West Virginia heads to Fort Worth with momentum and a little room to breathe, but there’s no time to savor last week’s emotional finish. After beating Cincinnati, the Mountaineers improved to 4-3, avoided a slide to 3-4 and stopped a four-game losing streak from taking hold.
They matched last season’s win total in the process, and now they sit two wins from bowl eligibility. With a bye week looming after this one, Saturday offers a chance to stack another victory before the schedule turns harder.
The test is a tricky one because TCU is walking into the same kind of moment. The Horned Frogs just knocked off Baylor 17-6 in Waco for their first conference win, and now they have to prove that result wasn’t a one-off surge after a big rivalry game.
West Virginia comes in off its own emotional lift, and how both teams handle that emotional hangover could tell the story. It’s also a measuring stick for Sonny Dykes and Rich Rodriguez, both of whom need their teams locked in before the schedule tightens up again.
The matchup itself should be a heavyweight clash in one area and a scramble in another: West Virginia’s offense against TCU’s defense. The Mountaineers have been one of the most entertaining teams to watch on that side of the ball, and this has been the most fun West Virginia offense to follow since the Will Grier days, not a particularly high threshold to clear given the caveat about Garrett Greene.
Through week eight, WVU ranks eighth nationally in total offense at 497 yards per game and 19th in scoring at 37 points per game. The ground game has been just as dangerous, sitting fifth in rushing offense.
That brings Mike Hawkins Jr. and the Mountaineers straight into the teeth of a TCU defense that has been dominant. The Horned Frogs rank third nationally in total defense, giving up just 264 yards per game, and they’re also third in scoring defense at 12 points allowed per game. Against the run, they’re 15th, surrendering 92 yards a game on the ground.
For West Virginia, the math has stayed simple all season: the offense has to carry the load, and the defense needs enough stops to make it work. That formula held against Cincinnati, even if the final yardage total was ugly. The Bearcats rolled up 622 yards, but unlike the three conference losses to open league play, the Mountaineers got key stops when they needed them, including one that handed the offense the ball with 2:05 left.
No one is pretending the defense has been fixed. The issues are too deep for that, and the real answers likely belong in the offseason.
But there’s still value in squeezing something useful out of what this unit is right now. If the defense can repeat that six-stop performance or do even better, West Virginia should give itself enough possessions to keep the game within reach.
TCU is going to move the ball. The question is whether the Mountaineers can force enough empty trips to let their offense decide it.
In Other News...
BYU Fans Will Want To See Where Bear Bachmeier Ranks Now
Week 8 in the Big 12 brings another chance to sort out the quarterback picture, and the conferences top tier still feels crowded with proven performers and rising names. The latest ranking takes into account recent game work, how each passer has shaped his teams results, and the defensive tests coming up on the schedule, with familiar names like Michael Hawkins Jr. and Conner Weigman still in the conversation alongside BYUs Bear Bachmeier.
For West Virginia, it is the kind of weekly quarterback snapshot that matters because the league rarely gives anyone much breathing room. Baylor, Oklahoma and the rest of the Big 12 are all presenting different problems on defense, so where Bachmeier lands now is as much about consistency and matchup difficulty as it is about raw production, and the next round of games could shuffle the order again before long. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Fans Finally Get An Early Look At A Meaningful Rotation Battle
The first real chance to see West Virginias new basketball rotation comes Friday night, when the Mountaineers host Glenville State in an exhibition that carries a little extra meaning beyond the usual preseason tune-up. The matchup also arrives with a somber note after the recent passing of West Virginia businessman Ike Morris, a supporter of both programs, adding a layer of local significance to a game that already had the feel of a useful early test.
For WVU, the bigger storyline is on the floor, where Keonte Greybear and Aliou Dioum are expected to log meaningful minutes and give fans an early read on how the rotation might take shape. Exhibition games rarely settle much on their own, but this one should at least offer a glimpse at who is ready to seize a role before the games start counting for real. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Faces Secondary Uncertainty Ahead Of A Crucial TCU Matchup
West Virginias prep for a key TCU matchup has been shaped by the availability report, which puts a few names in question on both sides and leaves the Mountaineers with some late-week uncertainty. Corey McIntyre Jr. is among the WVU players listed as potentially unavailable, while TCU could also be dealing with absences involving Kari Ashley and Jeremy Payne, a reminder that this one may require some last-minute adjustments before kickoff.
There is some relief in Morgantown, though, because Nate Gabriel is expected to play after missing time with injury. Even so, the report points to possible lineup shuffling depending on who is cleared, and that is the sort of wrinkle a staff would rather sort out before facing a conference opponent with plenty on the line. [Read more 🡒]