West Virginia’s next Big 12 test has a set start time and a TV window.
The Mountaineers’ Week 7 matchup with Cincinnati will kick off at 12 p.m. ET, with the game set for TNT/TruTV/HBO Max, the conference announced Monday.
Before that meeting arrives, West Virginia still has business to handle this week against Arizona. But the Bearcats are up next, and it will be the first time the two teams have played in two years.
Cincinnati brings a run-heavy offense that looks a lot like West Virginia’s own approach. The Bearcats lean on Gi'Bran Payne and Cole Tabb to set the tone on the ground.
Payne has 62 carries for 392 yards and two touchdowns, while Tabb has 34 carries for 330 yards and six scores. Quarterback JC French IV has added another layer with 193 rushing yards and five touchdowns of his own.
French has also taken care of the football. He’s thrown six touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 69.9% of his passes.
The concern for Cincinnati has been on the other side of the ball. The Bearcats are giving up 401.6 yards per game, and the recent results have been rough: 31 points allowed to Miami (Ohio), 26 to Kansas State, and 34 to Arizona in their last three outings.
That profile points to a game with plenty of scoring chances on both sides.
West Virginia has traditionally had the upper hand in this series, and the numbers are lopsided. The Mountaineers lead the all-time matchup 18-3-1 and have won the last four meetings. Two of those wins came after both programs joined the Big 12.
Cincinnati’s victories in the series came in 2003, 2008, and 2009, and all three were tight - the Bearcats won those games by a combined eight points. In Morgantown, they’ve struggled even more, holding a 2-9-1 mark.
In Other News...
West Virginias Cincinnati Weekend Is Turning Into A Program Showcase
West Virginias Oct. 17 home game against Cincinnati is getting a bigger stage, with the Big 12 announcing the matchup will air on TNT and also be simulcast on TruTV and HBO Max. For a program that has spent the fall trying to turn home dates into full-event weekends, it fits neatly with what is already building around the game in Morgantown.
The Mountaineers are layering in a Stripe the Stadium theme, group ticket packages for alumni and the induction of the 36th WVU Sports Hall of Fame class, while the Big 12 Fall Tour is also set to stop in town with a free kickoff concert on Oct. 10. It is the kind of calendar that gives the Cincinnati game more weight than just another conference Saturday, and West Virginia will be hoping the extra attention translates into a packed house and a lively atmosphere. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginia Mourns A Heartbreaking Loss In Its Recruiting Class
A heartbreaking loss struck West Virginias recruiting class on Monday morning when Chris Wilson, a senior at Yorktown High School and a committed defensive line recruit for the Mountaineers, was killed in a shooting. The incident remains under investigation, and authorities have not released additional details.
Yorktown High School principal Stacey Brewer issued a statement expressing condolences to Wilsons family and the school community while also confirming there is no threat to students or schools. For West Virginia, the news goes far beyond football, cutting into the lives of coaches, teammates and a program that had welcomed Wilson as part of its future. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginias Fast Start Is Reviving A Feeling Fans Missed
Five games into the season, West Virginias offense has given fans reason to flash back to one of the programs most beloved stretches. The comparison centers on Mike Hawkins Jr. and Cam Cook alongside Pat White and Steve Slaton from 2006, a season that still sits near the top of the Mountaineers modern memories because of how smoothly the quarterback-runback pairing fit together and how hard it was for defenses to sort out who was doing what.
The numbers are not identical, and the styles are not carbon copies, but the similarities are enough to make the conversation worth having. Hawkins Jr. and Cook have already drawn the kind of attention that comes when a backfield starts to feel layered and dangerous at the same time, with the passing and rushing production inviting side-by-side study rather than simple nostalgia. For West Virginia, the interesting part is not just the flash of a fast start, but whether it can sustain the kind of offensive rhythm that once made this pairing feel inevitable. [Read more 🡒]