MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Rich Rodriguez relished his first win back at West Virginia knowing that the Mountaineers need to do a better job of holding onto the football.

Nicco Marchiol ran for one touchdown and threw for another, Jahiem White had two short TD runs and West Virginia beat Robert Morris 45-3 on Saturday.

Heavy favorite West Virginia scored easily on possessions to start each half but struggled in between in the season opener for both teams.

The Mountaineers lost fumbles on three straight drives in the second quarter and let its Championship Subdivision opponent hang around for a while to the dismay of Rodriguez, who coached at West Virginia from 2001 to 2007 and was hired last December to take over for the fired Neal Brown. In all, the Mountaineers fumbled five times, losing four.

“Obviously, there's a lot of things to clean up and fix,” Rodriguez said. “But there's a lot of guys playing for the first time.”

West Virginia led just 10-3 at halftime before White had TD runs of 1 and 4 yards in the third quarter. The second score came after linebacker Reid Carrico recovered a fumble at the Robert Morris 24.

White rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries. He’s taken over the bulk of rushing load this season after splitting duties a year ago with the now-departed CJ Donaldson.

Marchiol was efficient and improved to 4-0 as a starter. The junior completed 17 of 20 passes for 224 yards, including a 46-yard TD toss to Cam Vaughn, who made an over-the-shoulder catch in stride down the right sideline. Vaughn, who came with Rodriguez from Jacksonville State, had seven catches for 127 yards.

Marchiol opened the scoring with a 10-yard TD run. The Mountaineers also got fourth-quarter TD runs of 26 yards from Cyncir Bowers and 59 yards from backup quarterback Scotty Fox Jr.

West Virginia sold out nearly 34,000 season tickets for Rodriguez's first season back, the most since joining the Big 12 in 2012. Saturday’s crowd was announced at 57,093, just shy of a sellout.

Like his first go-around, Rodriguez's approach remains the same: play fast. His run-based, no-huddle offense amassed 26 first downs and 625 total yards Saturday.

“I'm blessed to be back,” he said.

Vaughn caught three straight passes on a second-quarter drive but fumbled while hurdling a defender near the goal line. The ball was recovered in the end zone by Robert Morris for a touchback.

Later in the quarter, West Virginia’s Oran Singleton Jr. fumbled after a 12-yard run and Robert Morris recovered at the West Virginia 36, leading to a field goal. Mountaineers tight end Grayson Barnes also coughed up the ball after an 11-yard catch in the quarter.

Marchiol and Rodriguez both said there wasn't screaming in the lockerroom at halftime, just a resolve to turn things around in the second half.

“Fumbles are a part of the game,” Marchiol said. “Coach Rod kind of had the same message to us at halftime, it's that we got it out of our system.”

Rodriguez said in retrospect that he wished he had conducted more live drills with tackling in preseason practices.

“That's a lesson learned,” Rodriguez said.

Robert Morris: The Colonials punted 11 times, were limited to 123 yards of offense and lost their eighth straight season opener.

“If we played the second half like the first half, maybe I'd be a little more excited,” said Robert Morris coach Bernard Clark Jr.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers had nine penalties for 69 yards and will need to focus on holding onto the ball.

Robert Morris: Plays at Youngstown State next Saturday.

West Virginia: Travels to Ohio next Saturday.

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