Virginia knew exactly what it wanted to take away from Michael Hawkins Jr. It still could not stop the West Virginia quarterback.
Hawkins accounted for all five Mountaineers touchdowns in WVU’s 38-27 victory over No. 25 Virginia, finishing with 313 yards of total offense while repeatedly making plays in critical situations.
After the loss, Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott explained how Virginia attempted to defend Hawkins, according to Keara Bruno of CBS19 News. His answer made the performance look even more impressive for West Virginia’s new quarterback.
“We knew coming in that we wanted to make him one-dimensional if we could,” Elliott said. “But tonight, we struggled in some situations, and I thought when we did get into some third-and-long situations, he just made the more competitive play than we did.”
Virginia’s Plan for Michael Hawkins Jr. Never Materialized
Making Hawkins one-dimensional sounds simple in theory. Through three games, actually doing it has become considerably more difficult.
Hawkins completed 10 of 17 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns against Virginia while adding 123 yards and three more scores on 18 rushing attempts. He averaged 19 yards per completion and did not turn the ball over, forcing Virginia to respect both elements of his game throughout the night. Even when the Cavaliers created obvious passing situations, Hawkins continued finding answers.
Elliott specifically pointed toward what can happen when a defense fails to fit West Virginia’s rushing attack correctly. The Cavaliers knew one missed assignment could turn into an explosive play, but controlling the early downs did not necessarily solve the problem either.
“You saw that if you misfit it, kind of like we did early in the game, it goes for a touchdown,” Elliott said. “If you get them behind the chains, they can empty you out and create a lot of one-on-one matchups, and he just made the throws.”
Hawkins Keeps Giving WVU Reasons to Believe
Two of Hawkins’ biggest touchdown passes came on third-and-7 situations, both to DJ Epps. The first tied the game at 14, while the second gave West Virginia a 28-21 lead late in the third quarter that it would never surrender. Hawkins later connected with Jaden Bray for 38 yards under heavy pressure during another crucial fourth-quarter scoring drive.
Elliott ultimately put some of the responsibility on himself, saying Virginia needed to be better prepared to win those competitive situations. The admission is notable because Virginia did not enter Saturday without a plan for Hawkins. The Cavaliers knew what they wanted to force him to do, created some of those situations and still watched him deliver.
That might be the most encouraging part for Mountaineer fans. Opponents are already designing game plans specifically around Hawkins’ ability to hurt them with his legs. Against Virginia, he showed he can beat them with his arm anyway.
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