Sew

Following Saturday’s win, and after saying he thought the offense should have called inside zone maybe one time on the goal line after inside zoning the way there, West Virginia center Tyler Orlosky added that the right side of the offensive line is more physical and thus better at run blocking than the left side.

He’s quite likely right. You want superior pass protection on the quarterback’s blind side, and that’s the left side for right-handed Skyler Howard. And WVU’s left side has an erstwhile backup guard starting at left guard and a starting left guard playing left tackle. Tony Matteo and Adam Pankey have nothing to apologize for, to be clear. They’re just fine where they are.

Still, it was intriguing to hear the never-muted Orlosky say this. He’s literally in the middle of it, so you think he’d play it down the middle. Plus, the right side has Kyle Bosch, who is a brute, at guard, and Colton McKivitz, who is a redshirt freshman, at tackle. McKivitz’s role was escalated when Yodny Cajuste was lost for the season in the first quarter of the first game. But McKivitz won the left tackle job and then lost it when Pankey was eligibile and then won the right tackle job when Marcell Lazard opened the door.

McKivitz has made himself an asset again, though, and his uptick coincides with a challenge issued by Bosch — in the parking lot after practice.

“He needed to mature,” Bosch said. “He needs to mature. He’s a redshirt freshman. It’s growing pains.”

“He was right,” McKivitz said.

McKivitz is in line to make his fifth straight start in Saturday’s noon Fox Sports 1 game at Texas (5-4, 3-3). He hasn’t been a liability lately, and Crook said McKivitz gets better and tougher every day.

“The thing that we talk a lot about is you have to trust the guy who lines up besides you,” Crook said. “If you don’t, there are going to be some issues and there are times you have to get things ironed out amongst yourselves.

“I didn’t realize that conversation was in the parking lot, but it was a case of, ‘Hey, here’s what you need to do, here’s what I need to see from you so I can trust you.’ And I’m sure Colton said a few things back.”