WVU Football’s Gold-Blue Spring Festival was, without a doubt, a success. A crowd of over 18,000 fans showed out and were active throughout the entire day, whether it was for the scrimmage, entertainment options outside the stadium, or the Jake Owen concert afterwards.
The festival was the first of its kind for West Virginia, and exactly what the program needed to spark some excitement following last year’s disappointing season. Read more: Evaluating WVU’s top Spring Festival performers.
Aside from all the extra festivities WVU offered at the event, there was a lot to take away from the play on the field. Let’s take a look at some of the standout performers, who they are, and how they got to Morgantown.
Familiar Faces
Max Brown
By now, you have likely heard about the performances of Scotty Fox Jr. and Michael Hawkins Jr. If not, make sure to go here to get a deeper analysis of their performances at the spring game.
Instead, I’m going to talk a little more about Max Brown. The redshirt senior showed a lot of growth and potential that many WVU fans have not had the chance to see since he came to Morgantown last year.
Brown started his career at Florida, where he spent two seasons. After redshirting his second season with the Gators, the Oklahoma native took his talents to Charlotte University in 2024.
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Despite getting injured in Week two, Brown was playing at a high level in his lone season with the 49ers. He threw for 561 yards and three touchdowns while also adding 72 yards on the ground.
After one season at Charlotte, Brown decided to return to a Power 4 school and transfer to WVU last season.
He didn’t play much in 2025, seeing action in just two games. However, his strong performance in the spring game showed that he’s going to be a contender in the quarterback battle.
Andre Devine
Andrew Devine, the son of West Virginia Hall of Fame running back Noel Devine, returned for a second year with WVU and got a lot of opportunities in the spring game.
He had five carries in the scrimmage, which was tied for the most among all players. While he only finished with five yards unofficially, the number of carries he was given shows the coaching staff is at the very least intrigued by his potential.
Devine came to WVU in 2024 and spent the 2025 season as a redshirt. He has yet to play an offensive snap for the Mountaineers.
However, beyond Cam Cook, there is a lot of uncertainty in the running back room. It’s a completely new group, so every other player in that group has a fighting chance to secure the lead backup role.
Devine was originally recruited to go to Jacksonville State, but once Rich Rodriguez took the job at West Virginia, the older Devine fought for his son to follow in his footsteps and go to WVU.
It’ll be quite difficult to have the career that his father had, but Andre could just find himself in a bigger role this season as the year progresses.
New Faces
DJ Epps
In terms of a group that stood out the most in the spring game, the wide receivers had arguably the best performance of any of them.
One of the standouts was DJ Epps, a transfer from Troy University. He only had one catch, but he took that one grab over 20 yards into the endzone.
The redshirt senior has great hands and, just like he showed in the spring game, elite yards after the catch ability. Rodriguez has already hinted that he is likely to start in the slot.
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Epps played his first four years all at Troy. 2024 was his breakout year, though, where he finished with a team-high 47 catches. He was second with 512 receiving yards, and his five touchdowns tied a team-high as well.
Now in his fifth year, Epps has found himself in a prime opportunity to showcase his talents at a bigger stage. He has the ability to be one of the most productive players in WVU’s wide receiver room this season.
Keon Hutchins
Another new face to the wide receiver room who stood out in the spring game was Keon Hutchins. One of the top WRs in JUCO last season, Hutchins transferred to WVU from Northwest Mississippi CC.
Hutchin had a breakout year last season, finishing with 35 catches, 667 yards, and six touchdowns. In response, he was named to the NJCAA D1 All-American Honourable Mention Offense team.
Just like Epps, Hutchins is another new face who has a good opportunity to carve out a big role for himself in WVU’s offense.
The only concern is that it will be his first season at not only a Power 4 conference, but also at the Division 1 level.
Stay tuned
As West Virginia’s offseason progresses, make sure to stay up to date with news and emerging storylines at wvsportsnation.com
