Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
West Virginia

West Virginia injury updates: Rich Rodriguez provides latest on multiple players

Danby: Daniel Hager4 hours agoDanielHagerOn3
West-Virginia-injury-updates-Rich-Rodriguez-provides-latest-on-multiple-players
© Ben Queen-Imagn Images

After a week of hatred spewed back and forth between the respective fanbases, West Virginia upset Pittsburgh 31-24 in the latest edition of the ‘Backyard Brawl’ last Saturday. The victory came in WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez‘s return to the rivalry, as the win marked his first taste of the ‘Backyard Brawl’ in 18 years (2007).

It seemed as if the Mountaineers’ season would be a rough one following their loss to Ohio the week prior, but that couldn’t be farther from the case now. West Virginia will now look forward to a clash with Kansas, where it will look to prove that it can hang in the Big 12.

Ahead of that road clash with the Jayhawks, Rodriguez gave a few injury updates. A few of the players he touched on included senior tight end Jacob Barrick, redshirt senior linebacker Chase Wilson and redshirt junior running back Kannon Katzer.

“Jacob Barrick is probably the newest one we’re concerned with,” Rodriguez said. “He got an ankle (injury) towards the end of the game. Chase (Wilson), we were hoping for him to be back. Preston Fox got hurt during the game and he’s kind of day-to-day right now. We’re kind of waiting to see what his situation is. And (Kannon) Katzer, I don’t know if he’ll be back yet total. We’ll see what happens this week.”

Rodriguez earns signature victory in return to Morgantown

This year’s edition of the rivalry was an exciting back-and-forth affair, which ended with the Mountaineers coming out on top. West Virginia jumped out to a 14-3 lead courtesy of a Tye Edwards one-yard rushing touchdown with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter, but Pittsburgh responded with 21 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

A Kade Hensley 21-yard chipshot field goal made it a one-possession game with five minutes left in regulation, leaving it up to the Mountaineer defense to give their team a chance to tie the game. They delivered, forcing a punt with two and a half minutes remaining.

WVU quarterback Nicco Marchiol led a masterful two-minute drill, bringing the Mountaineers down to the goal-line with just 11 seconds remaining. Marchiol found Grayson Barnes for the two-yard score, tying the game at 24 to force overtime.

Overtime belonged to the Mountaineers, as Edwards rushed for the go-ahead touchdown on the first possession of extra time. Pittsburgh had an opportunity to tie the game, but were unable to, handing the ‘Backyard Brawl’ victory to West Virginia for the first time since 2023.

Kick-off between Kansas and West Virginia on Saturday is scheduled for 6:00 PM. The game can be seen on FS1.