MORGANTOWN — As the minutes ticked away in the fourth quarter Saturday, the line of cars stretched from the parking lot at Milan Puskar Stadium out to the road. The 54,327 announced in the stands had almost completely cleared out.
The West Virginia University football team’s golden opportunity – a pair of nationally televised night games versus nationally ranked foes – ended up being fool’s gold. At the final whistle Saturday, the Mountaineers trudged back to the locker room victims of a 45-18 thrashing at the hands of No. 17 Kansas State.
If that seems familiar, one need only to look back seven days ago, when WVU’s “Coal Rush” was stuffed by now No. 9 Iowa State in a 28-16 loss that, in reality, didn’t feel that close
In both games, early hopes of going toe-to-toe with some of the best the Big 12 has to offer were dashed under the same tsunami. The Mountaineer offense couldn’t get out of its own way, thwarted by self-inflicted wounds. The Mountaineer defense couldn’t get off the field, watching both opponents convert third and fourth downs at a fatal pace.
In those two games, it was obvious. WVU wasn’t ready for prime time.
Some of WVU’s problems against KSU came from injuries. Defensive starters Aubrey Burks and Ayden Garnes didn’t dress for the game. At halftime, Brown learned that tackle Wyatt Milum, running back Jahiem White and quarterback Garrett Greene would not play the second half. Four players, though Brown didn’t specify which, had to sit with head injuries.
“That’s a banged-up locker room,” Brown said. “That’s probably the most injuries I can remember in the first half.”
But even with those injuries, Brown admitted after the game that Kansas State just took it to the Mountaineers in the second half. The Wildcats outscored West Virginia 28-8 in the final two quarters, sending the fans to the exits early in the fourth.
“Even if we tie it up (at halftime), I’m not sure we’ve got enough in the tank in the second half,” Brown said.
After West Virginia came back to beat Kansas, Brown was asked what a win like that could do for a team’s momentum. He said that maintaining momentum was tricky, but those types of wins do wonders for players’ confidence.
Yet the types of losses that WVU has faced the last two weeks, especially considering the injury list that cropped up Saturday night, could cripple players’ confidence.
Brown said they have to do all they can to make sure it doesn’t happen.
“You’ve just got to put it to rest,” Brown said. “This one, we’ll watch a little of it, because you’ve got to learn, teams like Kansas State and Iowa State, we’ve played two elite defenses in a row.
“We’ve got really good guys in the locker room,” he added. “They’re disappointed. They realize that Kansas State really beat us in the second half. They’re not in denial about that. But we’ve got to get well and we’ve got to give ourselves a chance.”
As disappointing as the last two losses were, the Mountaineers still have opportunities to rack up some wins and finish strong. But from where will those wins come? The Cincinnati team that just handled Arizona State? The Baylor team that just hung 59 points on a Texas Tech team that entered this weekend undefeated in conference play? And as bad as the Red Raiders lost, they’re still 5-2 so far on the year. There’s also the UCF team that fell to No. 9 Iowa State this weekend on a last-second touchdown drive.
The only thing for sure about the rest of WVU’s season is that nothing’s for sure. Well, there’s one thing for sure: the Mountaineers have a lot of work to do, to reverse their fortunes and to rebuild the fanbase’s confidence in the program with five games left in the season.
Watching the fans Saturday night make a beeline for the exits in the middle of a throttling at KSU’s hands couldn’t have felt good. It’ll be up to the players to boost those spirits in the locker room.
“We just have to stay positive,” linebacker Trey Lathan said, “just uplifting each other, not letting the negative energy get within us.
“We’re all we’ve got.”
— Story by Derek Redd
