virginia. CJ Donaldson continued the strong start to his college career, rushing eight times for 101 yards and three touchdowns. Tony Mathis Jr. added 88 yards in the half for two scores and finished with 104 yards.
Daniels played most of the half and sat down after completing 16 of 24 passes for 174 yards. He found a new favorite target in Prather, connecting six times on 10 targets for 51 yards. Bryce Ford-Wheaton made four catches for 47 yards in the game, and nearly caught a touchdown that was overturned by replay review.
WVU’s defense made a statement in the first half, holding Towson to 56 yards, including just three rushing yards in the first two quarters. The Tigers finished with just 180 yards in the contest.
Brown made sure to get some of his younger prospects some snaps. Daniels was replaced by Garrett Greene late in the second quarter, and the redshirt sophomore led two drives for WVU. They both resulted in scores as he finished his spell off with a rushing touchdown.
Greene finished 3-for-6 for 45 yards through the air.
Will “Goose” Crowder took over for Greene in the third quarter and scored his first college touchdown. He finished a perfect 6-of-6 for 57 yards and found Jeremiah Aaron’s back shoulder for a five-yard score. That was also Aaron’s first touchdown as a Mountaineer.
Nicco Marchiol made his college debut in the game, completing his first career pass to Preston Fox for eight yards. The duo connected again to end the drive on a 26-yard touchdown.
Towson’s offense did threaten to get on the board late in the half as quarterback Nathan Kent led the Tigers on a late drive. WVU didn’t break and kept the offense scoreless.
West Virginia earns its first win of the season after a stinging pair of losses to open the campaign. The Mountaineers have a quick turnaround as they prep to defend the Black Diamond Trophy against Virginia Tech on Thursday.
