Despite the disappointing start to the season, West Virginia’s offense has been somewhat of a bright spot through two games.
In the overtime loss to Kansas, the Mountaineers only punted one time, as the offense scored points in every other drive, resulting in 42 points against the Jayhawks.
Two constants for the offense through the two games have been quarterback JT Daniels and wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton. It’s evident that these two have a special connection, as Daniels has found Ford-Wheaton for four of his five touchdown passes in a WVU uniform.
The special connection didn’t happen overnight, as the two stars have been getting their timing down since Daniels came to town in May.
“Nobody is inside this building, outside the staff, more than Bryce and JT,” head coach Neal Brown said.
Daniels, himself, has been as advertised thus far, throwing for 569 yards and five touchdowns compared to two interceptions, one of which being out of his control.
Despite not getting the desired results through two games, Daniels has stepped in and become a leader of the team.
“The quarterback is a leader of the team whether he wants to be or not,” Ford-Wheaton said on Daniels. “His body language, his demeanor and stuff like that is contagious.”
Daniels has shown his poise and has stayed cool under pressure, as he helped charge a comeback for the Mountaineers in the final minutes of regulation against Kansas to force overtime.
In the final drive of regulation, Daniels converted on a key fourth down play deep in his own territory when he found Kaden Prather on a contested pass. After the Mountaineers scored a touchdown, Daniels kept the game alive again when he converted the all-important two-point conversion by finding Ford Wheaton in the back of the end zone.
“It’s a two-point play, there’s nothing to lose, ” Daniels said about the game-tying play. “I saw Bryce and I made eye contact. He worked back out, I saw him and just put it in there.”
Aside from one haunting drop against Pitt, Ford-Wheaton has shown out and is making a case to be one of the top wide receivers in the Big 12 and possibly even the country.
In the first two games, Ford-Wheaton has stepped up to become Daniels’ top target, catching 20 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns while showing off his exceptional route-running and ability to run after the catch.
“Bryce (Ford Wheaton) is a guy that’s done it a lot and it’s shown in game time,” Daniels said.
Ford-Wheaton has, in fact, done it a lot, as he has seen the field since 2019, and has produced since the 2020 COVID season.
In the loss against Kansas, Ford-Wheaton caught two touchdowns from Daniels, along with the two-point conversion play. Ford-Wheaton already has more touchdown catches than he did all of last season.
As the Mountaineers look to get things turned around, look for Daniels and Ford-Wheaton to be the leaders of that charge.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
Discover more from Blue Gold Sports
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
