![\"MORGANTOWN,](\"https:\/\/platform.smokingmusket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/147\/2025\/09\/gettyimages-2234690156.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMORGANTOWN, WV – SEPTEMBER 13: West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Nicco Marchiol (8) celebrates with fans following the college football game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers on September 13, 2025, at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, WV. (Photo by Frank Jansky\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n
It would not surprise me if Rich continues to give Fox game reps so he can learn, as Fox brings an element that Nicco doesn\u2019t possess. But Fox is still young and has a lot of learning and growing to do as a college quarterback. The first interception was a bad read that you can\u2019t throw late, and the second is a pass you just can\u2019t throw \u2014 but one that young quarterbacks often do when they\u2019re just trying to make a play.<\/p>\n
REFS, PENALTIES, AND END OF HALF<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not one to blame the referees because I always say make plays so the refs can\u2019t be a factor. But when I say this crew was bad, this crew was BAD. According to others, this was a backup ACC ref crew, as the head crew chief resigned last week, and it felt obvious that the crew was struggling with some of the nuances of the game.<\/p>\n
At the end of the half, the situation that unfolded appears to be a weird loophole \u2014 one I don\u2019t agree with, but one that likely doesn\u2019t happen often. West Virginia, on offense, is driving and is without any timeouts. Quarterback Nicco Marchiol scrambles and picks up the first down. The clock stops on the first down being made. That is key point number one.<\/p>\n
The dead-ball foul doesn\u2019t stop the clock. It only would be enforced on the spot, the ball moved forward, and then when the ball is set, the clock would start again. Because West Virginia is out of timeouts, much like in basketball, there appears to be a minimum time needed to get a legal snap off \u2014 in this case, three seconds. The Mountaineers would not have been able to even get the field goal team on the field and snap the ball before the time expired.<\/p>\n
To think about it another way: had the penalty not occurred, Marchiol\u2019s scramble would have ended the half anyway, since they wouldn\u2019t have been able to stop the clock.<\/p>\n
I understand all that, but the fact that the penalty then is not enforced on the kickoff at the start of the second half is ludicrous to me. This is probably a rare situation that doesn\u2019t occur again for years, as the timing of the penalty and the play is crucial to this. It\u2019s not something you can simply draw up at the end of a half or game. But for there to be no repercussion for the flag simply means Pitt got a free flag. That isn\u2019t the intent and can\u2019t be allowed. If player safety is a requirement of the game, allowing defenders to purposefully (or not) get free flags is outside the intent of the rulebook and the letter of the law. It has to be changed.<\/p>\n
More so, some of the remaining calls on both sides appeared ticky-tack and excessive. Pitt was called for 14 fouls, and most of them were egregious, though some were questionable. More so, some of the ones called on West Virginia were head-scratchers. I disagree with the two roughing-the-passer calls on West Virginia, but by the letter of the law I agree on the targeting: \u201cforcible contact to the head or neck area of the quarterback.\u201d It was, and I see why they called it. But our player hit Holstein within one step, so what do you want him to do \u2014 roll his knee?<\/p>\n
The second, which led to a Pitt touchdown, was worse. The flag was thrown before the whistle and then called a dead-ball foul. You can\u2019t have a dead-ball foul when the play is still live. You just can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Rich said it best: \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how many guys got hurt. I\u2019m really concerned. Do they have anybody left to play next week? It was like 2 or 3 guys on every other snap. Like bad hurt\u2026. you talk about bad luck, have you ever seen so much bad luck?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rich is being facetious here but also highlights the rule change that occurred, and what appears to be the new way teams are skirting that rule in order to buy time for their defense.<\/p>\n
Previously, teams would flop after the ball was spotted and trainers would come out, the staff would help the player off, and the defense would get a breather. The NCAA cracked down and said if you are injured after the ball is spotted, you either lose a timeout or will be assessed a 5-yard delay of game penalty. To get around the rule, players simply fake an injury at the end of the previous play.<\/p>\n
Rich\u2019s suggestion is that you should have to sit out the remaining drive, or quarter, or half, or game. He\u2019s not wrong, because it did appear obvious that Pitt was bothered by the tempo and therefore became injury-prone when they just needed a break. If teams are going to do that, then there has to be a larger set of changes that prevents skirting the current rules.<\/p>\n
If you know, you know \u2014 and you know I love defense and love aggressive, attacking defense. Through three games, the current West Virginia defense ranks as follows:<\/p>\n
Scoring Defense: 14.7 PPG \u2014 33rd
Rushing Defense: 93.7 YPG \u2014 29th
Passing Defense: 206.7 YPG \u2014 68th
Total Defense: 300.3 YPG \u2014 47th
Opponent 3rd Downs: 26.1% \u2014 19th<\/p>\n
Zach Alley is getting paid 7 figures, and it\u2019s still not enough. Absolutely love this defense.<\/p>\n
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