West Virginia had a very different mood around it not long ago. On September 25, the Mountaineers were 3-0, fresh off a ranked win over Virginia and drawing votes in the AP Poll. A gold rush night in Morgantown felt like the kind of stage where WVU might push back toward the national conversation.
Fifteen days later, that feeling is gone. The gold rush game started a three-game skid that has since included losses to Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Arizona. The frustration from the fan base is obvious, and Rich Rodriguez does not sound any happier about the state of the defense.
What makes the collapse so jarring is that the offense has not been the problem. Over the last three games, West Virginia has averaged 502.33 yards, 32.33 points, 309.33 rushing yards, and 25.33 first downs per game.
Those are winning numbers almost anywhere else. At WVU, they’ve somehow been paired with three straight losses.
That mismatch tells the story. The Mountaineers have been good enough to move the ball, run it at a high level, and pile up yardage, but the defense has turned every game into a chase.
The source material points back to week one, when Coastal Carolina scored 24 points in the second half, as the first warning sign. Since then, there hasn’t been real improvement.
Against Arizona, Zac Alley moved to the booth to call plays, but the result did not change much. Arizona scored 52 points and could have done even more damage. At this point, it sounds like confidence in Alley has faded inside the program, and the bigger question is who would be next if a change is made.
The problems appear bigger than one coordinator, too. The defensive staff seems to have missed on talent evaluation in the offseason, and the issues look rooted in both scheme and personnel. That combination is why a midseason coordinator switch is unlikely to be a cure-all.
Still, there is at least some reason to keep looking forward. West Virginia is only halfway through the season, and the offense has been strong enough to keep hope alive.
The special teams have generally held up as well, aside from a few shanked punts. That means two of the three phases are doing their job.
The schedule also leaves room for recovery. Two of the three teams WVU has lost to, Arizona and Oklahoma State, are top-tier Big 12 teams.
Arizona’s only loss came against a top 10 BYU team, and both Arizona and Oklahoma State have elite offenses. Arizona also beat Cincinnati 34-7 the week before facing West Virginia, which matters because Cincinnati is one of the next two opponents on the schedule, along with a road game at TCU.
If the Mountaineers can win both of those games, bowl eligibility and even an 8-win season stay in play. A pair of victories heading into the bye could also change the tone for the back half of the schedule, where Utah, Texas Tech, and Houston are waiting. Texas Tech and Houston have both looked beatable, while Utah has been sharp but is still giving up points.
None of that will matter unless the defense gets better. Right now, that is the wall in front of WVU.
Without some kind of improvement on that side of the ball, even one more win becomes hard to imagine. And at this point, a change seems more and more likely to come.
In Other News...
Pitt Just Entered The Stretch That Will Define Its ACC Hopes
Pitts unbeaten start took its first hit with a loss to North Carolina, leaving the Panthers at 2-1 in ACC play and right in the middle of a conference race that already looks crowded. Several league teams are carrying similar records, so there is still little room for separation as the calendar turns toward the stretch that usually sorts out the contenders from the rest of the pack.
For Pitt, the next few ACC games now carry real weight, with Boston College and Miami among the opponents still ahead. The Panthers still have a path to the championship picture, but they will need to handle this run cleanly if they want their standing to stay meaningful once the conference race tightens again. [Read more 🡒]