West Virginia’s season can still go a lot of ways, but one thing is already clear: the Mountaineers have enough offense to keep themselves alive in just about every game they play.
That’s the encouraging part, because the other side of the ball has been a mess. Still, if you’re looking for a reason to believe this year won’t completely spiral, the attack is it. The Mountaineers are piling up production, leaning on a quarterback-running back combination that can tilt a game, and giving themselves a real path to compete even when the margins are ugly.
After five weeks, Cook has 652 rushing yards and Hawkins has 574, which puts them first and third in the Big 12, respectively. Had WVU held ISU running back Aiden Florda to 21 fewer yards on Saturday, Hawkins would have moved into second. That kind of ground game changes everything, especially when it’s paired with explosive plays through the air.
The offensive line still has work to do. It’s better than it was, but it’s not finished yet, and the longer the season goes, the more that group should settle in. If that happens, this offense could become the kind of unit that is very difficult to keep under 30 points.
Nobody wants to live in 49-42 or 38-35 territory, but that may be the reality for West Virginia this season. The alternative would be far worse: an offense that can’t carry its weight and a defense that is already the worst kind of liability. At least right now, that’s not the situation.
West Virginia can run the ball, and it can hit big plays in the passing game. That means it has a chance every week, even if the defense limits the ceiling. The ugly truth is that the defense might be so leaky that the Mountaineers only add two or three more wins the rest of the way, but the offense is good enough to keep hope on life support.
Special teams has done its part too. West Virginia hasn’t been tested much in kick coverage, but when it has, the unit has stayed disciplined and kept things from breaking loose.
Bryan Hansen has had a couple of shanks, but he’s also delivered some absolute rockets. Jack Cassidy has been excellent, and Matt Sieg has shown some flashes as a return threat.
That means West Virginia is doing real work in two of the three phases, which is a massive step from a year ago, when none of them were going well. Before Saturday’s outlier against Iowa State, the Mountaineers had also been among the least penalized teams in the country.
The fix isn’t complicated. The passing game isn’t the problem.
Special teams isn’t the problem. The offense isn’t the problem.
What West Virginia needs is for the defense to stop being Swiss cheese. It may not even have to become average in the Big 12 for this team to win games.
It just has to stop being a total breakdown waiting to happen.
The numbers back up the optimism. West Virginia ranks 20th nationally in yards per game at 458.8 and 27th in scoring at 33.8.
With that kind of output, the defense doesn’t have to be special. It just can’t be a complete disaster.
Even Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers said Hawkins made life miserable for his defense.
"Give a lot of credit to Michael Hawkins, their quarterback there. He took over the game, honestly, for a period of time.
We just couldn’t tackle him. What a hell of a player.
He’s done that to everybody thus far, and he’s going to be hard for opposing teams to defend him because he’s a mismatch in open space.”
And that’s the heart of it for West Virginia. Finding the quarterback position is hard, and Mountaineer fans have lived through that frustration for years.
Now they have a quarterback who can stress defenses, plus one of the nation’s best backs beside him. That combination gives WVU a shot every week, even if the rest of the picture is still a work in progress.
In Other News...
WVUs Defensive Collapse Is Raising Bigger Questions Than Fans Expected
West Virginias defensive struggles are no longer just a bad stretch, theyre becoming a real problem for a program trying to find stability in conference play. The Mountaineers have given up plenty of yardage and too many explosive plays in recent games against Iowa State and Oklahoma State, and the concern goes beyond one rough afternoon or one busted coverage. With the defense sitting last in total defense among Power Four teams, the numbers are starting to match what has looked obvious on the field.
Zac Alley and Rich Rodriguez are both under the microscope now, because the issues keep pointing in two directions at once: execution and roster talent. West Virginia has also had trouble against first-year head coaches this season, which only adds to the sense that opponents are finding answers faster than the Mountaineers are. The deeper question is whether this is simply a correction period for a young unit, or a more serious sign that the defensive foundation is not where it needs to be. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Defense Has A New Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Pro Football Focus latest grades gave West Virginia fans a familiar kind of snapshot, one that showed a defense still searching for answers after a recent game. The numbers pointed to a unit that had trouble finishing plays, with tackling angles and overall disruption becoming recurring issues, even as the offense had its own uneven day up front.
The bright spots on defense were limited to linebacker Isaiah Patterson and safety JaCorey Thomas, the only Mountaineers who really stood out in the grading. Elsewhere, West Virginia managed only eight pressures, and the offensive line also had its hands full despite a strong rushing total, leaving the bigger concern less about one bad sequence than about whether the front seven can start looking more consistent. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Just Showed How Dangerous This Team Can Be
West Virginias latest matchup with Iowa State offered another reminder that this team can beat you in more than one way. In the 13th meeting between the programs and the first since 2024, the Mountaineers leaned on a ground game that kept churning and a supporting cast that showed up everywhere else, from the trenches to the kicking game. Michael Hawkins Jr. and Cam Cook each went over 100 rushing yards, a sign that the offense has found a reliable physical edge.
The rest of the roster did its part too, with the defense stacking tackles and sacks while special teams helped tilt field position with solid punting. For a West Virginia team trying to prove its ceiling is higher than a one-dimensional attack, that kind of complete effort matters. When the run game is rolling and the other phases are holding up their end, the Mountaineers look dangerous in the way good teams are supposed to. [Read more 🡒]