West Virginia’s late bye week doesn’t just give Rich Rodriguez and his staff a breather. It gives them time. Time to get ready for one of the Big 12’s better teams, and time to show up a little fresher than the stretch run’s other four opponents - Texas Tech, Kansas, Houston and Utah - all of whom have already had their open date.
That matters. But it also raises the obvious question on the other sideline: what has Joey McGuire’s Texas Tech history looked like when his team comes out of a bye?
Since taking over in 2022, McGuire has only had a handful of those situations to work with. In 2022 and 2023, there were none.
In 2024, his teams went 2-1 in three games after a bye, beating Iowa State 23-22, losing 27-41 to Colorado, and rolling to a 56-48 win at Oklahoma State. This season, Texas Tech opened the post-bye stretch with a 29-7 win over BYU.
That puts McGuire at 3-1 in those games, with the two most eye-catching wins coming against a very bad Oklahoma State team and a top-10 BYU squad the Red Raiders handled convincingly. At home, Texas Tech is 1-1 in those spots.
The longer view on Rodriguez is more expansive, and it tells a different kind of story. I checked his Division I head-coaching record coming off a bye, and it includes the full range: wins, losses, road upsets, and a couple of famous swings.
He opened in 2001 with a 34-14 win over Kent State before a 3-45 loss at No. 1 Miami.
The next year brought a 37-17 win over East Carolina and a 21-18 win at No. 13 Virginia Tech.
In 2003, he lost 20-22 at No. 2 Miami, then beat No.
3 Virginia Tech 28-7 at home. In 2004, he beat UConn 31-19 on the road and then fell 13-16 at Pitt.
In 2005, he beat UConn 45-13 and Pitt 45-13. In 2006, it was a 42-14 win at Mississippi State and a 34-44 loss at No.
5 Louisville. In 2007, he beat Mississippi State 38-13 and Louisville 38-31.
The later years keep the same pattern. In 2008, West Virginia beat No.
9 Wisconsin 27-25. In 2009, the bye came after all 12 games were already played.
In 2010, Penn State beat West Virginia 41-31. In 2012, Rodriguez beat Washington 52-17.
In 2013, he lost 13-31 at No. 16 Washington and 31-38 at USC.
In 2014, he pulled off one of the biggest results on the list, beating No. 2 Oregon 31-24 and then winning 59-37 at Washington State.
In 2015, the bye again came after the season ended. In 2016, Stanford won 34-10.
In 2017, Colorado lost 42-45.
Then came his latest run at West Virginia. In 2022, the Mountaineers beat North Alabama 47-31 and Eastern Kentucky 42-17 after a bye.
In 2023, they beat Eastern Michigan 21-0 and Louisiana Tech 56-17. In 2024, they won 63-24 at Kennesaw State and 42-20 against Middle Tennessee State.
Taken together, Rodriguez is 21-10 (.677) off a bye, with a 14-2 (.875) mark at home and a 7-8 (.466) record on the road. Against Top 25 teams, he’s 4-5 (.444).
Even if Texas Tech loses to Arizona this weekend, the Red Raiders likely still stay ranked. And one more wrinkle tilts toward West Virginia: Rodriguez is 2-4 on the road against ranked teams after a bye.
The two wins were at No. 13 Virginia Tech in 2002 and the shocker at No.
2 Oregon in 2014.
There’s also the current form of Texas Tech’s offense to consider. It has sputtered enough that backup quarterback Tommy Castellanos is getting more reps. West Virginia, meanwhile, brings one of the most explosive offenses in the country, powered by a ground game that hasn’t been stopped yet.
In Other News...
West Virginias Rotation Is Taking Shape But A Key Battle Isnt Over
West Virginias preseason exhibitions have given Ross Hodge a clearer look at how his first Mountaineers rotation might settle in, and the early signs suggest a compact core is already separating itself from the pack. Hodge has leaned on a group he trusts, using the exhibitions to sort through a roster that looks deeper and more versatile than the average preseason group, while also getting a better read on which players can help in meaningful minutes once the games start counting.
Still, the picture is not fully set, because there are players on the edge of the rotation who have at least made the decision more complicated. The Mountaineers have enough pieces to mix and match, and that kind of flexibility can be a strength, but it also means the final pecking order is still being fought over behind the scenes. For a team trying to build identity early, the most interesting question may be less about who starts and more about who earns a lasting role once the roster trims down to its true eight or nine. [Read more 🡒]
Ross Hodge Sent An Early Message To West Virginias Young Frontcourt
The first real teaching moment of the Ross Hodge era arrived quickly for West Virginias young frontcourt. In an exhibition against Wheeling, freshman Aliou Dioum was whistled for a technical foul after hanging on the rim following a dunk, and Hodge made sure the message was delivered immediately on the floor. It was the kind of correction that can get lost in a preseason tuneup, but for a staff trying to establish standards early, it clearly mattered.
Dioum stayed in the game and still made his presence felt, finishing with seven points, two rebounds and two blocks in seven minutes. Even in a non-competitive setting, Hodge treated the sequence as a reminder that habits count, especially for a group of young bigs learning how to operate within the details. For West Virginia, it was a small moment with a larger purpose, the sort of baseline expectation that can define how the frontcourt develops from here. [Read more 🡒]
WVUs Defensive Ceiling Looks Shakier Than Fans Wanted To Admit
West Virginias defensive profile has become harder to gloss over as the Big 12 schedule has worn on. A look at the Pro Football Focus grades and snap counts shows a unit with only a few players grading above 70, which is a pretty thin margin for error when the games get tighter and the competition gets more explosive. The struggles in that four-game stretch in conference play exposed how quickly things can slip when the back end is under pressure.
Geimere Latimer has been one of the steadier pieces, piling up a heavy snap load and holding up well overall. But the broader picture still points to a defense that has had trouble finding enough reliable play at safety, and that has left the passing game vulnerable in ways West Virginia could not afford. The question now is not whether the Mountaineers have some individual pieces to build around, but whether the ceiling of the unit is lower than many hoped heading into the season. [Read more 🡒]