WVU Football
Rich Rodriguez Reveals Why Michael Hawkins Won QB Battle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Waiting until kickoff to officially reveal his starting quarterback, Rich Rodriguez was finally willing to talk openly about why he decided to go with Michael Hawkins under center after West Virginia’s 31-24 win on Saturday.
For Rodriguez, it all came down to Hawkins being more “explosive” during practice and in scrimmages leading up to the game. Rodriguez said it was a close battle and he hoped to also get Scotty Fox into WVU’s 31-24, but the second half comeback by the Chanticleers made that difficult to make happen.
“It was really close, and I think I had two starters with him and Scotty,” said Rodriguez.
Hawkins said Rodriguez informed him that he was going to start earlier in the week. As far as how he performed, the Oklahoma transfer and former four-star high school recruit completed 11-of-14 pass attempts for 132 yards with a touchdown pass. He also exceeded 100 yards on the ground with 103 on 20 carries.
Along with running back Cam Cook, who raked up 142 yards of his own, the WVU offense won the game thanks to their ground attack, totaling 281 out of their 413 yards of offense.
Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez and the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.
Allan Jones
September 5, 2026 at 5:34 pm
If Scotty doesn’t make the field much this year, he will likely hit the portal….
jackson five
September 6, 2026 at 8:38 pm
i expect two win this yr, we are simply pathetic,, poorly coached and got pushed around by CC..
this is the worst football team i’ve seen at wvu ,excluding last yr, in many yrs,,
i don’t think rr has it in him anymore,, he got a free trip home and he suckered in the donors,, and we’re stuck with him for this yr and 3 more yrs…
wren got oveerwhelmed by donors.. i see wren leaving this yr or next and i don’t blame him,,, we need the donors but we need to let wren make his own decisions, not the donors.. pitiful just plain pitiful.
PikeEERS
September 6, 2026 at 9:17 pm
J 5 is dead on. Very poor showing for the competition we played. Hats off to CC. Don’t see how Hawkins is better than Scotty unless his passing had a bad day. Scotty much more explosive runner. Unless RR was holding back it will be a repeat of last year with another losing season. Brown recruited better players but did not know how to game manage. The days of coaching like Woody Hayes and Bob Knight are over with NIL but RR did not get the memo. AD on his way out after this fiasco. All Wren has done is provide a nice retirement path for RR. Virginia game will be the a bellwether. Lose it and we will win 5 or less in a very weak conference. Va Tech and Pitt are much improved from last and would drum us if we were to play. Basketball and baseball season cannot get here fast enough.