West Virginia’s defense took a hard step backward Saturday night, and the numbers tell the story in ugly detail.
A week after looking solid against Virginia in Charlotte, the Mountaineers were carved up by Oklahoma State in a 609-yard outing that exposed just about every issue on that side of the ball. The Cowboys piled up 389 passing yards and 220 on the ground, while averaging 19.5 yards per completion and 5.4 yards per rush. West Virginia also gave up 10 explosive plays through the air and six more on the ground.
That kind of damage leaves little room for debate. If a defense is surrendering explosive plays on roughly one out of every four snaps, it is not giving its offense much of a chance no matter how well the other side of the ball is playing. West Virginia also managed just one three-and-out on defense, and that came right before halftime when Oklahoma State was simply trying to run out the clock.
The tackling was just as troubling. West Virginia missed 18 tackles, more than doubling its previous season high of nine.
The Mountaineers had nine missed tackles against Coastal Carolina, five against UT Martin, and seven against Virginia. Geimere Latimer and Matt Sieg were responsible for seven of those misses combined, and each also allowed a touchdown in pass coverage.
The secondary had a rough night all around, and the pass rush never came close to consistently bailing it out. West Virginia finished with nine pressures, but Drew Mestemaker still spent plenty of time in a clean pocket.
At times, he had all day to operate. The ball was coming out quickly on a lot of snaps, but that only underscored how often receivers were opening up early in their routes.
That leaves Zac Alley squarely in the middle of the conversation. There were too many moments when West Virginia defenders were still rotating or trying to sort out communication as the ball was being snapped.
Alley has built a reputation for running a complicated defense, and the question now is whether the scheme is asking too much of the players in front of him. He is expected to address the media on Tuesday.
There is also the larger roster issue hanging over all of this. West Virginia focused heavily on fixing its offense, and the concern was always whether that effort came at the expense of the defense. During portal recruiting, the group brought in players with Group of Six experience, but outside of Harper Holloman and Zeke Durham-Campbell, not many had proven themselves at a higher level.
The deficiencies show up across the board. The defensive line lacks the size and depth it needs.
The linebackers do not have the speed and athleticism the unit wants. At corner, West Virginia is leaning on inexperienced players.
Still, this was not presented as the end of the road for the defense. The Mountaineers have enough talent and a workable schedule to remain in the mix for some Big 12 wins and maybe even emerge as a surprise team. But that path depends on the defense getting back to its Week 3 form.
If that does not happen, West Virginia could be staring at a long season in the Old Gold and Blue.
In Other News...
West Virginia Faces A Bigger Defensive Concern Than One Bad Loss
West Virginias loss to Oklahoma State was not the kind you can pin on one bad quarter or one lopsided stat sheet. The Mountaineers actually had some encouraging numbers on defense and put up a strong rushing total, but the film still told a more troubling story. The new defensive scheme was supposed to help unsettle an opponent that likes to push the ball, yet Oklahoma State found too many ways to hit big plays and keep the pressure on.
What made the defeat sting was how often West Virginia let those chances slip through its hands. Missed tackles piled up, explosive plays came too easily, and the staff admitted the game plan simply did not work as intended. For a team trying to build momentum, the bigger concern is not just the result itself, but whether the defensive issues exposed in this one are tied to a deeper problem than a single rough afternoon. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Fans Get A Coal Rush Twist They Werent Expecting
West Virginias October 10 matchup with Arizona now has a start time and a national TV home, and it comes with an early kickoff that should give Mountaineer fans plenty of time to settle in. The Big 12 announced the game will kick at 12 p.m. ET in Morgantown and air on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max, adding another layer of visibility to a nonconference meeting that already carries some curiosity.
Arizona arrives with a little momentum after improving to 3-1 with a win over Washington State, while West Virginia will be trying to build on the familiarity of a series that has been played only once before. The Mountaineers won that 2021 meeting 31-26, and this years game lands in the middle of a busy stretch for the Wildcats, who will turn around and face Cincinnati in a late kickoff the following week. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rod's Offense Is Giving West Virginia Fans A Real Concern
Rich Rodriguezs latest West Virginia offense is already drawing attention because it looks different from the ones fans remember from his earlier coaching stops. Through four games, the Mountaineers are throwing on just 22% of their offensive snaps, a notably lower rate than Rodriguez has typically used over the course of his career. For a coach long associated with pace and spread principles, that tilt toward the run has become one of the early-season talking points around the program.
The reasons are not hard to see, at least in broad terms. Pass protection has been an issue, and the receiver play has also factored into the equation, making it easier to understand why the offense has leaned so heavily on the ground game. Still, the bigger question hovering over West Virginia is whether a more balanced approach would make the attack harder to defend and more effective overall, even if the current numbers suggest Rodriguez is still searching for the right mix. [Read more 🡒]