MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia's football team's defensive front six on Saturday was effective throughout Saturday's season opener against Robert Morris.
The defensive starters in the box totaled 19 tackles, seven tackles for loss and four sacks.
A key piece to the Mountaineers' success in the 45-3 victory was defensive lineman Hammond Russell IV.
Russell posted four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
WVU held the Colonials to 123 yards of offense, only allowing eight first downs.
"How I did, I would say a B-plus. I had a few missed assignments, and I had a few mental errors," Russell said. "I think the defense, as a whole, I would say an A. We were flying around to the ball. I don't think we had any lows. No one was being soft. I think we did a pretty good job [of] playing the assignment and the scheme of [defensive coordinator] coach [Zac] Alley."
Russell arrived in Morgantown in 2021 after coming over from Dublin Coffman High School in Ohio.
The 6-foot-3, 312-pound defensive lineman spent his first three seasons with then-defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley and defensive line coach Andrew Jackson.
WVU made a midseason change from Lesley to Jeff Koonz last year.
Now, Russell has been learning from new defensive coordinator Zac Alley and defensive line coach William Green.
Russell doesn't feel much of a change with the new coaching staff, but he does think the aggression is more favorable to creating havoc.
"We're more of an attack," Russell said. "We're attacking you more, and we're not really reading you. For the defensive line, we're more of trying to make you play at the speed that we want you to play at. We're dictating how the game's being played."
When WVU coach Rich Rodriguez returned to the Mountaineers on Dec. 12, 2024 after being away for 17 years, many of former coach Neal Brown's players hit the NCAA transfer portal.
Some, like Russell, stuck around.
"Everybody loves him," Rodriguez said of Russell. "He's got a great personality. What I appreciate is when we got here, there's a transition and a lot of guys are like, 'I don't know if we're going to stay.' He not only stayed, but he helped encourage some of those other guys to stay too. He didn't have to do that. After I got to talk to him, I said, 'Hey, I would appreciate your help.' But, he was already helping and telling guys.
"He was one of the glue guys back in January to help with some of the guys on the staff."
Russell recalls that conversation with Rodriguez.
"That was important to me, because I had a meeting with coach Rod, and I asked him what his plan was. He wanted to win now," Russell said. "I was like, 'Well, of course I want to keep our guys. Let's keep as many guys as we could and definitely the guys who can play ball.' There are guys that know what to do that's been here in this program."
Russell hasn't always played on the defensive line.
The Mountaineer lineman played quarterback as a high school freshman.
Russell was rated a three-star defensive end coming out of high school by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports. ESPN tabbed him as the No. 80 defensive end in the nation and No. 23 player in Ohio.
The 6-foot-3 Mountaineer defensive end held offers from Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan State.
"In high school, I came in as a quarterback and never had played a defensive snap up until my sophomore year of high school," Russell said. "I got better each year in high school. Then, coming into college, everything was brand-new because all I knew in high school was to run straight. Once I got to college, I learned how to strike. [The previous staff] took their time with me. Every year, I progressed.
"This first game was different because the game slowed down for me a little bit. I was understanding what was going on."
WVU's defense will have a big task on Saturday against Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro.
Navarro posted more than 3,400 yards of offense last season.
Russell wants to see a significant stride from Game 1 to Game 2.
"[As a defensive] Line, how we're attacking blocks," Russell said. "You can see in the film, we're still stepping and not jumping out of our hips sometimes and not disengaging blocks fast enough, while staying in our gaps and having good gap integrity."
