West Virginia’s terrible defense and productive offense add up to four straight 1,000-yard games

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff have been on a season-long search for answers to fix a defense whose terrible performances have overshadowed one of the nation’s top offensive tandems.

The Mountaineers have played four consecutive games in which the teams have combined for 1,000 yards of offense. They’ve gone 1-3 in that stretch, with the win coming on a last-second field goal Saturday against Cincinnati.

For all the offense that West Virginia is piling up, the defense has been exposed much worse by missed tackles, blown assignments and gaping holes in the secondary.

“I don’t think our guys aren’t playing hard, but we give up some big plays that are just head-scratching,” Rodriguez said.

The four-game streak of 1,000-yard games is the longest by a Bowl Subdivision team in one season since Mississippi was involved in four in a row in 2020, according to Sportradar. East Carolina had five straight over the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

The Mountaineers have been in three of the eight highest-yardage games in the FBS this season, with the 1,220 yards amassed by West Virginia and Cincinnati being the most, according to Sportradar. Other big-yardage games were against Iowa State (1,095), Oklahoma State (1,076) and Arizona (1,004).

For now, West Virginia fans are trying to stay patient and hope what’s happening defensively under Rich Rod 2.0 can be fixed. Besides, they prefer the breakneck pace of his games over predecessor Neal Brown, whose teams struggled for the better part of six seasons on both sides of the ball before Brown was fired in 2024.

Bad defense brings the stars out

Opposing offenses have put up multiple season- and career-high efforts against the Mountaineers, who have allowed 40 points or more in four straight games.

“It is really frustrating,” Rodriguez said. “We’re not going to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.”

Consider what’s happened in games against:

— Oklahoma State. Drew Mestemaker threw for 389 yards with three touchdowns. Caleb Hawkins ran for 180 yards and Wyatt Young had eight catches for 192 yards.

— Iowa State. Aiden Flora, a former walk-on, ran 22 times for 212 yards and threw two TDs on halfback passes.

— Arizona. Noah Fifita threw for 341 yards and three TDs. Isaiah Mizell had six catches for 183 yards, more than he had all season.

— Cincinnati. JC French IV threw for 389 yards and three TDs and ran for a fourth score.

A solid QB-RB tandem

West Virginia’s duo of quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr. and running back Cam Cook have become two of the best statistically at their positions.

Hawkins, a transfer from Oklahoma, leads the nation with 14 rushing TDs and is third in total offense at 324 yards per game. He threw for a career-high 464 yards and ran for 77 more against Cincinnati. He’s the top rushing quarterback in the country at 749 yards.

Cook is fifth nationally with 833 rushing yards and leads all running backs with 168 carries. He was the nation’s top rusher at Jacksonville State last season with 1,659 yards and was selected to The Associated Press All-America third team.

Defensive coordinator seeks divine help

West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley called his unit “the worst defense in college football.” And he’s not wrong. The Mountaineers are last nationally in passing yards allowed at 310 per game and next-to-last in total defense at 484.

“I don’t like losing. I don’t like playing bad,” Alley said. “I don’t like any part of that.”

Alley has tried to simplify his scheme in recent weeks. He’s moved from the sideline to the coaching booth with the hope it will bring improvement. He acknowledged after the Arizona loss that he’s leaned on prayer and sought advice from the pastor who officiated at his wedding and was in Morgantown for a visit.

Remembering the Big 12’s wild west days

Offenses moving at dizzying speeds used to be common across the Big 12 Conference.

West Virginia’s first game in the league in 2012 was the Big 12’s highest-scoring game ever. The Mountaineers beat Baylor 70-63 and the teams combined for 1,507 yards of offense. The following season, Baylor put up 73 points and 864 yards alone in a rout over West Virginia.

Texas Tech took it to another level under quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In 2015, the Red Raiders played in six straight games involving 1,000 yards of combined offense and 11 overall for that season.

In 2016 as a junior, Mahomes set an FBS record with 819 yards of total offense against Oklahoma, and the teams combined for an FBS-record 1,708 yards. The Sooners also had huge combined numbers in their 2017 Bedlam game with Oklahoma State (1,446 yards) and in meetings with West Virginia in 2012 (1,440) and 2018 (1,372).

The end of the road?

West Virginia’s 1,000-yard streak could be in jeopardy when the Mountaineers (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) play at TCU on Saturday.

The Horned Frogs (3-3, 1-2) have the Big 12’s stingiest defense, allowing just 12.2 points and 264 yards per game. And TCU hasn’t scored more than 17 points against a Power Four opponent this season.

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AP College Football Writer Eric Olson in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

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