Photo courtesy of BlueGoldNews.com WVU’s Tyrin Bradley (8) and TJ Jackson (11) celebrate a tackle for a loss last Saturday against Pitt.
MORGANTOWN — It’s not something you see often in big-time football when a Power 4 conference gives a player of the week award to a losing team, but that’s why TJ Jackson caught the Big 12’s attention this week.
Not only was he playing for a team that lost at the Backyard Brawl in West Virginia, but he was also playing defense for a team that gave up 38 points and failed to hold a 10-point lead in the final four minutes of the game in a heartbreaking loss to Pittsburgh.
But when the conference searched for a player to be named Newcomer of the Week, there was no other candidate than Jackson, a defensive lineman who transferred from Troy during his final collegiate season and made his first start for the Mountaineers.
Jackson dominated play on the defensive line from the very beginning of the game and took full advantage of his opportunity to start after senior Eddie Vseterinen suffered a potentially season-ending injury in last week’s game at Albany, opening the game with a spectacular tackle for loss on the first play of the game followed by pressure on the quarterback.
By game’s end, he had six tackles, four for loss and 1.5 sacks, though it looked like he’d lost another along the way. He spent as much time in Cincinnati’s backfield as he did the quarterback, mostly chasing quarterback Eli Holstein or containing speedy running back Desmond Reed, who led the nation in total yards but was completely drained on the ground.
You’d think the affable Jackson would be running on adrenaline after his first start and getting off to a fast start, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, the exact opposite happened.
“I don’t really like to exalt or devalue myself.” Jackson explained. “I’m the kind of guy who, when I’m in a good or bad mood, I can’t stay focused and my play gets worse.”
So he approached his first Power 4 start with a calm mind.
“I wouldn’t say I was nervous. I was a little nervous. This is my first big game against a rival, other than the Penn State game, and this time I was a starter.” He said.
Pittsburgh was surprised by their complete lack of ability to block for him, but West Virginia knew what he was capable of from the get-go, having brought him over from Neal Brown’s school.
“He’s different from a lot of players I’ve coached.” “We’re going to have a tough time,” defensive line coach Andrew Jackson said before the season. “I don’t know what kind of player he’ll be at this level, but he’s a football player by definition. He does a lot to help us on special teams, whether it’s punt blocking, punt shielding, being on the end of kickoff returns. When we’re all messing around in ball drills, he catches the ball really well. He’s got great handles and great lateral quickness. He’s the very definition of a football player.”
What Andrew Jackson was trying to say is that Jackson has unique athleticism, especially in his quickness and balance, and he reminds the coaching staff of All-American Darius Stills at West Virginia a few years ago.
Jackson missed 2020 after a medical redshirt at Troy but was a starter the past two seasons when Troy went 23-5.
“When he came in I knew he was going to be a good player.” “He’s a great player,” said Mountaineers center Brandon Yates, who often plays against him in practice. “He walks the field and exudes the essence of a good defensive lineman. He’s fast. He’s got quick hands. He’s agile and smooth on his feet.”
Yates was talking about TJ Jackson, but he could have been talking about Michael Jackson, the greatest entertainer of all time.
Jackson came into the game full of confidence.
“After watching the film, I knew we could beat them with speed.” He said.
What he didn’t know was that Holsteins would run away from the pressure and become a real challenge to handle.
“He’s 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, so I think he’s a pretty big quarterback. He was kind of tough to take down.” Jackson said. “I didn’t expect him to run around like that. When I first saw him running, I was kind of surprised. When I saw the footage, I’d never seen him run like that.”
Of course, things will likely play out more of the same way this Saturday. Kansas comes to Mountaineer Field for a noon game. Their quarterback, Jaron Daniels, is also a two-way player. He’s just returning from last year’s injury and hasn’t quite reached the level he was at when he was named the Big 12’s preseason offensive player of the year in 2023.
The central focus of the game plan against Pittsburgh was running back Reed, and with Jackson at the point, they contained him. Reed was held to just 26 yards rushing and just 50 pass catches last week before each surpassing 100 yards.
“Keep him locked up.” “It was a game plan,” Jackson said of the game plan. “When he gets the ball, don’t let him make a move, because he’s very agile. If you let three guys get away, you let one guy get away. Our game plan was to rally around the ball and not let him make a move.”
In fact, Reed’s presence played a major role in the 30-yard touchdown pass on second down that changed the course of the game, even though he wasn’t involved in the play.
“The Cincinnati game saw Cincinnati drop back eight yards, drop the ball behind him and let him run, giving him a 60- or 70-yard touchdown run.” Defensive coordinator Jordan Leslie explained: “We weren’t going to let that happen, no matter what the situation.”
“I think they threw him a pass once during the game and it went about 20 yards. He missed the tackle. I wasn’t going to let them throw the ball backwards in that situation. Whether it was right or wrong or whatever, hindsight is 20-20 and the quarterback is always right on Monday morning, but I take responsibility for that.”
“That was the game plan before the game and we stuck to it. In a fast-paced situation, you have to give instructions to your opponent, get them lined up and go on the offensive. That’s the way I chose to play. If I had to do it over again, I probably would have done it differently, but those opportunities don’t come around very often.”
So they were more worried about Reed making a big play on a short pass on a second-down, 30-yard call than they were about throwing a deep pass for a touchdown.
