Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at West Virginia Mountaineers

Cook, Hawkins lead West Virginia over Coastal Carolina 31-24

On a day in which West Virginia retired the No. 5 jersey of record-setting quarterback Pat White, the Mountaineers dominated the game early but looked disheveled on both sides of the ball for much of the second half.

Coastal Carolina's Nico Cavanillas Alti kicked a 32-yard field goal with 27 seconds left to cap the Chanticleers' rally from a 24-0 deficit. But the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds and West Virginia survived.

"If anybody wants to cry about a win, they can cry about a win," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I'm glad we can teach off a win and get better for next week.”

With 88 new players on the roster, it’s going to take some time for West Virginia to work the kinks out, especially on defense.

At least they’re set with two marquee positions on offense.

Cook ran 72 yards up the left sideline on the first play from scrimmage to set up his 3-yard TD run. The transfer from Jacksonville State, who led the nation with 1,659 rushing yards last season, went over 100 yards early in the second quarter.

Hawkins, a transfer from Oklahoma, had a stellar debut on the ground with 103 yards on 20 carries.

Hawkins led scoring drives on three of West Virginia’s first four possessions. West Virginia had 336 total yards in the first half and raced to a 24-0 lead. But the Mountaineers punted on their first four possessions of the second half and were limited to 77 yards after halftime.

Hawkins had an 11-yard TD run late in the game after a Coastal Carolina punt went out of bounds at its 35-yard line. Hawkins also threw a 49-yard scoring toss in the first quarter to Armoni Weaver-Bomar. Hawkins finished 11-of-14 passing for 132 yards but lost a fumble on the Coastal Carolina goal line.

West Virginia's defense surrendered just five first downs in the first half, then looked porous after halftime. Redshirt freshman quarterback Deuce Bailey threw three touchdown passes for Coastal Carolina, which outgained West Virginia 425-413.

“Give them credit,” Rodriguez said. Bailey "played his tail off. He ran around all over the place.”

The Takeaway Coastal Carolina: Bailey, a redshirt freshman who followed new coach Ryan Beard to the Chanticleers from Missouri State, had second-half TD tosses of 37 and 34 yards to Clayton Coppock and 13 yards to Colton Hinton. Bailey completed 21 of 37 passes for 373 yards.

“We have a resilient football team,” Beard said. “I'm really proud of the locker room and the way they were able to bounce back after that tough first half.”

West Virginia: Cook and Hawkins looked as good as advertised but the team's struggles in the second half will need fixing.

“Definitely had a lot of mistakes,” Cook said. “We could be a lot more disciplined as a team.”

Up Next Coastal Carolina hosts Fordham of the Championship Subdivision on Saturday.

West Virginia hosts FCS member UT Martin on Saturday.

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