It's rare that you can say the defense won the game for you when the unit gave up 484 yards of total offense, but that's what happened on Saturday as West Virginia pass rusher David Afogho strip-sacked TCU QB Jaden Craig with under a minute left, and linebacker pounced on top of it to seal the deal for the Mountaineers.
No, the defense is not where it needs to be still. They gave up nearly 400 yards passing and were hit for several explosive plays through the air. Nine, to be exact. But it's progress.
I'm also very aware that the Horned Frogs had a depleted running back room and were already struggling to run the ball in the first place, but guess what? You still have to stop it. Two weeks ago, Arizona was down three of its top four receivers, and it didn't matter. They still put up big numbers. As far as the run game was concerned, the Mountaineers flocked to the ball, took better angles for the most part, and wrapped up.
The thing that drives me bonkers is when you see folks on social media, five minutes after the win, say, "That was a lucky win. The defense will give up 70 to Texas Tech in two weeks." The defense was good enough to beat TCU on Saturday and actually won the game for you. They didn't need to be good enough to take down someone else two weeks from now. That's what the next two weeks are for — rest, recover, prepare, and improve.
For a defense that had a horrid start to Big 12 play, Zac Alley and his staff are just looking for things to build off of and fuel that unit with confidence. And if you ask me, it all started last week with that stop at the end of the game against Cincinnati to get the ball back in your electric quarterback's hands.
That gave them a huge confidence boost, coming up with a stop when they needed it most. On Saturday in Fort Worth, they were able to bow up once the Frogs crossed the field multiple times.
They forced a field goal late in the second quarter that TCU missed, intercepted Craig at the 16-yard line, forced a turnover on downs at the 22 on a 4th and 2, and, of course, the fumble at the end. It truly was a bend, don't break defense that came up with big stops that determined the outcome of the game. Four times TCU had chances to score and came up with nothing.
You're not looking to turn water into wine with this defense. Alley just needs this group to make enough winning plays to give the Mountaineers a chance to win every single week. Having receivers running wide open as soon as the ball is snapped or misfitting the run consistently just can't happen. If you get beat, you get beat. But the fixable things have to get fixed, and while it was far from good defense on Saturday, it was significantly better.
The defensive staff and personnel deserve a ton of credit for sticking with the process despite the challenging month it has been for them. Even during the game against TCU, there were moments when the floodgates could have opened, but they didn't let them. They were bound and determined to get that stop at the end to win the game and not have to put the pressure back on the offense to go make a game-winning drive for the second straight week.
The final month of the season is no joke. It's a gauntlet, with three of the last four games coming against ranked teams. The good news? You have one of the nation's most potent offenses, which will give you a chance against everyone you play.
Texas Tech's defense ranks 86th nationally. Kansas is 61st, Houston is 68th, and Utah is 27th, meaning there won't be another defense as good as TCU's for the rest of the way. Utah's is pretty salty, but the other three are vulnerable enough to give up some points, as we just saw with Texas Tech losing 37-24 to Cincinnati, which WVU just beat a week ago.
If this defense can continue to improve week by week and make just enough plays to be competitive, West Virginia has a shot at a strong finish, even with a tough remaining schedule.
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