West Virginia is headed to Fort Worth with an offense that can light up the scoreboard in a hurry, and TCU is about to find out how much damage the Mountaineers can do if their playmakers get rolling.
The Mountaineers snapped a three-game losing streak Saturday with a 45-42 win over Cincinnati, thanks to a game-winning 35-yard field goal as time expired. That finish gave West Virginia a much-needed boost, but the bigger story is what this team brings into the Big 12 matchup: one of the conference’s most productive offenses and a defense that has had a hard time keeping pace.
West Virginia has scored 263 total points this season, second-most in the Big 12, and its 37.6 points per game rank fourth in the league. That kind of production starts with quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., who just delivered a 464-yard passing performance against Cincinnati.
That was a huge leap from what he had shown earlier in the year. Before that game, Hawkins had not topped 230 passing yards in any contest this season, and he completed only 43.8% of his throws across games against Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Arizona.
He has thrown just one interception, though, and the Mountaineers will be hoping that his latest outing is a sign of what’s ahead.
Hawkins is dangerous in ways that go far beyond his arm. He has rushed for 749 yards and leads the FBS with 14 rushing touchdowns, giving West Virginia the kind of dual-threat weapon that can wreck a defensive plan in a hurry. His ability to stress a defense on both levels is part of what makes this matchup so tricky for the Frogs, even with TCU’s strong run defense.
And Hawkins is not doing it alone.
West Virginia’s backfield also features Cam Cook, who returns to Fort Worth after beginning his college career at TCU. The senior spent two seasons with the Horned Frogs, piling up 518 rushing yards and nine touchdowns before entering the transfer portal and landing at Jacksonville State.
He made a big splash there, finishing as the FBS rushing leader with 1,659 yards in 2025. After that success, he entered the portal again and ended up at West Virginia.
Cook has stayed productive with the Mountaineers, rushing for 833 yards this season to rank fifth nationally in total rushing yards. He helped West Virginia jump out to a 3-0 start and kept producing once conference play began.
His first three Big 12 games were especially strong, though Cincinnati did slow him down: Cook finished with 15 carries for 40 yards, a 2.7-yard average and a long run of seven yards. Even so, he still made a major impact in the passing game, hauling in a 40-yard touchdown that tied the score at 42 with 3:44 left.
That kind of versatility is part of what makes West Virginia so dangerous. If Saturday turns into a slower, tighter game, the Mountaineers could lean hard on Cook to keep moving the chains and control the tempo.
Another name TCU has to account for is DJ Epps. He leads West Virginia with 556 receiving yards and five touchdown catches, and his 25.3 yards per reception leads the FBS. He brings a big-play element that can punish any defense that gets caught staring too long at the backfield.
The problem for West Virginia is that its offense has often had to cover for a defense that has struggled all season. The Mountaineers are last in the Big 12 in scoring defense, giving up 34 points per game, and they also rank last in total defense at 483.9 yards allowed per game.
Against the pass, the numbers are even more glaring: West Virginia is allowing 310.1 passing yards per game, worst in the conference. Its rushing defense sits 15th in the Big 12 at 173.7 yards allowed per game.
That has left the Mountaineers in a familiar spot: plenty of firepower, not nearly enough help on the other side of the ball.
“We have no identity,” head coach Rich Rodriguez said on his Monday night radio show, according to WV Sports Now.
TCU will try to make West Virginia pay for those defensive issues after showing some progress of its own on that side of the ball. The Horned Frogs held Baylor to two field goals in Saturday’s 17-6 win, limiting the Bears to 87 offensive plays and keeping them out of the end zone entirely. Their defense has been in a groove over the last two games, and that trend could carry into another demanding test.
Hawkins and Cook make this a difficult assignment no matter what, and defensive coordinator Andy Avalos will have to find a way to keep West Virginia’s most dangerous pieces from taking over. If the Frogs can keep the Mountaineers from turning this into a track meet, they’ll give themselves a real shot to control the game. If not, West Virginia has enough offensive punch to make things interesting fast.
In Other News...
TCU Suddenly Has A Chance To Prove Baylor Was More Than A Blip
TCU has again started to look like the kind of team Sonny Dykes has talked about building in Fort Worth, one that finds another gear once the calendar turns deeper into league play. After a 3-3 start, the Horned Frogs have won two of their last three, and the win over Baylor fit the pattern of late-season traction they showed in each of the past two years. It is the sort of stretch that can make an early wobble feel less like a problem and more like a temporary detour.
The next chance to keep that momentum rolling comes against West Virginia, and the matchup offers TCU a clear opportunity to keep stacking evidence that Baylor was not a one-off. Before the BYU game, the team held a players-only meeting, and players say it helped unify and motivate the group. Now the Horned Frogs get a defense that has struggled badly in Big 12 play, giving them a chance to turn a promising run into something more convincing. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Heads Into Tough Road Stretch With One Problem To Fix
After Baylors 17-6 loss to TCU, Dave Aranda spent part of his postgame attention on what comes next, and the answer is a tricky road test against Kansas. Aranda said the Jayhawks bring a versatile offense that can stress a defense in a number of ways, with both the run game and the quarterback element creating problems. For a Baylor team that has generally been stout against the run this season, the challenge is less about attitude than about matching that discipline over another tough stretch away from home.
The bigger concern may be on the other side of the ball, where Baylor has to find a way to get unstuck after an offense that sputtered against TCU. Aranda pointed to the teams issues in getting the ground game going and sustaining drives, and he made it clear that the offense needs to be sharper with consecutive road games looming. Against a Kansas defense that can make opponents earn everything, Baylor cannot afford another sluggish night if it wants to keep this trip from snowballing. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Faces A Familiar Threat As West Virginia Brings Serious Firepower
West Virginia brings a strange mix of danger and opportunity into its matchup with TCU, because the Mountaineers have found real production on offense while still leaving plenty of cracks for an opponent to attack. The biggest concern for the Horned Frogs may be the ground game, where West Virginia has leaned heavily on a back who once wore TCU colors and has become the centerpiece of the attack since moving on.
The quarterback play adds another layer to the challenge, with West Virginia getting strong results under center while its defense remains vulnerable in ways TCU will notice quickly. The Mountaineers have been beaten up in scoring defense and total yards allowed, so this feels like one of those games where the Frogs have to decide whether to chase the matchups obvious weakness or spend most of their attention trying to slow down the familiar threat coming back to haunt them. [Read more 🡒]