in 2004, dykes worked his way into the starting lineup as a redshirt freshman. he recorded 37 tackles, six for a loss, and had two sacks on the season. in 2005, he started all 13 games. he started the season off with three tackles against syracuse and wofford, followed by four tackles in the win against maryland. he had three tackles, two for a loss, and a sack against east carolina followed by four tackles, 2.5 for a loss, against rutgers. he then had a pair of sacks in the uconn win, then two tackles against cincinnati. he finished out the season with three tackles and a tackle for a loss against south florida. as a junior in 2006, he led a strong mountaineer rush defense with linebacker boo mclee and safety eric wicks that played poorly on pass coverage during the second half of the season. dykes had 32 tackles on the season, 5.5 tackles for a loss. he also had 3 sacks on the season. the rush defense, allowed just 93.3 rushing yards per game, but was not helped by a pass defense that let 243.3 passing yards get by per game with 17 passing touchdowns being scored on the defense. he was named first-team all-big east at the end of the season, along with wicks and mclee. going into 2007, dykes led a mountaineers defense that was expected to improve dramatically with pass coverage, with the return of senior safety (eric) wicks and sophomore star safety quinton andrews. dykes and wicks were both selected a preseason first-team all-big east selections, while dykes was selected as the #7 defensive tackle in the nation by "lindy's" and wicks was selected as the #7 safety. in the second game of the season against marshall, dykes recorded 2.5 tackles against rimington candidate doug legursky. against syracuse at the carrier dome, dykes had an interception that he took 19 yards for a touchdown. it was the first time a defensive lineman had scored at west virginia since 1981. in his final game as a mountaineer, the 48-28 victory in the fiesta bowl against oklahoma, he recorded one tackle. he finished the season with 23 tackles, one sack, one interception, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and a defensive touchdown.