Rich Rodriguez Evaluates Khalil Wilkins’ Play in ‘Tough Environment’ at BYU

Aside from the outcome of the game, Rich Rodriguez seemed mostly satisfied with the effort of his freshman starting quarterback in WVU’s 38-24 loss at BYU.

And when asked directly to evaluate Khalil Wilkins’ play from his first college start, Rodriguez was willing to cut the kid some slack.

“Play hard. He was a freshman in that kind of environment,” said Rodriguez.

“I thought he was into the game. I think he would like to have a lot of plays back, but I also think he competed his tail off,” he added.

It sounds as if Rodriguez liked something he saw from Wilkins, granted not enough to anoint him his starter moving forward. Rodriguez made it known that he will take the much-needed upcoming bye week to further evaluate his options and then wait until just kickoff of their next game – a Week 8 matchup at UCF.

Wilkins finished his debut start 7-for-15 through the air for just 81 yards and two interceptions. With most of the plays called as designed runs, Wilkins also added 89 yards on the ground off 23 rushing attempts and a score.

“Shoot, that was a rough environment to get your first start in,” reiterated Rodriguez, showing Wilkins a level of grace.

Wilkins was not the only freshman quarterback to take a snap for the Mountaineers. Scotty Fox, who had a big run in the season opener and threw two picks in the Backyard Brawl, was a perfect 3-for-3 passing for 54 yards. Fox capped off his night by throwing a touchdown strike to Cam Vaughn to get WVU on the board one last time. Fox also ran for 22 yards.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez and the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.