Storylines to Keep an Eye On for WVU-Duquesne

West Virginia will host Duquesne for their home opener on Saturday night in Morgantown. Here are some storylines to keep an eye on heading into the game.

WVU CB Montre Miller out against Dukes

A week after the WVU football team needed all the help they could get on defense, the secondary will now be somewhat undermanned against Duquesne.

On Thursday during his weekly show, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown announced that cornerback Montre Miller will out on Saturday. Brown even added that Miller could be out of action for an extended extended period of time.

Miller transferred to the WVU football program for his final college season of eligibility. The 5-foot-10, 179 pound South Carolina native recorded 52 tackles, 40 solo, in 2022, while also tallying two interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and eight pass breakups.

Breaking: WVU Football CB Out vs. Duquesne, Could Miss Extended Period of Time

Mountaineers ready to unleash star freshmen Rodney Gallagher, Jahiem White

The Mountaineers are ready to unleash their star freshman. West Virginia head coach alluded to Rodney Gallagher and Jahiem White earning playing time against Penn State to start the season, but they weren’t afforded the chance to make an impact on the game. But Brown is now again saying he’s ready to pull the trigger.

Brown clarified that White was too banged up to play and offered an explanation for why Gallagher didn’t see any offensive snaps until garbage time.

“He played on special teams. Tried to get him the ball on the last play of the game,” Brown said about Gallagher. “If you look at the game, we didn’t play a ton of 11 personnel. We didn’t play a ton of 11 personnel and that was game plan specific.”

And so there’s no confusion, Brown again goes into another game saying Gallagher will be involved in the game plan, granted executing that will likely be much easier against FCS Duquesne than it was while the Mountaineers tried to battle Penn State.

Mountaineers Ready to Unleash Star Freshmen Rodney Gallagher, Jahiem White

Asti: There’s One Clear Path for Duquesne to Shock WVU

Could it happen? Probably not. But IF the unthinkable happens and WVU actually loses to Duquesne, it’s because the Dukes did one thing very well throughout the game.

Oddsmakers are guaranteeing a Mountaineers victory. West Virginia has never lost to an FCS school. WVU is 23-0 all-time, and even 4-0 under Neal Brown. Duquesne has only one win against an FBS program, but has never beat a program out of a major conference. Does something have to give? Again, probably not. But there’s one clear path for the Dukes to pull off a win that they wold no doubt be celebrate forever.

Throw deep, deep, deep. And do it often, often, often. While there were some signs of the Mountaineers could be improved from last year in their loss to Penn State (less missed tackles, turnovers didn’t trigger loss etc), there was one aspect of the team that actually looked worse…

Read WVSN’s Mike Asti’s full commentary down below.

Asti: There’s One Clear Path for Duquesne to Shock WVU