Rich Rodriguez isn’t sugarcoating West Virginia’s defensive mess. He’s telling it straight: the Mountaineers have reached a point where the issues are bigger than one bad game, one bad call, or one bad stretch. They’ve spent the last two weeks giving up more than 1,100 yards and 86 points, and the head coach sounds like a man trying to strip everything back and figure out what actually works.
That reset mindset was clear in his latest comments. After early cracks showed up in the first few games, Rodriguez said the Oklahoma State loss at home pushed the staff to take a harder look at everything.
“There were cracks defensively in the first couple of ballgames, and we were still winning, but obviously the Oklahoma State game at home was terrible, and then followed it up with another one, so we’re like, let’s scrape it all down to the studs and let’s see exactly what we got to do to fix it," WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I’ve got good players. I know my coaches are working hard at it, and we’re going to do everything we can to get it right because we can’t play defense like that and beat anybody, let alone people in our league that have good offenses.”
The timing matters, because West Virginia is about to run into another dangerous offense. Arizona comes to Morgantown this weekend, and the Wildcats bring veteran quarterback Noah Fifita, who leads the Big 12 in passing with 1,415 yards.
Rodriguez pointed to scheme as part of the problem, but he didn’t stop there. He made it clear that the way players are being asked to operate has to be part of the conversation, too.
“Part of it is scheme," Rodriguez said. "When you just say, ‘Hey, line up in a 3-technique or 5-technique, beat the guy,’ that’s one thing.
But there are different schemes of being asked to get a little bit thicker on it or there’s sometimes they are going to get blocked and take up the blocks for the backers. I don’t think our interior d-line wasn’t that bad, although I don’t think anybody on our defense played that well.
The defensive ends didn’t have a whole lot of disruption, but some of it was where we were putting them at, eating up some blocks. There’s not really one thing that we’re doing well and not one position group that’s playing as well as we’d like, but some of it is us trying to get them freed up in the future.”
He also sounded as if he’s asking for sharper coaching language, not just more coaching. Rodriguez said the staff has to be far more specific when it tells players where to line up and how to execute.
“It’s some simple stuff, like where we’re lining up. Like, they might be lined up in the right spot, but they’re way too deep, or they’re way too shallow, or they’re not in the right leverage.
Like if somebody says, ‘Well, move in a little bit.’ Well, for a coach, that’s not the right way to tell them.
What’s a little bit? Your little bit and my little bit might be different.
You have to clearly define what you mean by everything that you tell them. You can’t just say, ‘Close the gap a little bit.’
Well, what’s that mean? Close the gap three yards?
Six yards? Ten yards?
And to me, that goes to us as coaches. We got to be more definitive when we’re telling our guys what to do, and then if they can’t do it or won’t do it, it’s a player problem.”
That frustration seems to come from the fact that West Virginia is already deep enough into the season that the staff should know what this unit is and what it isn’t. Rodriguez said the basic, non-negotiable stuff still isn’t clean, and by this point in the year, there shouldn’t be any mystery left.
“There are things that are fundamentally that shouldn’t happen, no matter what the scheme is. You can say ‘Oh, you ran the wrong coverage,’ or ‘You’re in the wrong blitz,’ or whatever it is, but there is some fundamental stuff that we have to get corrected first.
And by this point, we should know what our guys can and can’t do well. A part of coaching is putting your guys in a position to have success, and if they’re not in that position to have success, then you got to call something else.
That’s always kind of a constant search in the first part of the year, but we’re five games in, so that search should be over. We’ve had fall camp, and we’ve had five games to figure that out.”
In Other News...
WVU Mourns Young Commit As Program Rallies Around His Family
Chris Wilson Jr., a defensive line commit in West Virginias class of 2027, was shot and killed in Muncie, Indiana, leaving the Mountaineers facing the kind of loss that reaches far beyond football. Rich Rodriguez and defensive line coach Deke Adams both publicly shared condolences for Wilsons family and the community around him, a reflection of how deeply the news landed inside the program even though he had not yet arrived on campus.
West Virginia is now working to support Wilsons family in the days ahead and plans to honor him during an upcoming home game. For a program still trying to build toward the future, the response around Wilson has underscored something more immediate and more human: the bonds that form as soon as a player is welcomed into the fold, and the responsibility that comes with them. [Read more 🡒]
Zac Alleys Brutal WVU Reality Check Puts Defense Under Pressure
West Virginias defense has taken some hard lessons in recent Big 12 play, and the numbers tell the story: 86 points and 1,186 yards of total offense allowed. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley didnt try to dodge the issue, instead pointing to the complexity of the scheme and the need to make things simpler so players can execute faster and more cleanly.
Alley also put the burden on himself, saying the staff has to do a better job helping the unit function at a higher level. The immediate emphasis has been clear enough, stop the run and put players in better position to use what they do best, but the bigger question is whether that reset can happen quickly enough to steady a defense that has been under constant pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rod Hints WVU Help Is Emerging In Two Key Spots
West Virginias staff is still sorting out where the next wave of help is going to come from, and the search is happening on both sides of the ball. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley has started rotating in new players, including freshman linebacker Antoine Sharp Jr., as the Mountaineers try to identify who can become reliable contributors rather than just emergency depth.
On offense, Rich Rodriguez pointed to several running backs and wide receivers who could earn more snaps, with NaQuari Rogers among the names worth watching after recently joining the program. Rogers is still getting comfortable with the system, but Rodriguez said his maturity has stood out in practice, along with the skills that made him an intriguing add as West Virginia looks for answers in a few key spots. [Read more 🡒]