Late Thursday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers submitted a new availability report for this week's game against Cincinnati, and there's a bunch of good news that came with it.
All five of the players who were listed as probable — RB Lawrence Autry, WR John Neider, EDGE Harper Holloman, LB Ashton Woods, and S Matt Sieg — have been removed, meaning they are good to go.
Also, a bit of unexpected news is that starting cornerback Nick Taylor now has a chance to play, having been upgraded from "doubtful" to "questionable". Taylor did not play in last week's game against Arizona, and while his presence wouldn't have made a huge difference given how the rest of the unit played, his absence surely didn't help the matter.
West Virginia's Thursday night availability report
OUT
RB Andre Devine
RB Chris Talley
WR Armoni Weaver-Bomar
N/S Emory Snyder
DL Darius Wiley
S Da'Mare Williams
QUESTIONABLE
CB Nick Taylor
Cincinnati's Thursday night availability report
OUT
TE DaMari Witherspoon
OT Aiden Pastoriza
S D'Angelo Hutchinson
Getting Taylor back would be a welcomed sight for a struggling defense
I'm well aware that Cincinnati is going to want to be hell-bent on running the football, but still, Taylor can make an impact in this game, even in run support. There isn't a more physical player on that side of the ball for the Mountaineers than Taylor. He has no problem sticking his face in the fan and doing some of the dirty work if it means his teammate can make a play. He'll blow up a blocker on the perimeter so his fellow defensive back can make the tackle in a pure 1-on-1 situation rather than having to fight around a blocker.
IF Taylor can't go, West Virginia may look to try some new things at the position, opposite of Chams Diange. Jason Chambers has played a bunch there the past two weeks and has had his fair share of struggles. Keyshawn Robinson has been rotated in some too, but hasn't necessarily lit the world on fire just yet. He needs more reps and time to develop. They have been moving some guys around in the back end, and there's a chance a converted safety starts in place of Taylor if he's unable to suit up.
West Virginia and Cincinnati will submit their next availability report tonight at 10 p.m. ET. The Mountaineers and Bearcats are slated to kick things off in Morgantown at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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