MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia recorded its first and only interception to this point in the season during last week’s 16-13 loss at Oklahoma.
Jackie Matthews, who has been a valuable and versatile piece of the secondary, made a diving grab to give the Mountaineers their first pick in their 14th quarter of play.
While Matthews’ pick along the sideline is worth a second look, the play would never have been possible were it not for a deflection from cornerback Daryl Porter Jr.
Porter had a near-perfect read on Sooners’ quarterback Spencer Rattler, who was looking for wideout Drake Stoops on a 15-yard post corner. Porter undercut the route and got his hands on the ball, nearly making the interception himself before Matthews could bring it in.
It was part of a strong performance for the 5-foot-10, 185-pound redshirt freshman cornerback, whose fourth start this season was also the fourth of his career.
“Saturday was one of the first times I have seen Daryl play with a lot of confidence,” WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “Daryl is not the biggest guy. Sometimes you look at that, and you’re like that’s why. But he didn’t blink and Oklahoma is as good as anybody in the country at receiver.”
Porter has already come a long way in his first month as a starter after he played sparingly in six games last season, much of which was on special teams.
During the season opener at Maryland, Porter got caught peaking in the backfield on what became the first touchdown West Virginia allowed — a 66-yard pass from Taulia Tagovailoa to Dontay Demus, who raced by Porter before hauling in the long score.
“I would credit DP to just keeping that confidence within himself,” WVU senior safety Alonzo Addae said. “He came out in the first game and that was really his first action. As the season has gone on, he’s been able to still play with great confidence. DP is a great young player for us. I know he’s watching the film with [head] coach [Neal] Brown and getting better each and every week.”
When Dreshun Miller opted to transfer to Auburn after being one of the top performers in the Mountaineers’ secondary last season, a starting spot opened at cornerback opposite of Nicktroy Fortune.
It was all but certain it would be occupied by either Porter or Matthews.
Porter’s play throughout spring practice and preseason camp left a strong enough impression on the coaching staff that he won that starting spot, though Matthews has more than proven he belongs while filling various roles.
Because of his lack of experience, there was doubt as to whether Porter was ready to be a starter. Demus’ long touchdown and miscommunications within the secondary, including one that led to Rakim Jarrett’s 60-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter, created even more uncertainty following the Maryland game.
Perhaps Porter wasn’t quite ready then, though he appears to be now.
“In almost every press conference, I always come back to guys in that group that were whatever a covid freshman is, but they don’t go through a normal freshman year,” Lesley said. “Now you start to the see the growth that they would have in a normal year and that he would normally be ahead of where he is.”
West Virginia’s defensive line certainly did its part in slowing down Rattler and limiting the Sooners to one touchdown, but the secondary was an important factor in that as well.
Pro Football Focus graded spear Scottie Young as West Virginia’s top defender against OU with a rating of 78. Porter was second at 73.3
“The game starts to slow down and you start to see that growth and with that comes confidence,” Lesley said. “Saturday was the first time I’d seen daryl play that way. In the atmosphere, anybody plays up to that and the magnitude of the game. Hopefully he can continue that.”
Porter’s next test comes at 3:30 p.m. Saturday when WVU welcomes Texas Tech for the Big 12 Conference home opener.
After losing quarterback Tyler Shough to a broken collarbone in last week’s loss at Texas, the Red Raiders will feature Henry Colombi behind center.
Colombi helped lead Tech to a win over West Virginia last season and is sure to often look the way of 6-3 wideout Erik Ezukanma, who is 13th in the FBS with 406 receiving yards to go with 23 receptions.
“He’s a big-time player,” Brown said. “He’s a great player. I put him up there with those guys at Maryland, maybe better. I don’t know. But he’s really good and they do a good job getting him the ball. They target him a bunch.”