West Virginia’s defense has been an absolute sieve over the last month, holding the Mountaineers back despite an offense that’s been straight up “lights out.” Can you believe they’ve seen at least 1,000 combined yards of offense in four straight games? It’s bonkers, and they’ve gone 1-3 in that stretch, with the only win coming on a last-second field goal against Cincinnati just this past Saturday. Honestly, this is one of the most absurd statistical runs in college football right now.
The Numbers Are Nuts: Welcome Back to the Wild West
Let’s talk about these shootouts. The 1,220 yards of total offense West Virginia saw against Cincinnati? That’s the most in *any* FBS game this season. And this four-game, 1,000-yard streak? It’s the longest single-season run since Ole Miss did it back in 2020. This whole thing feels like a throwback to the Big 12’s old “wild west” days, right? Remember West Virginia’s first game in the league in 2012? They beat Baylor 70-63 with 1,507 combined yards, and that’s still the highest-scoring game in Big 12 history. The FBS record belongs to Texas Tech and Oklahoma from 2016, with an insane 1,708 yards, a game where Patrick Mahomes dropped an FBS-record 819 yards of total offense. The year before that, Mahomes and the Red Raiders had six straight 1,000-yard games and eleven overall. So, while WVU’s streak is wild, history shows us how truly bonkers these offensive explosions can get.
“Worst Defense in College Football”: A Blistering Self-Assessment
Here’s the kicker: West Virginia is allowing a mind-boggling 484 yards per game and 310 passing yards per game. Opponents are averaging 7.2 yards per play and a ridiculous 10.2 yards per pass attempt. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley didn’t pull any punches, straight up calling his group “the worst defense in college football.” He’s tried everything, too: moving to the coaching booth, cutting his call sheet down to 12 plays, even turning to prayer! “We have no identity,” Rodriguez said on his radio show Monday. “There’s nothing that we’re hanging our hat on, and so we’ve got to find that as best as we can.” The crazy part? Despite these defensive struggles, West Virginia has actually *outgained* their opponents this season 3,480 yards to 3,387, and they’ve even outscored them 263-238. They lead the nation in rushing attempts with 391 but rank 128th in pass attempts with just 149. Meanwhile, opponents have thrown for 598 more yards against West Virginia than the Mountaineers have thrown for themselves. That’s a huge gap, and it just hammers home how much of an issue that pass defense is.
The Unsung Heroes (for the Other Team)
What happens when your defense is struggling this much? You start turning opposing role players into absolute stars. Iowa State’s Aiden Flora, a former walk-on, exploded for 212 yards on 22 carries and even threw two touchdown passes on halfback passes. Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker threw for 389 yards and three TDs. Caleb Hawkins ran for 180 yards, and Wyatt Young caught eight passes for 192 yards. Arizona’s Noah Fifita tossed for 341 yards and three TDs. Isaiah Mizell had six catches for 183 yards in one game, more than he’d posted all season before that! And then Cincinnati’s JC French IV came in and threw for 389 yards and three TDs. This defense is making legends out of guys on the other side of the ball.
It’s a bizarre situation for West Virginia, where their offense is putting up video game numbers but their defense is giving up points faster than you can blink. Can they actually find that identity Rodriguez is talking about? Because if they don’t, these shootouts are only going to keep piling up, and those 1-3 records in them are going to keep happening. You gotta wonder how long they can keep this up.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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