Losing is a tough pill to swallow in college football, mainly because there is so little margin for error. Once you are handed your third or fourth loss, the big dreams start to become out of reach.
But for a team like West Virginia, which is still early in the rebuild process under Rich Rodriguez, taking the No. 15 team in the country to the wire is proof that things are headed in the right direction.
This is probably not the angle you were expecting me to take this morning, was it? You were probably assuming this week’s column would be calling out the horrendous first half defense and how it’s still a major problem that looks unsolvable.
I’m not going there today. Why?
Because everyone can see what the issues are defensively, and to be honest, this back-and-forth ping-pong type of game was always likely. That doesn’t excuse the poor play on defense, but what happened Saturday night in Lubbock is bigger than just what the scoreboard read when the clocks hit triple zeroes. Today’s column isn’t as much about the game as it is about the bigger picture.
Look, I get it. No one is counting moral victories, and that includes the staff. The only thing they care about is whether or not they win the game. But this is a team (Texas Tech) that has been the class of the Big 12 over the last two years and outscored WVU 101-15 in the last two meetings. This is a sign of growth.
Was this a game West Virginia should have won? Yes, certainly. There were a handful of key plays, which I’ll break down later in the day, that ultimately determined the outcome, but narrowing the gap on the reigning Big 12 champs at their place in one year should give you some level of optimism.
There are still three games remaining in the regular season, and if the Mountaineers take care of business next week at home against Kansas, they will become bowl-eligible. After that, they will have two more cracks at it with ranked teams — Houston and Utah. There are still games to win, and with the way this offense is playing, they are fully capable of coming out on the right end of one of these shootouts.
I’m sure the loss is frustrating for every Mountaineer fan, and it feels like more salt being poured into the same wound. The reality is that the foundation is still being built, and it’s already light-years better than what it was at any point during the previous regime. There is an offensive identity; there are superstar players on offense. Now, it just comes down to doing the same thing on defense.
Are they where they want to be? No. Are they a complete and utter disaster? Absolutely not.
They fixed the offense in one offseason, so who’s to say they can’t find at least some answers on the other side of the ball this winter when the transfer portal opens up?
Assuming Mike Hawkins Jr. re-signs, the coaching staff and “front office” will be able to tap into a whole new talent pool that they haven’t been able to reach yet because players will see the progress that has been made in just a short period of time and will want to play with Hawkins.
This rebuild was never going to be an overnight success. And because of that, you are going to experience some bumps and heartbreaks along the way. This is just one of those types of games. They will learn from it and be a better team when they step on the field because of this experience.
Rich Rodriguez will have the Mountaineers competing for conference championships sooner than you realize.
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