West Virginia has now lost two consecutive games, being outscored by their opponents by a combined score of 89-24. After the loss on the road at Kansas to begin conference play, the Mountaineers were back at home for a rainy Saturday afternoon matchup against Utah. Coming off a blowout themselves, the Utes came out the aggressor and took it to WVU all game long, winning by a final score of 48-14.
While the offense has struggled throughout the entire season for the Mountaineers, the defense looked considerably better through the team’s non-conference schedule. After consecutive blowout losses to begin conference play, just what might be wrong with Zac Alley’s defense?
"I think anytime we lose, you're not happy with the result," defensive coordinator Zac Alley said on Tuesday. "I think tackling as the number one thing. I think we missed 34 tackles, I mean, that's half the game you missed a tackle on the play...we've got to do a better job at getting them on the ground."
Secondary
Heading into the season, one of the position groups that West Virginia fans were most excited about was the secondary. While Fred Perry has played about as-advertised, the team has struggled immensely (particularly at cornerback) against the pass in their 0-2 start in Big 12 play.
In Morgantown on Saturday, the Utes did just about everything they wanted to do through the air. Utah quarterbacks combined to go 25-of-30 for 290 yards and 5 touchdowns. While Kansas ran it better the week before, Jalon Daniels still converted three touchdown passes in the win against WVU. The likes of upperclassmen Michael Coats Jr., Kekoura Tarnue, and Jordan Scruggs are simply not getting the job done in pass coverage, proven by the eight passing touchdowns surrendered over the last two weeks.
"We've got to do a better job at putting our eyes where they need to be," Alley said Tuesday. "We can't be looking in the backfield."
Run Defense
If your pass defense is struggling, your run defense had better be excellent, and that has not been the case over the last two weeks. Both against Kansas and Utah, WVU gave up 242 yards on the ground. Kansas reached that mark on 41 carries for an average of 5.9 yards, and Utah reached it on 47 carries, averaging 5.1 yards.
For reference, Pitt mustered just 46 total rushing yards on 34 attempts in the Backyard Brawl. Again, through the non-conference slate, the run defense appeared to be a strength of this team, ranking 12th in the country in opponent yards per carry. Now, it is anything but a strength.
"We didn't get any knock back these past couple games, we got knocked off the ball...[we need to] play in their yard, chew on their grass," Alley said.
Turnovers
Another key reason for the Mountaineers' defensive struggles of late has been their inability to force turnovers. In three non-conference games, WVU forced six turnovers. The lone turnover through two Big 12 games came on an awful throw from Devon Dampier, where WVU defensive back Nick Taylor happened to be in the right spot to catch the errant pass. With a Mountaineer offense that is struggling immensely, the defense would’ve had to force multiple turnovers over the last two weeks to keep games interesting, and they were unable to do so.
"[We have to] keep them off schedule, when you allow them to get to 2nd & 4, they don't have to put the ball in jeopardy," Alley said. "We have to win first downs and force them into second and long, and that gets you to third and long, and those are opportunities to create those turnovers."