West Virginia In Underdog Role Again, But Daugherty Optimistic

WHEELING - Entering the 80th annual OVAC Rudy Mumley All Star Football Game Saturday night at Wheeling Island Stadium, on paper West Virginia appears to be an underdog once again. However, that's a role that Mountaineer head coach Chris Daugherty, of Wheeling Park relishes.

"I talked a little about being an underdog because it always feels like West Virginia is always cast in that role," he said. "Even though we've done alright in the last 15 years or so, I didn't dwell on it. Let’s just get ready to play some football."

Ohio holds a 46-31-2 advantage in the all-time series which dates back to 1940. However, over the last decade, West Virginia has won six of the 10 games played - there was no game in 2020 due to COVID - including three of the last four - the 2024 game ended in a 13-13 tie.

What will it take to win the game?

"I think we are going to have to play really good defense and try to eliminate the big plays," Daugherty admitted. "As much as they might try to run the ball, they are going to go after the splash plays. Hopefully, we can eliminate those things.

"Offensively, we must keep the ball and take care of it," he added. "We have to come up with some explosive plays offensively, as well."

Coming Together

"You try to install your offense and your defense, but then you have to adapt to what the kids can do. We'd like for a kid to be able to drop and cover defensively, but if he can't, then we'll keep him closer to the line of scrimmage. We're going to bring you more," Daugherty said. "We just want to build off of what they can do, so learning each and every players' strengths and weaknesses this week was a big part of what we tried to accomplish.

"I'm happy with the progress we made during the week," he added. "I felt we could have probably played yesterday (Thursday) and definitely today," he said Friday after practice.

Size Disadvantage?

"I feel at Wheeling Park that we find ourselves outmatched size-wise in some games, so for me it doesn't feel any different," Daugherty noted. "I don't always think bigger is better. Sometimes bigger can be slower. Sometimes speed is better against a smaller team.

"But you never know. I've been part of bigger teams that have just pushed the other team around and you can't stop it, so I'm pretty sure that is what Ohio will try and do knowing Brett and the talent they have up front."

Knowing One Another

While the Mountaineers are decidedly smaller than the Buckeyes, Daugherty is hopeful that having several players from the same school can help overcome that.

Seven West Virginia offensive and/or defensive linemen hail from Wheeling Park or Brooke, with a pair of brothers - one from each school - starting at both tackles.

"We're not going to be as big as the players across from us, but I think we gain some familiarity with players that have lined up next to each other during their high school seasons," Daugherty said. "That does help a lot to have a guard-tackle combo that has been together for two or three years. That helps them in a short week of preparations.

"We are an outside zone (running game) and that is a hard element to teach," he continued. "If a kid didn't do that in high school, it's tough to learn it in a week, but having those guys that are familiar with each other is a blessing."

Wheeling Park's Liam Waldeck and Brooke's Jude Blake are the sons of Nathan Blake. According to Daugherty, both will start at tackle Saturday night.

"They are both great kids."

All Healthy

Daugherty, like his counterpart in Ohio's Brett McLean, reported no injuries during the week.