Phoenix, Arizona – The West Virginia Mountaineers (6-7) finished the 2020-2021 season on a losing note by being defeated badly by the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 18-6.
The Mountaineers’ lines were dominated on both sides of the ball. West Virginia gave up 5 sacks and only had 187 yards of total offense. Defensively, the Mountaineers struggled to stop Minnesota’s running attack, giving up 246 yards on the ground to the Golden Gophers.
Redshirt senior quarterback Jarret Doege, who looked uncomfortable with the defensive pressure in the pocket the entire game, finished 17/29 for 140 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. Redshirt sophomore Tony Mathis, Jr., making his first start of his career, led West Virginia on the ground with 13 carries for 56 yards.
The Mountaineers will now have the offseason to prepare and make necessary adjustments and changes before the Backyard Brawl against the Pitt Panthers on September 3rd at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to open the 2022 Season.
Observations
- Tony Mathis, Jr. looked the part as Leddie Brown’s eventual replacement as the starting running back next season. He ran the ball hard and made several nice catches out of the backfield.
- Jarret Doege, who fell to 18-25 as a starting quarterback in 5 collegiate seasons, was not the answer this season and is definitely not the future of this team. Hopefully this is the last we’ve seen of him as West Virginia’s starter.
- Neal Brown’s inability to make obvious in-game adjustments is a real problem. While West Virginia’s first half was bad, the second half was even worse. What changes did Brown make in the 2nd half to put the Mountaineers in position to win the game?
- Although there have been some very unpleasant bowl games in West Virginia’s history – including the Mountaineers’ embarrassing 38-14 loss to the Syracuse Orangemen in the 2012 Pinstripe Bowl – this certainly ranked as one of the most difficult bowl games ever to watch.
