West Virginia needs a full game against UT Martin, not a half

West Virginia plays UT Martin at 1 p.m. ET Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium on ESPN+, and the final score will not be the point. The Mountaineers led Coastal Carolina 24-0 at halftime last week, gave up 24 straight points and needed an 11-yard keeper from Michael Hawkins Jr. to win 31-24, as this site's recap noted.

The defense is the reason. West Virginia allowed 425 yards, 373 of them through the air, in a game it led by 24. Rich Rodriguez, still angry, called a staff meeting right after the game, something he said he had almost never done. "A lot of the stuff was avoidable. The discipline part was the problem," he said.

His diagnosis was coverage, not effort. Defenders were looking at the wrong things more than taking bad angles, he said. He also said the Mountaineers will play more people every game for the rest of the year, and the roster forced the issue: defensive lineman Darius Wiley is out for the season with a right knee injury.

UT Martin is 1-1 and will run at that front. Tommy Ansley has 179 yards and five touchdowns on 6.9 a carry through two games, per On3. The Skyhawks opened at No. 22 in FCS and lost 36-24 at home to Central Arkansas. Coach Jason Simpson blamed third down: the Bears went 10 of 15, his team 3 of 11.

The Skyhawks beat Chicago State 42-7 on Sept. 5 with six rushing touchdowns. Rodriguez said UT Martin runs plenty of run-pass options and is well coached. On3's Thursday preview listed West Virginia -39.5 with a 56.5 total and noted the Mountaineers are 23-0 all time against FCS opponents. The game is not on The Card, this site's picks product.

Vanderbilt and Delaware kick off at 4:15 p.m. ET at FirstBank Stadium on SEC Network, the first meeting between the schools. Vanderbilt is 1-0 after a 28-9 win over Austin Peay that lightning ended with 2:16 to play.

Blaze Berlowitz started and went 11 of 16 for 149 yards with a 7-yard rushing touchdown. Freshman Jared Curtis went 7 of 9 for 60 yards, and Clark Lea said both will play again.

Lea wants explosive plays. Vanderbilt opened with five straight runs against Austin Peay and forced no turnovers. "I think, in general, we need to get explosive offensively," he said. "I want to see Blaze have opportunities to go out and make plays."

Delaware, in its second FBS season in Conference USA, is 1-0 after a 42-7 win over Merrimack on Sept. 3 and has not played since. Quarterback Nick Minicucci threw two touchdowns and ran for another against Merrimack.

Lea said the game will come down to four quarters of discipline against what he called a really capable player. Cornerback Jaylin Lackey is out for Vanderbilt. The Card logged the game at Vanderbilt -21.5 opening and -20.5 when the card was generated Wednesday at 4:03 p.m. ET, DraftKings via ESPN, with the total down from 55.5 to 54.5.

The national game is No. 1 Ohio State at No. 4 Texas at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, which this site's morning desk previewed Friday. The Card had it open as a pick'em and sitting at Texas -1.5 as of Wednesday afternoon, with the total up from 47.5 to 48.5.

Tennessee at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, was previewed by this site's Nashville desk Friday, and The Card logged it at Tennessee -8.5 opening and -12.5 Wednesday.

Those two games come with rankings attached. Morgantown's stakes are plainer: Rodriguez called Hawkins a rookie in his system this week, and he wants the rookie's second start to end the way it begins.