The West Virginia Mountaineers enter Week 2 of the college football season on Saturday, Sept. 6, in Athens, Ohio. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Rich Rodriguez’s group looks to build off of a dominant performance in their season opener, a 45-3 win over Robert Morris, while Ohio aims to bounce back from a near upset over Rutgers. The spread for the game is listed as a minisclue 3.5 in favor of WVU, and the over/under point total checks in at 60.5. Here are two key players to watch in this game, followed by the top storylines for each team, and a prediction from Heartland College Sports.
Two Key Players to Watch
Nicco Marchiol (QB, West Virginia)
Now, don’t get me wrong here, West Virginia didn’t have to do much to beat up on Robert Morris, but that said, I liked what I saw from QB1 in his first outing of the season. He was smart with the football and only recorded three incompletions on the day. He finished with a stat line of 17/20 for 224 yards and two scores (one passing, one rushing). Life will not be as easy for him against an Ohio defense that nearly pushed the Bobcats over the edge for a Big Ten upset last week. He’s a big-time player to watch in this one.
Parker Navarro (QB, Ohio)
While Timothee Chalamet put the world on notice of Parker Navarro’s game in his College GameDay appearance last season, everyone knows about him now, and for good reason. He put up an UNREAL stat line in Week 1, despite winding up with a 34-31 loss. Navarro completed 21-31 passes for 239 yards and three scores, and nine carries for 93 yards and another touchdown on the ground. West Virginia will have their hands full with this one.
Two Key Storylines
The Line is Really, Really Small
Does the 3.5-point line make sense here? In theory, yes? Ohio is coming off one of the best performances of any MAC team in Week One, pushing a team that made it to the Rate Bowl last season to a one-possession game. Parker Navarro is truly a terrifying player to line up under center against, and it’s clear that the Bobcats do not fear Power Conference opponents. That shouldn’t make the task change for Rich Rodriguez’s group, but it begs the question of it being more about West Virginia’s shortcomings or Ohio’s surge.
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Can Ohio Turn Up the Heat on Defense?
West Virginia, which won their previous game 45-3, had a tough time keeping the ball in their possession. The group surrendered four lost fumbles on the day. That can happen against a team like Robert Morris, but it truly cannot if you hope to beat Ohio. The Mountaineers will need to do a better job of retaining possessions and winning the turnover battle. If the ball bounces in favor of Ohio, things could smell more and more like an upset on the road.
Prediction: West Virginia 37, Ohio 31
There are a lot of variables to this game, and it makes it really tricky to predict. Usually, a MAC team would be major underdogs in a contest like this, but they’re playing at home against a relatively untested opponent. Still, in spite of the four lost fumbles, West Virginia posted 600+ yards of total offense in typical Rich Rod fashion. I believe they’ll have a better day through the air, and when it matters most, they’ll make the plays needed to win.
